9  ,  S~V 


LIBRARY 

Ihcoloqi ca \  $ t m i n a v y , 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


The  Stephen  Collins  Donation. 

Division . 

No.  ta-<e. 

No.  Shelf ,  Secti o r\k/ _p . /. . . , 

No.  Booh, 


C  <2- 


s 


>  . 


* 


♦ 


*> 


/ 


I 


i 


THE 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 

7 

SUBJECTIVELY  CONSIDERED. 


BEING 


THE  SECOND  PART  OF  THEOLOGY 


CONSIDERED 


AS  A  SCIENCE  OF  POSITIVE  TRUTH, 


BOTH  INDUCTIVE  AND  DEDUCTIVE. 


BY 


ROBERT  J.  BRECKINRIDGE,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

PROFESSOR  OF  THEOLOGY  IN  THE  SEMINARY  AT  DANVILLE,  KENTUCKY. 


NON  SINE  LUCE. 


NEW  YOEK: 

ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS. 
LOUISVILLE:  A.  DAVIDSON. 


1  8  5  9. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by 
ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk’s  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


STEREOTYPED  BY 

T.  B .  Smith  &  Son, 
82  &  84  Boekman  st. 


PRINTED  BY 

E.  0.  Jenkins, 
28  Frankfort  st. 


TO 

ALL  WHO  FERVENTLY  DESIRE  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH, 

THIS  TRIBUTE  OF  SYMPATHY  AND  LOYE 

IS  OFFERED 

IN  THE  NAME  OF  THE  SAVIOUR  OF  SINNERS, 

WHO  HAS  ABOLISHED  DEATH, 

AND  BROUGHT  LIFE  AND  IMMORTALITY  TO  LIGHT  THROUGH  THAT  GOSPEL, 

WHICH  IS  THE  POWER  OF  GOD  UNTO  SALVATION 


TO  EVERY  ONE  THAT  BELIEVETH. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/knowledgeofgodsuOObrec_O 


CONTENTS. 


Preliminary  Statement 


PAGE 

ix 


BOOK  I. 

THE  COVENANT  OF  OKACE. 

Argument  op  the  First  Book . 1 

Chap.  I. — The  Condition  of  the  Universe :  as  it  lay  under  the  sentence  of  God, 

but  with  the  promise  of  deliverance . .  3 

II. — The  Covenant  of  Redemption :  General  Statement  of  its  Great  Princi¬ 
ples  and  Truths . 27 

III. — Relation  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  to  the  inner  life  of  Man, 

and  to  his  fundamental  Religious  Convictions . 48 

IY. — The  Special  Obligations  laid  on  Man,  as  Special  Conditions  of  the  Cov¬ 
enant  of  Redemption . 63 

Y. — The  (Economy  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption . 78 


BOOK  II. 

UNION  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  THE  SON  OF  COD. 


Argument  op  the  Second  Book . 103 

Chap.  YI. — The  application  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  to  individual  Men: 

Union  and  Communion  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ . 107 

YII. — Effectual  Calling:  with  the  manner  of  its  occurrence . 122 

YIII. — Regeneration :  its  nature,  and  the  mode  of  its  occurrence  ....  139 

IX. — Justification:  with  its  nature,  method,  and  effects . 158 

X. — Adoption:  its  grounds,  nature,  and  fruits . 178 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB 

Chap.  XI. — Sanctification :  relation  to  the  Plan  of  Salvation :  nature :  means : 

relation  to  the  Godhead . 203 

XII. — Communion  with  Christ  in  Grace  complete :  Communion  with  Christ 

in  Glory  begun . 227 


BOOK  III. 

THE  OFFICES  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


Argument  of  the  Third  Book . 247 

Chap.  XIII. — Paith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ . 253 

XIV. — Repentance  toward  God . 272 

XV.—1 The  New  Obedience . 293 

XVI.— Good  Works . 307 

XVII. — The  Spiritual  Warfare . 326 

XVIII. — The  Infallible  Rule  of  Paith  and  Duty . 344 


BOOK  I  Y . 

COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS, 

Argument  of  the  Fourth  Book . 369 

Chap.  XIX. — The  Children  of  God  united  into  a  Visible  Kingdom  for  Christ. 

Fundamental  idea  and  elemental  principles  of  the  Church  of 

God . 375 

XX. — The  Nature  and  End  of  the  Kingdom  of  God:  with  the  means  of 

estimating  both . 389 

XXI. — Deduction  and  Exposition  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  considered  as 

the  Visible  Church  of  Christ . 401 

XXII. — The  Preedom  of  the  Visible  Church,  considered  in  its  independence 

of  the  State,  and  its  consecration  to  Christ . 414 

XXIII. — The  Historical,  Logical,  and  Supernatural  Elements  of  the  Question 
of  the  Church :  considered  with  reference  to  the  Marks  of  the 
True  Church . 426 


CONTENTS. 


Vll 


PAGE 

Chap.  XXIV. — Purity  of  Faith :  the  first  Infallible  Mark  of  the  True  Church  .  .  444 

XXV.  — The  Worship  of  God  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth:  the  second  Infallible 

Mark  of  the  True  Church . 458 

XXVI.  — Holy  Living :  The  third  Infallible  Mark  of  the  True  Church  .  .471 


BOOK  y. 

GIFTS  OF  COD  TO  HIS  CHURCH. 

Argument  of  the  Fifth  Book . 485 

Chap.  XXVII. — Supreme  Gifts  of  God  to  his  Church:  his  Son:  his  Spirit:  his 

Word . 491 

XXVIII. — Divine  Ordinances:  the  Sabbath — the  Sacraments — Instituted 

Worship — Discipline — Evangelization . 517 

XXIX.  — The  Sacrament  of  Baptism :  its  Nature  and  Design :  Subjects  of 

it :  Mode  of  Administration :  Apostolic  Practice . 539 

XXX.  — The  Sacrament  of  the  Lord’s  Supper :  considered  in  its  Institu¬ 

tion,  Nature,  Use,  and  End . 594 

XXXI. — Office  Bearers  in  the  Gospel  Church :  and  the  Government  in 

their  hands . 616 


CFNFRAL  CONCLUSION. 


Argument  of  the  General  Conclusion . 655 

Chap.  XXXII. — General  Conclusion :  Progress  and  Consummation  of  God’s  Eter¬ 
nal  Covenant . 657 


« 


A  FEW  PRELIMINARY  WORDS. 


CHRISTIAN  THEOLOGY;  PROGRESS,  TRUE  CONCEPTION,  SCIENTIFIC 

STATEMENT. 


During  the  first  seven  centuries  of  the  Christian  Church,  the  attention 
of  Theologians,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  seems  to  have  been  directed  chiefly 
to  the  establishment  of  the  claims  of  Christianity  as  the  true  religion 
of  God,  and  to  the  establishment  within  the  Church  itself  of  the  funda¬ 
mental  truths  of  that  religion.  By  the  end  of  that  period,  and  after  in¬ 
numerable  conflicts,  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  everywhere,  seems  to 
have  been  fully  settled  and  confirmed  by  the  decisions  of  general  coun¬ 
cils,  concerning  God  and  concerning  Christ ;  and  in  the  W est,  at  least, 
settled  also,  very  generally  concerning  man.  But  these — God,  Man,  and 
the  Godman,  are  the  grand  elements  of  the  science  of  Theology;  and 
when  they  were  settled  in  the  faith  of  the  Church,  that  science  ought 
immediately  to  have  risen,  and,  resting  upon  divine  truth,  to  have  passed 
steadily  and  rapidly  to  its  perfect  state.  Instead  of  this,  we  have  in  the 
Western  Church  a  period  of  eight  centuries  during  which  scholasticism 
in  its  rise  and  predominance  is  the  most  conspicuous  manifestation  of 
thought,  down  to  the  outburst  of  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  cen¬ 
tury.  The  Schoolmen  interpreting  the  religion  of  Jesus  by  the  Philoso¬ 
phy  of  Aristotle,  as  their  predecessors  of  the  Alexandrian  school  had 
interpreted  it  by  the  Philosophy  of  Plato ;  added,  it  may  be  allowed,  to 
the  stock  of  inquiry  and  speculation,  much  that  deserved  the  consider¬ 
ation  of  posterity ;  but  they  added  almost  nothing  to  Theology,  consid¬ 
ered  as  the  science  of  the  knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation,  whether  as 
to  its  conception,  the  method  of  its  proper  treatment,  or  its  practical  de¬ 
velopment.  Considered  from  the  point  of  view  of  Reformed  Christianity, 
scholasticism  was  a  complete  failure. 

In  this  state  of  things  that  great  awakening  occurred,  which  we  call 
the  Reformation;  which  was  connected  with  the  past  by  so  many  streams, 
which  combined  in  one  movement  so  many  powerful  influences,  which 
delivered  to  the  future  the  seeds  of  so  much  that  was  glorious.  It  was 
an  awakening  of  the  Church  of  God  to  the  spirit  of  its  primeval  and  only 
true  life ;  and  it  manifested  itself  in  the  reception  and  love  of  divine  truth, 


X 


PRELIMINARY  REMARKS. 


and  by  consequence  in  true  faitli  and  true  holiness.  The  scientific  treat¬ 
ment  of  Divine  truth,  therefore,  followed  the  movement  of  the  Reforma¬ 
tion,  more  closely  than  it  had  followed  the  movement  of  the  first  plant¬ 
ing  of  Christianity.  In  the  Latin  Church,  the  spirit  and  the  method 
which  had  predominated  during  so  many  centuries  of  fatal  error  remained, 
and  still  remain ;  for  to  have  shaken  them  off  would  have  been  to  share 
in  the  revolt  which  emancipated  the  Reformers,  the  dread  of  which  gave 
so  strange  an  aspect  to  Ancient  Theology,  and  exercised  such  fatal  influ¬ 
ence  upon  the  speculations  of  the  Schoolmen.  In  the  bosom  of  the  Re¬ 
formation  a  division  in  the  conception  and  treatment  of  Theology  as  a 
science,  manifested  itself  from  the  beginning  and  has  continued.  In  Pro¬ 
testantism,  these  diverse  conceptions  have  been  called,  accurately  enough, 
the  one  material,  the  other  formal :  the  one  grounding  everything  in  a 
particular  aspect  of  Divine  Truth — the  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith, 
for  example ;  the  other  grounding  everything  in  the  sum  of  the  whole 
truth  revealed  by  God.  The  former  conception,  however  true  in  particu¬ 
lar,  is  altogether  too  narrow,  altogether  incomplete,  as  the  conception  of 
a  science  so  vast.  The  latter  conception — that  of  the  Reformed  strictly 
so  called — was  just.  From  it,  the  Reformed  Theology  ought  to  have  de¬ 
veloped  itself,  firmly  and  at  once.  The  Church  had  not  only  recovered 
the  position  she  occupied  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  century — but  had 
taken  a  great  step  in  advance. 

That  the  Reformed  Theology  did  not  adequately  avail  itself  of  its  great 
position,  nothing  can  prove  more  clearly  than  that  after  three  centuries, 
the  first  attempt — that  of  Calvin — retains  its  supremacy.  Augustine, 
even  with  his  strange  conception  of  the  Papal  Church,  finds  no  name  to 
match  him — till  Calvin.  And  Calvin’s  great  work — which  I  had  no  small 
share  in  restoring  to  general  circulation — though  it  is  arbitrary  in  its 
method,  and  though  abstract,  practical,  and  controversial  Theology,  truth 
objective,  subjective,  and  relative,  are  mingled  confusedly  throughout  it ;  has 
no  rival  amidst  the  hundreds  which  have  followed  it.  I  attribute  this  fail¬ 
ure  of  the  Reformed  Theology  to  develop  itself  completely  as  a  perfect 
science,  to  the  imperfect  conceptions  which  these  very  defects  signalize. 
It  failed  to  conceive  adequately  what  that  science  is,  wdiich  is  the  sum  of 
all  revealed  truth.  It  failed  necessarily  after  that  failure,  to  conceive  ad¬ 
equately  the  method  responsive  to  the  true  conception  of  that  grandest 
of  the  sciences.  It  failed  necessarily  after  these  two  failures,  of  adequate 
breadth  of  spiritual  insight  into  the  divine  proportion  of  that  truth,  which 
was  itself  the  very  substance  of  the  whole  science  of  Theology.  Who¬ 
ever  is  willing  to  survey  with  candour,  the  whole  field  of  scientific  The¬ 
ology,  abstract,  practical  and  controversial — Latin,  Lutheran,  and  Re¬ 
formed — since  the  Reformation  was  firmly  established  and  its  first  fruits 
gathered  ;  will  see  small  cause  to  be  satisfied  that  the  Critical,  Speculative, 


PRELIMINARY  REMARKS. 


XI 


or  Philosophical  methods  of  the  ages  which  have  succeeded  that  great 
period,  are  to  be  preferred  to  the  arbitrary  and  artificial  method  they 
would  supplant,  or  perhaps  even  to  the  best  specimens  of  the  scholastic 
spirit  which  the  Reformation  overthrew. 

Is  there,  then,  no  natural  method,  whereby  Theology  planting  itself  on 
the  grand  foundation  which  the  Reformers  obtained  three  centuries  ago, 
may  develop  itself  as  a  science  of  positive  truth  ?  It  may  be  true  that 
Theologians  have  always  felt  obliged  to  confess  to  themselves,  that  the 
Knowledge  of  God  attainable  by  man,  was  in  some  vague  sense  a  true 
science — nay,  the  highest  of  the  sciences.  Manifestly,  they  were  obliged  to 
see  that  whatever  Knowledge  of  God  man  does  obtain,  must  be  obtained 
by  some  means  or  other  which  are  answerable  to  the  faculties  of  man  ; 
and  all  of  these  have  designated  the  Word  of  God  as  one  of  these  means — 
wrhile  all  the  orthodox  have  held  that  Divine  Word  to  be  the  chief  means, 
and  all  the  Reformed  have  held  it  to  be  the  only  infallible  means.  But 
all  this  militates  nothing  against  what  I  assert,  nor  against  the  importance 
of  it.  What  I  maintain  is,  that  seeing  the  Knowledge  of  God  is  attain¬ 
able  by  lost  men  unto  salvation,  seeing  that  the  sources  of  this  knowledge 
are  few,  precise  and  capable  of  exhaustive  demonstration :  it  follows  ab¬ 
solutely  from  these  data,  that  the  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation  must 
be  in  the  strictest  sense — a  science.  And  then  as  soon  as  those  fewr  and 
precise  sources  of  knowledge  are  exhaustively  demonstrated,  it  follows 
absolutely  that  the  kind  of  science  proved,  is  one  of  positive  truth,  both 
inductive  and  deductive. 

It  may  also  be  conceded  that  all  Theologians  have  been  obliged  to  see, 
that  some  method  or  other  must  always  be  resorted  to,  by  every  one  who 
will  teach  anything,  or  acquire  anything,  worthy  to  be  called  scientific 
knowledge.  But  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  they  have  to  a  deplorable 
extent,  failed  to  observe  that  any  particular  method  lay  in  the  very  nature 
of  this  divine  science  itself;  failed  to  observe  that  the  Revelation  of 
divine  truth,  and  the  divine  operation  of  truth  in  the  human  soul,  fol¬ 
lowed  any  particular  method;  failed  to  observe  that  any  particular 
method  of  teaching  men  the  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation  had  pre¬ 
eminent  if  not  exclusive  claims ;  while  it  is  undeniably  certain  that  they 
have  generally  and  continually  used  methods  in  the  treatment  of  Theol¬ 
ogy,  which  were  arbitrary,  capricious  and  inconsistent  with  each  other. 
On  the  other  hand,  what  I  maintain  is,  that  a  science  being  given,  a 
method  responsive  to  the  nature  of  that  science,  follows  of  necessity; 
that  the  science  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation  being  a  pure 
science  of  absolute  truth  both  inductive  and  deductive — and  the  sources 
of  it  exhaustively  demonstrated — an  analogous  method  of  developing  and 
teaching  that  science  is  inevitable  :  that  till  the  acknowledgment  and  sue- 


Xll 


PRELIMINARY  REMARKS. 


cessful  application  of  that  method,  the  science  to  which  it  appertains  can¬ 
not  possibly  reach  its  complete  development  and  statement ;  and  that  e\  en 
after  the  perfection  of  the  science,  it  could  not  be  adequately  taught 
otherwise  than  by  its  own  natural  method.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  all 
this  were  propounded  merely  as  a  speculation,  instead  of  being  almost  self- 
evidently  true  as  soon  as  it  is  clearly  stated  ;  the  history  of  the  progress 
of  Theology  through  all  ages,  would  beget  the  most  violent  presumption 
that  the  speculation  was  true. 

Truth  is  capable  of  being  considered  systematically  and  absolutely, 
simply  as  truth  reduced  into  a  scientific  form.  Thus  understood,  but  not 
otherwise,  any  system  of  truth  is  afterwards  capable  of  being  considered 
in  all  the  possible  effects  and  influences  of  that  system  of  truth.  Let  it 
be  remembered  that  no  number  of  isolated  truths,  which  have  no  known 
relations  to  each  other,  can  ever  be  reduced  into  a  scientific  form,  or  ever 
produce  any  effects,  or  have  any  consequences,  considered  as  a  system. 
They  cannot  compose  any  system,  nor  be  the  subject  of  any  knowledge 
beyond  the  mere  knowledge  of  them  as  intractible  particulars.  If  this 
be  the  character  of  Divine  Revelation,  it  is  idle  to  speak  of  systematic 
knowledge  of  it — absurd  to  talk  about  the  plan  of  salvation.  If  there  is 
any  such  thing  as  a  system  of  divine  truth  capable  of  being  known  by 
man,  then  that  system  is  necessarily  subject  to  the  distinction  stated  above; 
and  considered  in  both  the  aspects  stated,  it  is  capable  of  being  precisely 
distinguished  from  all  serious  error.  It  is  in  these  three  aspects  that  the 
Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation  must  be  considered,  if  it  is  to  be  com¬ 
pletely  understood — must  be  stated  if  it  is  to  attain  a  complete  scientific 
form.  When  so  stated  and  so  understood — allowance  being  made  for 
human  weakness — every  pure  science  is  placed  in  the  only  position  in 
which  its  own  perfect  development  is  possible ;  and  every  separate  truth 
which  enters  into  that  science,  as  it  is  demonstrated  and  located  with  pre¬ 
cision,  instead  of  weakening,  confirms  the  science  and  adds  to  its  effi¬ 
cacy,  whether  considered  in  an  abstract,  a  practical,  or  a  relative  point 
of  view.  Every  system  of  truth,  and  above  all  the  system  of  divine  truth, 
must  be  capable  of  maintaining  itself  under  the  test  of  this  threefold  and 
exhaustive  aspect  of  all  truth.  In  divine  truth  thus  tested,  even  those 
sublime  mysteries  which  men  are  pleased  to  call  the  contradictions  of  the 
Scriptures,  disclose  their  real  nature  as  great  spiritual  paradoxes  inherent 
in  the  nature  of  the  subject,  necessarily  liable  to  a  double  solution  by  us, 
and  perceived  to  belong  to  a  generalization  higher  than  our  faculties  can 
reach  in  their  present  state. 

Thus  there  is  the  clearest  possible  distinction  between  the  exact  state¬ 
ment  of  truth,  and  a  disputation  in  support  of  that  truth ;  a  distinction, 
I  .  insist,  which  cannot  be  overlooked  in  the  elemental  statement  of  any 


PRELIMINARY  REMARKS. 


Xll] 


science,  without  arresting  its  progress  and  weakening  the  impression  of 
truth  ;  and  in  the  moral  sciences  above  all,  a  distinction  most  needful 
to  be  strictly  observed.  Thus  too,  after  the  truth  has  been  completely 
extricated,  and  clearly  stated  in  its  elemental  forms,  the  further  distinction 
becomes  perfectly  obvious,  namely,  that  between  truth,  and  the  effects  of 
truth ;  and  the  neglect  of  it  is  as  fatal  as  the  neglect  of  the  preceding 
distinction.  It  took  seven  centuries  for  Theologians  to  settle,  in  scientific 
form,  the  great  elements  of  their  science — the  doctrines  of  God — of  the 
Godman,  and  of  man — though  during  all  these  seven  centuries,  not  a 
single  child  of  God  erred  fatally  touching  either  doctrine.  It  took  the 
Theologians  eight  centuries  more  to  obtain  the  grand  position  of  the  Re¬ 
formers,  namely,  that  the  sum  of  the  whole  Knowledge  of  God  attainable 
by  man,  of  which  the  sacred  Scriptures  are  the  only  infallible  rule  and 
guide,  is  that  which  is  to  be  cast  into  a  scientific  form,  as  Christian  The¬ 
ology.  I  have  pointed  out  both  the  failure,  and  the  causes  of  it,  of  the 
scientific  progress  of  the  Reformed  Theology  beyond  the  position  won  for 
it  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Distinctions  inseparable  from  the  complete 
conception  of  any  system  of  truth  whatever,  cannot  be  overlooked  with 
impunity ;  nor  can  the  denial  of  the  existence  of  such  distinctions  pro¬ 
duce  any  effect  so  immediate,  as  the  exclusion  of  the  supposed  truths  to 
which  those  distinctions  do  not  apply,  from  the  pale  of  the  sciences.  In 
Theology,  to  neglect  the  former  distinction  is  to  deprive  divine  truth,  as 
far  as  an  evil  method  can,  of  whatever  power  it  has  by  reason  of  its  own 
inherent  force  and  glorious  light ;  and  to  neglect  the  latter  distinction  is 
to  confound  the  efficacy,  which  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  to  truth  by  his  su- 
peradded  work  in  man,  with  the  truth  itself  after  it  has  first  had  its  self- 
evidencing  light  obscured. 

On  the  other  hand  the  clear  recognition  of  the  distinctions  I  have 
pointed  out,  unavoidably  presents  the  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation, 
under  three  distinct  aspects:  one  of  them  objective — the  mere  truth; 
one  of  them  subjective — the  effects  of  truth  in  us,  and  on  us;  one  of  them 
relative — truth  and  its  effects  confronted  with  untruth.  Whether  or  not 
the  Knowledge  of  God  is  a  science  of  positive  truth,  does  not  depend  on 
us,  but  on  God.  I  maintain  that  it  is,  and  that  the  just  acquisition,  state¬ 
ment,  and  teaching  of  it,  require  in  us  an  adequate  conception  of  it  as 
such.  Whether  or  not  being  such  a  science,  it  must  be  treated  by  a 
method  responsive  to  its  own  nature,  does  not  depend  upon  our  caprice ; 
but  on  the  very  nature  of  knowledge,  and  of  our  own  mental  and  moral 
constitution.  I  maintain  that  the  slow,  irregular,  and  imperfect  progress 
of  scientific  Theology  in  all  ages,  is  to  be  attributed  in  a  great  degree, 
to  the  inadequate  conception  of  the  science  itself,  and  to  the  vicious 
methods  of  treating  it  which  necessarily  resulted  from  that  inadequate 
conception ;  and  I  have  suggested  and  used  what  I  conceive  to  be  a 


XIV 


PRELIMINARY  REMARKS. 


method  naturally  responsive  to  an  adequate  conception  of  the  science 
itself;  starting  from  the  great  elements  settled  in  the  seventh  century, 
and  the  great  position  reached  in  the  sixteenth — since  which  period, 
in  my  opinion,  little  true  progress  has  been  made  in  the  systematic  state¬ 
ment  of  divine  truth  considered  as  a  great  science.  Whether  or  not  a 
particular  attempt  to  vindicate  this  science  in  its  adequate  conception,  and 
by  a  true  method  responsive  to  its  nature,  restate  it  in  its  own  simple, 
coherent,  and  august  power,  is  worthy  of  the  consideration  of  the  people 
of  God ;  depends  essentially  on  the  ability,  the  insight,  the  attainments, 
and  the  patient  toil  of  him  who  makes  the  attempt.  As  to  the  value  of 
my  own  attempt,  they  to  whom  I  have  dedicated  this  and  the  preceding 
Treatise,  shall  judge.  If  the  penitent  and  believing  followers  of  the  Saviour 
of  sinners — if  they  who  fervently  desire  life  after  death — find  light  and 
consolation  in  what  I  have  written — that  which  I  have  done  will  live. 
Otherwise  no  oblivion  can  await  my  labours,  more  remorseless  than  that 
which  covers  those  of  the  bulk  of  my  predecessors. 

Concerning  the  present  Treatise,  I  think  I  may  say  with  confidence, 
that  no  one  who  will  patiently  consider  it  can  misunderstand  the  general 
view  it  presents  of  the  saving  grace  of  God,  or  the  general  argument  sus¬ 
tained  throughout,  concerning  the  whole  method  and  effects  of  that  Grace. 
I  accept  the  Scriptures  as  the  Word  of  God  ;  I  understand  them  to  relate 
to  the  salvation  of  fallen  men,  to  disclose  the  precise  nature  of  that  salva¬ 
tion,  the  exact  manner  in  which  it  is  achieved  in  man,  and  the  whole 
effects  and  consequences,  personal  and,  general,  present  and  eternal,  which 
are  wrought  out  in  us,  through  the  truth  contained  in  them,  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  What  I  attempt  is  to  follow  rigidly  the  course  of  the  divine 
thought,  to  illustrate  faithfully  the  progress  of  the  divine  work,  and  to 
demonstrate  both  throughout.  Upon  my  conception  of  the  subject,  no 
other  course  is  possible  :  upon  the  method  responsive  to  that  conception, 
this  direct  and  concatenated  treatment  is  unavoidable.  It  ouodit  to  follow, 
according  to  the  measure  of  grace  given  to  me,  that  herein  is  a  compact 
and  continuous  exhibition  of  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  respon¬ 
sive  to  the  revealed  way  of  life  eternal ;  everything  hetoregeneous  being 
excluded,  and  everything  admitted  being  a  part  of  the  uninterrupted  de¬ 
monstration.  Besides  this  complete  personal  exhibition  of  salvation,  the 
organization  by  God  of  his  covenant  people  into  a  visible  kingdom,  gives 
to  salvation  an  organic  and  social  aspect,  precisely  commensurate  with 
the  relation  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to  the  work  of  divine  grace  in  sal¬ 
vation.  There  ought,  therefore,  to  be  found  herein,  according  as  God  has 
enabled  me,  a  precise  and  complete  demonstration  and  exposition  of  the 
Church  of  the  living  God,  in  its  nature,  and  end — and  very  especially  in 
its  Gospel  state.  The  Christian  and  the  Church  of  God  ought  to  be  de¬ 
monstrated  on  the  divine  word,  in  developing  the  Knowledge  of  God 


PRELIMINARY  REMARKS. 


XV 


Subjectively  considered.  This  illustrates  what  I  mean  by  teaching  The¬ 
ology,  as  distinguished  from  a  compend  of  Theology.  This  is  what  my 
conception  and  method  exact.  In  so  far  as  I  may  have  done  anything 
approaching  what  I  have  just  stated,  it  is  through  God’s  grace.  My  short¬ 
comings  are,  I  think,  justly  to  be  attributed,  not  to  my  conception  of  the 
subject,  nor  to  my  method  of  treating  it,  but  to  my  personal  incapacity 
to  work  out  so  great  a  result,  in  a  fitting  manner. 

The  order  of  the  general  demonstration  may  be  made  intelligible,  by 
a  brief  statement.  In  the  First  Book,  I  attempt  to  trace  and  to  prove 
the  manner  in  which  the  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation  passes  over 
from  being  merely  objective,  and  becomes  subjective.  In  the  Second 
Book,  I  endeavour  to  disclose  and  to  demonstrate  the  whole  work  of  God 
in  man,  unto  his  personal  salvation.  In  the  Third  Book,  the  personal 
effects  and  results  of  this  divine  subjective  work,  are  sought  to  be  expli¬ 
cated.  This  seems  to  me  to  exhaust  the  subject,  in  its  subjective  personal 
aspect.  But  these  individual  Christians,  by  means  of  their  union  with 
Christ,  and  their  consequent  communion  with  each  other,  are  organized 
by  God  into  a  visible  Kingdom  ;  which  has  a  direct  and  precise  relation 
to  the  subjective  consideration  of  the  Knowledge  of  God.  From  this 
point,  therefore,  the  social  and  organic  aspect  of  the  subject  arises ;  and 
the  Fourth  Book  is  occupied  with  what  is  designed  to  be  a  demonstration 
of  the  Church  of  the  living  God.  But  just  as  the  work  of  grace  in  indi¬ 
vidual  men,  is  necessarily  followed  by  the  Christian  offices,  and  so  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  the  Third  Book  necessarily  followed  the  subject  of  the  Second  :  in 
like  manner,  the  consideration  of  the  gifts  of  God  to  his  Church,  and  of  all 
the  effects  of  those  gifts,  follows  the  organization  and  progress  of  the  visible 
Church  in  a  peculiar  manner.  And  thus  the  subject  of  the  Fourth  Book 
leads  directly  to  the  subject  of  the  Fifth,  in  which  the  life,  action  and 
organism  of  the  Church  are  discussed,  with  reference  to  the  special  gifts 
bestowed  on  it  by  God.  And  here  the  organic  aspect  of  the  Knowledge 
of  God  unto  salvation,  subjectively  considered,  seems  to  terminate.  What 
remains  is  the  General  Conclusion  of  the  whole  subject,  in  a  very  brief 
attempt  to  estimate  the  progress  and  result  of  these  divine  realities,  and 
to  disclose  the  revealed  consummation  of  God’s  Works  of  Creation,  Prov¬ 
idence  and  Grace. 

A  true  Christian  Theology  ought  to  be  just  in  its  scientific  conception, 
exact  in  its  method  of  development,  natural  in  the  order  of  its  topics, 
clear  in  its  continual  expositions,  adequate  in  its  great  generalizations, 
carefully  observant  of  the  divine  proportion  of  its  parts,  pervaded  by  the 
unity  which  belongs  to  a  high  and  continuous  demonstration,  and  guided 
by  a  spiritual  insight  and  a  sense  of  the  presence  of  the  living  God  in  all 
and  through  all.  For,  after  all,  it  is  the  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation 
which  is  the  substance  :  Scientific  Theology,  at  the  best,  is  only  the  form 


XVI 


PRELIMINARY  REMARKS. 


under  which  that  divine  substance  is  presented.  Its  glory  and  its  tri- 
umph  would  be,  to  obtain,  at  length,  that  form  which  accords  perfectly 
with  that  heavenly  substance.  Whoever  will  attempt  to  exhibit  in  a 
scientific  manner,  the  chief  parts  of  that  Knowledge  so  far  as  he  possesses 
it ;  will  have  occasion  when  his  task  is  even  worthily  accomplished,  to 
bewail  the  poverty  of  the  exhibition  he  has  made,  compared — I  need  not 
say — with  the  grandeur  of  his  theme,  but  even  with  his  own  conception 
of  it. 

In  the  Preliminary  Words  prefixed  to  the  First  Part  of  Theology,  I 
made  certain  statements  and  explanations  upon  such  topics  as  seemed  to 
me  to  require  it ;  some  of  which  had  more  particular  reference  to  that 
Treatise,  and  others  more  particular  reference  to  the  whole  work,  of  which 
that  was  the  first  of  three  parts.  Without  repeating  here  any  of  those 
statements, — I  refer  to  them  and  adopt  them  all,  as  applicable  with  the 
same  emphasis,  and  in  the  same  sense,  to  this  Treatise  as  to  that.  They 
were  never  capable  of  being  misunderstood;  unless,  perhaps,  to  authorize 
the  supposition  that  my  use  of  the  labours  of  others,  both  in  that  Treatise 
and  in  this,  was  far  more  extensive  than  in  fact  it  was ;  and  that  my  con¬ 
tributions  to  the  true  progress  of  Christian  Theology  were  less  distinct, 
than  they  might  turn  out  to  be.  Claiming  nothing,  except  a  patient  con¬ 
sideration  by  the  people  of  God,  of  a  sincere  endeavour  to  restate  with 
perfect  simplicity,  and  according  to  its  own  sublime  nature,  and  in  its  own 
glorious  proportion,  the  Knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation ;  I  confidently 
ask,  who  are  they  amongst  the  living, — how  many  are  there  amongst  the 
dead, — on  whose  behalf  it  can  be  truly  asserted,  that  such  a  claim  is  un¬ 
just  to  them,  or  unbecoming  in  me? 

The  preceding  volume  was  a  complete  Treatise ;  the  present  volume 
is  also  a  complete  Treatise  :  the  two  united  contain  all  I  propose  to  ad¬ 
vance  on  what  is  sometimes  called  Systematic  Theology,  sometimes  Dog¬ 
matic  Theology,  sometimes  merely  Theology.  The  former  volume  con¬ 
tains  the  objective,  the  present  one  the  subjective  consideration  of  saving 
truth  :  saving  truth  in  itself — saving  truth  in  its  working.  It  will  com¬ 
plete  my  original  design,  if  the  Lord  spares  me  and  enables  me  to  compose 
and  publish  one  more  volume,  devoted  to  what  is  commonly  called  Po¬ 
lemic  or  controversial  Theology,  embracing  Apologetics ;  that  is,  to  what 
I  contemplate  as  the  Knowledge  of  God  considered  relatively  to  all  un¬ 
truth  incompatible  with  salvation. 

Br.edalbane,  near  Lexington,  Ky.,  April,  3  859. 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD, 

SUBJECTIVELY  CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK. 

I  have  attempted  in  a  former  Treatise,  to  demonstrate  and  to  classify  the  whole 
knowledge  of  God  attainable  by  man  unto  salvation,  considered  as  mere  Know¬ 
ledge  ;  and  thus  to  exhibit  Theology  in  the  purely  objective — as  in  every  other 
aspect  of  it,  as  a  science  of  Positive  Truth,  both  inductive  and  deductive.  This 
volume,  devoted  to  the  thorough  treatment  of  the  knowledge  of  God  subject¬ 
ively  considered  in  the  actual  salvation  of  fallen  men,  occupies  this  First  Book 
of  it  in  pointing  out  the  whole  aspect  and  method,  both  universal  and  particu¬ 
lar,  of  the  transition  of  that  knowledge  from  the  Objective  into  the  Subjective. 
It  concerns  itself  in  explicating  the  divine  Plan,  Economy,  and  Method,  whereby, 
what  has  been  hitherto  treated  as  mere  knowledge,  attainable  by  man,  passes 
over  and  becomes  an  infinite  force  upon  man  and  in  man;  and  in  demonstra¬ 
ting  the  certainty  of  salvation  in  this  way,  and  its  utter  impossibility  in  any 
other.  The  First  Chapter,  therefore,  of  this  First  Book,  discusses  the  condition 
in  which  the  created  universe  was  placed  by  the  Sentence  of  God  and  his  Pro¬ 
mise  of  a  Saviour,  upon  the  Fall  of  Man ;  and,  in  particular,  it  attempts  to  settle 
the  actual  condition  of  the  human  race  as  determined  by  the  creation,  the  trial, 
the  fall,  the  sentence,  and  the  promise ;  and  to  solve  all  the  great  problems  involved 
in  that  attempt.  The  Second  Chapter  is  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  the  Covenant 
of  Redemption,  of  whose  existence  the  promise  of  the  Seed  of  the  woman,  so 
decisive  upon  the  fate  of  the  universe  and  especially  of  man,  was  the  first  inti¬ 
mation  ;  wherein  the  nature  and  reality  of  that  Covenant,  together  with  its 
relation  to  the  nature  and  grace  of  God,  and  to  the  Persons  of  the  Godhead, 
and  to  the  salvation  of  man,  are  exhibited ;  and  the  chief  principles  and  truths 
on  which  it  rests,  with  the  chief  cavils  against  it,  and  the  method  and  efficacy 
of  its  operation,  are  considered.  The  Third  Chapter  discloses  in  a  special  man¬ 
ner  the  relation  of  this  Eternal  Covenant  to  the  intimate  nature,  inner  life,  and 
fundamental  convictions  of  man ;  the  nature  and  rule  of  Duty, — the  sovereignty 
of  God  and  the  dependence  of  man,  the  relation  of  divine  Grace  to  such  con¬ 
ditions,  and  the  efficacy  of  personal  redemption — are  discussed ;  and  the  whole 
question  of  personal  salvation  and  the  failure  of  it,  is  traced  to  its  ultimate 
ground,  and  the  true  nature  of  Redeeming  Love  is  exhibited  in  its  method  and 
in  its  results.  The  Fourth  Chapter  is  occupied  with  an  exposition  of  the  special 
obligations  laid  on  man,  as  the  special  conditions  of  his  participation  in  the  ben¬ 
efits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption ;  wherein  the  ultimate  truths  concerning 
human  nature  are  examined,  with  reference  to  the  divine  means  of  human  res¬ 
toration,  and  as  the  result  it  is  shown  that  Repentance  towards  God,  and  Faith, 
towards  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  both  of  which  are  summarily  explained,  are  the 
unavoidable  and  the  universal,  as  they  are  the  revealed  and  effectual  conditions 


2 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FIRST  BOOK. 


of  salvation  for  fallen  men  ;  and  the  nature  of  the  impotence  produced  by  sin — 
the  universal  need  of  divine  aid  by  every  created  being — the  glory  of  divine 
Grace,  and  the  certainty  of  perdition  without  it,  are  set  forth.  The  Fifth 
Chapter,  which  is  also  the  last  one  of  this  First  Book,  is  an  attempt  to  disclose 
the  whole  Economy  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  under  all  its  administra¬ 
tions — with  the  special  design  of  determining  with  precision  our  own  actual  po¬ 
sition  with  reference  thereto ;  wherein  the  Covenants  of  Works  and  Redemption 
are  compared,  and  their  agreement  and  difference  pointed  out;  the  successive 
dispensations  of  the  latter  Covenant,  from  Adam  to  the  consummation  of  all 
things,  are  briefly  exhibited — together  with  the  condition  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  at  each  great  epoch  relatively  to  each 
other ;  and  the  absolute  unity  of  the  essence  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption 
under  all  Dispensations  is  demonstrated — together  with  the  nature  and  power 
of  the  knowledge,  and  the  certainty  of  the  salvation,  thus  attainable.  As  the 
result  of  this  course  of  enquiry  and  demonstration,  we  are  brought  imme¬ 
diately  to  the  direct  application  of  divine  knowledge,  with  divine  power, 
through  divine  Grace,  to  our  own  hearts  as  individual  sinners ;  which  great 
work  is  developed  in  the  Second  Book.  In  this  Book — if  a  selection  can  be 
made  of  a  small  number  of  fundamental  truths  covering  in  a  general  but  deci¬ 
sive  way,  the  immense  field  explored  in  it — the  following  statements  may  be 
considered  as  condensing  the  whole,  namely, — That  as  the  result  of  the  Fall  of 
Man,  of  the  interlocutory  Sentence  then  pronounced  by  God,  and  of  the  Pro¬ 
mise  of  a  Saviour  then  made  by  Him,  the  human  race  lies  in  a  condition  of  sin 
and  misery  under  the  penalty  of  the  broken  Covenant  of  Works,  and  under  the 
curse  of  God’s  violated  law,  but  with  God’s  promise  of  deliverance  through  the 
Saviour  to  all  the  followers  of  Christ, — and  awaiting  the  final  sentence  of 
eternal  life  or  eternal  death  at  the  judgment  of  the  great  day : — That  the  sole 
foundation  of  the  sinner’s  hope  lies  in  the  sovereign  Grace  of  God,  of  which 
grace  the  Word  of  God  is  a  divine  Revelation,  and  the  manner  of  which  grace 
in  its  fundamental  statement  is,  the  Covenant  from  Eternity  between  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  to  save  by  the  work  of  each  with  the  concur¬ 
rence  of  all,  the  Elect  of  God  whom  the  Son  represented  as  their  Federal  head 
in  that  Covenant,  with  each  of  whom  it  becomes  a  personal  covenant  of  life  on 
his  union  with  Christ,  by  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost : — That  the  funda¬ 
mental  principles  and  truths  involved  in  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  have  a 
relevancy  most  intimate  and  most  efficacious,  to  the  spiritual  nature,  inner  life, 
and  religious  convictions  of  fallen  men,  they  being  and  they  alone  being,  that 
Gospel  which  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation: — That  Repentance  toward 
God  and  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  are  the  universal  and  unalterable 
obligations  and  conditions  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption, — obligations  bind¬ 
ing  upon  every  sinner, — conditions  irrespective  of  which  none  can  be  saved  : — 
That  the  Administration  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  embraces  all  that 
God  has  ever  done  or  will  do  for  men  considered  as  sinners, — throughout  every 
Dispensation  of  which  the  same  grace  reigns,  the  same  salvation  is  propounded, 
the  same  Saviour  is  held  forth,  the  same  union  with  him  through  the  renewing 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  exhibited,  and  the  same  eternal  life  is  made  the  inherit¬ 
ance  of  God’s  Elect,  through  God’s  love. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE:  AS  IT  LAV  UNDER  THE  SEN¬ 
TENCE  OF  GOD,  BUT  WITH  THE  PROMISE  OF  DELIVERANCE. 

I.  1.  The  Law  of  Nature. — 2.  Revealed  Will  of  God  anterior  to  the  Covenant  of 
Works. — 3.  The  Covenant  of  Works :  Penalty,  General  and  Special. — 4.  Perfect 
Solution  of  the  Origin,  Career,  Position,  and  Destiny  of  Man. — 5.  Explication  of 
the  Theoretical  by  the  Actual.  II.  1.  Moral  Constitution  of  Man. — 2.  It  in¬ 
volves  the  Existence  of  an  Infinite  Ruler. — 3.  The  Nature  of  His  boundless  Do¬ 
minion. — 4.  Its  Infinite  Certainty,  Rectitude,  and  Completeness. — 5.  The  State 
of  the  Fallen  Universe  under  that  Dominion,  and  Modification  of  that  State  by 
the  Covenant  of  Grace.  III.  1.  The  Problems  to  be  solved  after  the  Fall,  and 
the  Parties  thereto. — 2.  Statement  of  the  Case. — 3.  God’s  Irreversible  Sentence 
on  Satan:  Its  Nature  and  Effects. — 4.  Sentence  upon  the  Woman  and  the  Man: 
General  Statement. — 5.  Detailed  Explanation  of  those  Sentences,  in  their  Nature 
and  Effects:  Mixed  Condition  of  Things. — 6.  God’s  Sentence  upon  the  Earth: 
And  the  Earth’s  promised  Deliverance.  IV.  1.  The  Posture  of  the  Universe,  as 
explained  with,  and  without,  the  Word  of  God. — 2.  The  Posture  of  the  Universe, 
as  explained  with,  and  without,  the  Idea  of  Divine  Grace. — 3.  What  God  actually 
did  after  the  Fall  of  Man :  And  the  Effects  thereof. — 4.  Combined  Result  of  the 
Covenant  of  Works,  and  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  upon  the  Condition  of  Man. — 
5.  Difference  between  God’s  Conduct  towards  Satan  and  his  Seed,  and  towards  the 
Followers  of  the  promised  Seed  of  the  Woman. — 6.  Every  Thing  depends  on 
the  Grace  of  God,  and  the  Willingness  and  Sufficiency  of  Jesus  Christ. 

I. — 1.  If  we  reject  the  divine  revelation  which  is  recorded  in 
the  Sacred  Scriptures,  we  are  left  wholly  without  knowledge  of 
the  primeval  state  of  man  ;  and  are  unable  to  penetrate  the  final 
destiny  of  our  race,  or  any  individual  of  it.  That  revelation 
explains  in  the  most  precise  manner,  the  original  creation  of  man, 
the  position  he  occupied,  at  first,  with  respect  to  God  and  to  the 
universe,  and  the  intimate  nature  of  his  own  being,  his  endow¬ 
ments  and  his  duty,  his  peril  and  his  reward.  Out  of  the  state 
of  the  case  thus  exhibited  to  us  by  God,  there  necessarily  arose 
obligations  founded  in  the  very  truths,  great  as  they  were,  upon 
which  the  case  proceeded  ;  principles  inherent  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  case  ;  necessities  of  every  sort  which  must  control  man¬ 
kind,  considered  in  their  relations  to  each  other,  to  the  universe, 


4 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


and  to  God  ;  laws  in  their  very  highest  sense,  and  whether  they 
were  uttered  in  words  or  not,  which  are  the  necessary  middle 
term  between  the  idea  of  a  creator  and  the  idea  of  a  creature. 
Here  is  the  Law  of  Nature.  And  whatever  nature  herself  may 
be,  than  which  hardly  anything  is  more  difficult  to  conceive  or 
define  precisely,  that  code  to  which  we  justly  give  her  name  and 
which  her  Creator  and  ours  stamped  upon  her  in  her  first  purity, 
must  not  only  abide  while  she  endures,  hut  has  received  the  sub¬ 
lime  confirmation  of  being  fully  recognized  and  largely  restated 
in  the  inspired  Word  of  God. 

2.  In  addition  to  this  fundamental  law  of  our  very  being,  in¬ 
corporated  by  our  Creator  in  our  very  nature,  still  dimly  felt 
notwithstanding  our  fall,  and  explicitly  restated  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures  ;  God  added  other  laws,  having  special  relation  to  man, 
which  were  clearly  stated  to  him  at  his  creation,  and  which  were 
recorded  twenty-five  centuries  afterwards  on  the  earliest  pages  of 
the  Scriptures.  Thus  God  consecrated  man  whom  he  had  created 
in  his  own  image,  to  his  endless  service  and  enjoyment ;  thus 
God  consecrated  the  Sabbath  day,  the  type  and  commemoration 
of  this  ineffable  repose  when  this  work  of  creation  was  done  ; 
thus  God  gave  to  man  an  unlimited  dominion  over  the  earth  and 
over  every  creature  inferior  to  himself,  and  bade  him  increase  and 
multiply,  possess  the  earth,  subdue  it,  and  enjoy  it.  And  these 
laws  of  the  primeval  state  of  man,  following  immediately  after 
the  Law  of  Nature,  and  preceding  immediately  the  Covenant  of 
Works,  however  they,  like  all  else,  may  have  been  defaced  and  im¬ 
paired  by  the  Fall  of  Man,  are  indestructibly  united  with  the 
mortal  existence  of  the  human  race,  and  enter  decisively  into  the 
eternal  results  of  that  existence. 

3.  Thus  created  by  God,  thus  additionally  bound  to  God,  man 
in  his  primeval  estate  became  the  object  of  a  still  further  proof 
of  the  care  and  love  of  his  Creator.  God  made  with  him  a  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Life,  upon  the  single  condition  of  perfect  obedience  to  a 
single  precept  and  a  single  prohibition.  A  Covenant,  that  is, 
whereby  the  probation  incident  to  a  perfect  but  fallible  being, 
was  made  precise,  temporary,  and  slight  ;  whereby  the  probation 
of  a  whole  race  was  concentrated  on  the  probation  of  the  natural 
progenitor  and  federal  head  of  that  race  ;  whereby  the  high  es¬ 
tate  already  possessed  might  not  only  be  delivered  from  all  risk 
and  confirmed  forever,  but  might  be  gloriously  and  eternally  ad- 


CHAP.  I.]  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE.  5 

vanced  ;  whereby  even  if  he  fell,  certain  advantages  would  re¬ 
main  to  his  race,  beyond  what  were  possible  after  a  fall,  in  other 
manner.  This  is  the  Covenant  of  Works.  It  found  man  in  a 
condition  of  great  glory  and  blessedness,  and  it  proposed  to  se¬ 
cure  to  his  whole  race  forever,  the  possession  and  increase  of  both. 
In  this  respect  it  failed.  The  same  transgression  which  defeated 
it  as  a  Covenant  of  Life,  and  brought  upon  the  sinner  its  just 
penalty,  was  at  the  same  time  a  violation  of  the  fundamental 
Law  of  Nature,  and  of  the  fundamental  consecration  of  man  to 
the  service  and  enjoyment  of  God  superadded  to  the  Law  of  Na¬ 
ture,  and  subjected  him  to  the  just  penalty  of  both.  What  was 
the  penalty  to  the  Covenant  of  Works,  was  stated  in  the  Cove¬ 
nant  itself.  What  was  the  penalty  of  the  violation  of  the  first 
and  highest  Law  of  Nature,  and  what  was  that  annexed  to  those 
additions  to  it  which  preceded  the  Covenant,  were  not  declared 
beforehand  :  they  remained  to  be  disclosed  by  God,  when  and 
how  he  pleased.  All  might  be  presumed  to  be  concentrated  in 
the  fearful  penalty  annexed  to  the  Covenant  ;  the  more  readily, 
as  it  was  a  Covenant,  not  of  vengeance  but  of  Life,  and  as  its 
penalty  was  the  highest  ever  inflicted  by  Jehovah.  At  any  rate, 
the  Covenant  of  Works,  like  both  systems  of  Law  which  preceded 
it,  abode  as  an  elemental  and  indestructible  part  of  the  spiritual 
system  of  the  universe  to  which  man  appertained  ;  and  it,  like 
them,  will  endure,  in  its  place  and  to  its  ends,  until  the  final 
catastrophe  of  nature,  and  man,  and  sin. 

4.  It  is  to  the  breach  of  the  Covenant  of  Works — the  Fall  of 
Man — that  the  word  of  God  constantly  attributes  the  present 
condition  of  the  human  race,  a  condition  which  it  every where 
describes  as  one  of  sin  and  misery.  Nor  can  it  be  denied  that 
in  the  facts  stated  in  the  Scriptures,  concerning  the  creation, 
original  state,  trial,  and  fall  of  man,  a  perfect  explanation  is  fur¬ 
nished  of  the  whole  career  and  present  condition  of  the  human 
race.  Theoretically,  at  least,  the  grandest  problems  of  humanity 
are  solved  ;  and  it  behooves  the  caviller  to  cast  some  doubt  over 
the  facts  themselves,  or  to  accept  the  perfect  solution  they  afford ; 
and  all  the  more  urgently,  since  besides  these  facts  asserted  by 
God  and  transmitted  through  all  generations,  the  whole  human 
race  has  been  unable  to  suggest  even  a  conjecture,  upon  which 
its  own  actual  condition  could  be  adequately  explained.  The 
original  perfection,  and  at  the  same  time  the  fallibility  of  human 


6 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


nature,  are  the  fundamental  data  of  the  Covenant  of  Works  ; 
precisely  as  the  pollution,  and  at  the  same  time  the  susceptibility 
of  restoration,  in  fallen  human  nature,  are  the  fundamental 
data  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  ;  data  infinitely  remarkable  and 
fruitful,  not  one  of  which  any  human  intellect  had  ever  of  itself 
j)erceived  to  he  an  element  in  the  solution  of  the  great  problems 
of  humanity,  at  which  the  human  intellect  has  never  ceased  to 
labor.  No  less  remarkable — nor  less  fruitful — was  that  other 
basis  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  namely,  that  moral  evil,  and  by 
means  of  it  physical  evil  also,  might  find  entrance  into  a  perfect 
universe  through  the  act  of  a  perfect  but  fallible  creature  ;  just 
as  it  is  a  basis  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  that  these  evils  can  be 
repaired  through  the  incarnation  of  the  Godhead  in  the  very  na¬ 
ture  which  fell,  and  in  no  other  way  ;  sublime  realities,  before 
which  the  mysteries  of  our  condition  vanish.  No  less  remarkable 
again — nor  yet  less  fruitful — is  that  other  basis  of  the  Covenant 
of  Works,  that  while  God  deals  with  every  human  being  indi¬ 
vidually  and  directly,  yet  besides  this  and  beneath  this,  there  is 
a  wider  and  deeper  mode  of  God's  dealing  with  the  common 
head  and  root  of  all — for  the  whole  race  ;  both  of  which  truths 
apply  with  perfect  force  under  the  Covenant  of  Grace  ;  immeas¬ 
urable  truths,  in  the  absence  of  which  our  condition  and  God's 
dealings  with  us  are  alike  inexplicable,  but  in  the  combined  light 
of  which  both  Covenants  and  the  effects  of  both  of  them  upon 
us  are  perfectly  comprehensible. 

5.  That  perfect  but  fallible  head  and  progenitor  of  our  race 
was  tried — and  fell.  That  possibility  of  the  entrance  of  evil  into 
a  perfect  universe,  actually  occurred.  That  principle  of  cove¬ 
nanted  dealing  by  God  with  man,  through  which  life  and  immor¬ 
tality  are  now  brought  to  light  through  Jesus  Christ,  when  first 
applied  produced  through  Adam  the  ruin  of  our  race.  The  fa¬ 
vour  and  the  image  of  God  are  lost;  the  race  is  no  longer  perfect, 
but  is  fallen  and  depraved  ;  it  lies  under  the  curse  of  God's  vio¬ 
lated  law,  the  penalty  of  his  broken  covenant.  And  in  this  con¬ 
dition  the  personal  dealings  of  God  with  each  individual  sinner, 
must  necessarily  have  regard  to  all  those  transgressions,  which 
besides  their  original  source  in  the  primeval  fallibility  of  man, 
have  a  new  and  more  virulent  source  in  the  polluted  nature  in¬ 
herited  since  the  fall.  Nor  are  the  results  of  these  transactions 
either  doubtful,  accidental,  or  capable  of  remedy  by  us.  Man 


CHAP  I.]  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE.  7 

has  broken  covenant  with  Gocl,  and  rendered  himself  alike  un¬ 
worthy  and  incapable  of  life  by  means  of  that  defaced  covenant ; 
and  God  has  judicially  annulled  it  as  a  covenant  of  life,  has 
passed  an  interlocutory  sentence  upon  all  who  were  implicated  in 
its  breach  or  involved  in  its  penalty,  has  been  executing  that 
sentence  since  the  hour  in  which  he  uttered  it,  and  only  awaits  the 
judgment  of  the  great  day  to  make  it  final  and  complete.  The 
actual  condition  of  the  universe,  and  more  especially  that  of 
the  human  race,  is  exact  and  determinate — ascertained  and  de¬ 
clared  by  God  himself — the  inevitable  result  of  what  had  gone 
before' — -and  wholly  irremediable  except  through  the  sovereign 
grace  of  God,  and  the  incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  his  only  begot¬ 
ten  Son.  These  sublime  principles  and  truths  find  their  expla¬ 
nation  and  defence  throughout  the  sacred  Scriptures  ;  the  whole 
providence  of  God  affords  a  perpetual  illustration  of  them  ;  and 
every  human  heart,  and  every  human  life  displays  the  constancy 
and  the  power  with  which  they  separately  or  unitedly  control  the 
condition  and  destiny  of  man. 

II.- — 1.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  separate  the  inward  sense  of 
duty  from  the  outward  ideas  of  obligation  and  responsibility ; 
or  from  the  inward  sense  of  blameworthiness  if  that  sense  of 
duty  is  violated,  and  of  satisfaction  if  it  is  obeyed.  But  this 
sense  of  blameworthiness  is  no  less  than  the  testimony  of  nature 
to  our  righteous  liability  to  punishment  for  transgression  ;  and 
this  sense  of  inward  satisfaction  is  no  less  than  a  corresponding 
testimony  of  nature  to  the  reality  of  virtue,  which  considered 
merely  of  the  soul  may  well  be  called  the  realization  of  the 
health  and  beauty  and  good  habit  thereof.  So  that  in  the  very 
constitution  of  our  nature  as  it  now  exists,  there  is  the  clearest 
proof  that  there  are  such  things  as  right  and  wrong — that  the 
difference  between  them  is  ineffaceable — that  wrong  doing  is  not 
only  the  proper  ground  of  punishment,  but  directly  productive 
of  misery — and  that  right  doing  is  not  only  the  proper  ground 
of  approbation,  but  directly  productive  of  happiness. 

2.  The  direct  punishment  of  wrong  doing  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  incidental  consequences  of  that  wrong  doing,  in  the  way 
of  incurring  or  even  of  enduring  the  punishment.  Those  inci¬ 
dental  consequences  may  be,  even  under  a  perfect  administration, 
a  very  sore  aggravation  of  the  punishment  itself ;  and  in  all  im¬ 
perfect  administrations  may  become  more  terrible  than  the  proper 


8  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

penalty  of*  transgression.  On  the  other  hand,  they  may  become 
not  only  great  alleviations  of  punishment,  but  the  means  of 
great  and  lasting  benefit  to  the  transgressor.  Wherefore  to  call 
them  punishment  in  the  proper  sense,  would  be  to  say  that  even 
under  a  perfect  administration  the  violation  of  duty  stands  an 
equal  chance  of  being  advantageous  ;  and  that  under  an  imper¬ 
fect  administration  fitness  to  be  punished  is  not  a  proper  ground 
upon  which  justice  can  proceed,  either  with  safety  or  certainty  : 
results  which  subvert  all  moral  distinctions.  It  will  be  observed 
that  the  very  terms  I  have  used,  and  every  idea  they  all  suggest, 
necessarily  involve  a  lawgiver,  a  law,  and  a  subject  of  it — three 
terms  which  absolutely  stand  or  fall  together.  So  that  the  exis¬ 
tence  of  an  infinite  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  the  approver  of  right 
doing  and  the  punisher  of  wrong  doing- — the  administrator  also 
of  the  boundless  complexities  incidental  to  both  actions,  is  in¬ 
volved  in  the  very  nature  of  our  own  moral  constitution. 

3.  What  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  paragraph  embraces 
the  whole  distinction  between  punishment  properly  considered, 
and  whatever  is  merely  incidental  thereto — 'Whether  these  incidents 
appertain  to  the  actual  infliction  of  the  punishment,  or  whether 
they  appertain  immediately  to  the  trangression  itself,  or  whether 
they  appertain  to  the  method  of  dealing  with  the  culprit  between 
the  perpetration  of  the  offence  and  the  infliction  of  the  penalty. 
To  suppose  that  all  these  incidents  are  merely  proofs  of  an  im¬ 
perfect  administration,  would  not  alter  the  case  at  all,  or  affect 
the  moral  principles  involved  in  it,  even  if  the  supposition  were 
true.  To  suppose,  with  regard  to  the  infinite  administration  of 
God,  that  all  these  incidents  must  have  been  foreseen  by  him, 
and  all  been  allowed  for  in  giving  us  such  a  nature  as  he  has, 
and  such  a  moral  code  to  the  universe  as  is  answerable  to  that 
nature — is  but  stating  the  condition  under  which  the  principles 
themselves  operate,  under  which  the  incidents  themselves  occur. 
The  infinite  complications  of  the  universe,  and  the  infinite  wis¬ 
dom,  power,  justice,  and  goodness  of  God  in  directing  them  all 
by  his  adorable  providence,  are  subjects  of  the  most  transcen¬ 
dent  interest :  but  the  very  thing  we  need  is  the  means  of 
piercing  those  endless  complications  which  surround  us  on  all 
sides,  the  fundamental  truths  upon  which  that  boundless  and 
irresistible  providence  may  be  at  once  understood  and  vindicated. 
If  we  will  deal  justly  with  ourselves,  as  the  beginning  of  that 


CHAP.  I.]  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE.  9 

perpetual  right  doing  which  God  approves,  and  which  diffuses 
satisfaction  through  our  own  souls,  we  shall  find  that  God  has 
laid  in  the  very  nature  we  possess  those  precise  elements,  and 
has  explicated  throughout  his  most  blessed  word  those  great  and 
satisfying  truths,  whereby  the  conscience  and  reason  he  has  given 
us  are  competent  to  justify  his  ways,  and  to  know,  not  only  that 
he  is,  but  that  he  is  the  re  warder  of  them  that  diligently  seek 
him. 

4.  How  God  could  permit  transgression  to  go  unpunished,  is 
wholly  inconceivable.  The  highest  manifestation  which  has  ever 
occurred  of  his  infinite  grace  to  sinners  and  his  infinite  compas¬ 
sion  for  the  miserable — the  cross,  namely,  on  which  his  only  be¬ 
gotten  Son  offered  himself  a  sacrifice — is  the  very  highest  proof 
of  which  we  can  conceive,  that  every  transgression  and  disobe¬ 
dience  must  receive  a  just  recompense  of  reward.  And  so  the 
Scriptures  perpetually  assert.  That  which  our  own  hearts  teach 
us  wTe  deserve — punishment  for  transgression  ;  that  which  our 
reason  can  discover  no  possibility  of  avoiding,  when  contemplated 
merely  on  the  human  side  of  the  case  ;  becomes  an  irresistible 
necessity  as  soon  as  we  allow  ourselves  to  contemplate  the  divine 
side  of  it.  There  is  no  more  possibility  that  God  should  allow' 
sin  to  go  unpunished,  than  that  he  should  allow  innocence  to  be 
condemned.  And  in  nothing  is  he  more  careful  to  inform  us, 
than  that  the  apparent  departures  from  these  eternal  necessities 
which  we  observe  in  human  affairs,  are  bpt  temporary  and  anom¬ 
alous  ;  and  that  the  stupendous  departure  from  them  in  the 
work  of  redemption  through  the  divine  Saviour  of  sinners,  is  the 
very  highest  manifestation  of  the  principles  themselves,  wrought 
out  through  the  infinite  goodness  of  God,  to  the  infinite  glory  of 
God,  and  springing  from  a  transcendent  generalization  of  all  the 
perfections  of  God. 

5.  Satan,  and  man,  and  the  brute  creation,  and  the  earth  it¬ 
self — our  universe  ;  all,  lying  under  the  curse  of  God,  lie  under 
the  force  of  all  the  truths  I  have  stated,  all  the  principles  I  have 
distinguished.  Every  thing  is  polluted  by  sin  ;  every  thing  lies 
under  the  penalty  of  transgression  ;  every  thing  has  actually  re¬ 
ceived  sentence,  and  awaits  a  farther  sentence  at  the  great  day  ; 
every  thing  must  endure,  in  some  form  or  other,  its  due  recom¬ 
pense.  Besides  this,  whatever  things  are  incidental  to  transgres¬ 
sion,  let  them  be  what  they  may  ;  and  whatever  are  incidental 


10 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[book  I. 


to  punishment  ;  and  whatever  are  incidental  to  process  in  its 
widest  sense,  if  I  may  so  speak  ;  all — all  must  he  encountered. 
And  the  infinite  complications  of  the  universe,  and  the  infinite 
dominion  of  God,  are — as  to  the  former  but  elements,  and  as  to 
the  latter  but  the  means,  whereby,  and  wherein,  infinite  wisdom, 
and  justice,  and  grace  continually  expatiate  in  accomplishing  the 
eternal  purpose  of  God's  infinite  will,  to  his  own  boundless  glory. 
The  entrance  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  modified  everything.  The 
primeval  promise  of  a  Saviour,  uttered  by  God  as  a  part  of  the  sen¬ 
tence  he  pronounced  on  Satan,  changed  the  condition  of  the  uni¬ 
verse.  God  revealed  therein  the  principles  on  which  he  would  act 
towards  a  universe  lying  under  his  curse  :  on  the  one  hand,  inex¬ 
tinguishable  wrath  against  Satan  and  his  seed  ;  on  the  other  hand 
infinite  grace  towards  fallen  man  ;  gloriously  developed  through¬ 
out  the  word  of  God,  and  efficacious  to  eternity.  But  still  the 
curse  remained,  and  the  universe  lay  under  it ;  and  it  lies  under 
it  still.  A  universe  under  God's  curse — hut  with  the  promise  of 
an  infinite  deliverance,  limited  only  in  that  Satan  and  his  seed 
have  no  part  in  it  ;  a  universe  before  our  eyes,  after  so  many 
weary  ages,  still  struggling  under  that  curse  towards  that  deliv¬ 
erance  ;  groaning  and  travailing  in  pain  under  the  bondage  of 
corruption,  hut  still  cherishing  the  hope  in  which  it  was  subjected 
of  attaining  to  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 

III.  1.  Let  us  attempt  to  estimate  in  a  more  detailed  manner 
this  mixed  condition  of  the  universe,  as  the  elements  thereof  are 
delivered  to  us  in  the  account  of  them  inspired  by  God  himself. 
Nothing  more  remarkable  ever  occurred  on  earth.  It  is  God  the 
Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  universe,  Satan  the  head  of  the  fallen 
angels  and  the  destroyer  of  the  human  race,  and  the  first  parents 
of  that  race,  who  are  the  parties  to  transactions  so  wonderful. 
And  the  questions  adjudged  are  vast  beyond  the  conception  of 
any  but  God  himself;  the  fate  of  the  universe  he  had  created, 
the  destiny  of  the  human  race  created  in  his  own  image  and  now 
fallen  from  it — the  overthrow  of  his  first  covenant  as  a  Covenant 
of  Life — the  first  discovery  of  his  new  and  better  covenant’ — the 
question  of  his  own  eternal  glory,  of  vengeance  on  the  Devil  and 
his  seed,  of  grace  and  salvation  for  his  own  elect  !  How  can  the 
grandeur  of  such  topics,  and  the  utter  insufficiency  of  human 
reason  for  their  solution,  he  more  clearly  displayed,  than  by  the 
fact  that  their  solution  resulted,  as  I  have  before  ventured  to  ex- 


11 


CHAP  I.]  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 

press  it,  through  a  transcendent  generalization  of  all  the  perfec¬ 
tions  of  God,  and  that  the  method  of  that  salvation  lay  in  the 
incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  ! 

2.  The  first  three  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Genesis,  with  which 
the  inspired  volume  opens,  contain  a  detailed  though  wonderfully 
compact  statement  of  the  creation  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
and  all  that  in  them  is  ;  very  especially  of  the  creation  and 
original  nature  and  primeval  estate  of  man  ;  of  the  giving  to 
him  by  God  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  his  trial  under  it,  his 
breach  of  it,  and  the  consequent  fall  of  the  sentence  of  God  upon 
all  the  parties  implicated  in  this  transaction,  and  upon  the  uni¬ 
verse  which  was  involved  with  them  ;  and  of  the  first  intimation 
by  God,  that  the  great  deliverer  should  come,  and  that  all  things 
should  be  restituted  and  recapitulated  in  him.  It  is  the  clo¬ 
sing  portion  of  these  transcendent  acts,  with  which,  at  this  mo¬ 
ment,  we  are  specially  concerned  in  the  present  attempt  to 
appreciate  the  condition  in  which  the  universe  was  left,  when 
they  were  all  finished,  and  our  first  parents  were  driven  from  the 
Garden  of  Eden  ;  the  sentence  of  God,  namely,  and  the  promise 
of  the  Seed  of  the  woman,  and  the  threat  of  the  destruction  of 
Satan.  The  whole  of  these  vast  subjects  have  been  carefully 
analysed  and  expounded,  as  the  sources  of  complete  and  universal 
knowledge  to  us,  touching  the  matters  to  which  they  relate — in 
a  former  Treatise  ;  and  having  occasion  now  to  examine  a  portion 
of  them  for  the  special  purpose  immediately  before  us,  I  content 
myself,  as  to  what  does  not  fall  necessarily  into  the  present  use, 
with  this  general  reference  to  that  Treatise. 

3.  The  Scriptures  abundantly  testify  that  Satan,  under  the 
form  of  the  serpent,  was  the  real  tempter  of  our  first  parents.1 
His  sentence,  therefore,  has  this  twofold  aspect  of  the  bestial 
and  the  diabolical  nature  of  the  agency  which  produced  the  fall 
of  man  ;  and  as  God  has  put  these  aspects  together,  we  need 
not  be  careful  to  separate  them.  The  penalty  denounced  on  him, 
was  for  his  agency  in  the  fall  of  man.  Whatever  punishment 
he  may  deserve,  or  receive  for  other  sins,  it  is  for  his  part  in  the 
ruin  of  man  that  he  is  sentenced  and  punished,  in  connection 
with  the  dispensation  of  God  towards  man.  Because  thou  hast 
done  this,  is  the  formula  used  by  God  ;  the  very  same  used  in 
sentencing  Adam ;  the  fault  first,  and  then  the  punishment.  Not 

1  Rev.,  xii.  9 ;  xxii.  1-3. 


12 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


only  does  the  curse  of  God  and  all  that  is  involved  therein  rest 
on  Satan,  hut  it  does  so  in  a  manner  the  highest  and  deepest 
of  all ;  cursed  above  all  cattle  and  above  every  beast  of  the 
field  ;  of  which  a  flagrant — as  well  as  a  symbolical  exhibition 
should  be  made  to  the  universe,  in  the  prostrate  condition  of  the 
serpent,  and  in  the  vileness  of  his  common  sustenance.  But 
the  main  part  and  proof  of  the  penalty  and  curse  on  Satan,  lies 
in  the  enmity  denounced  by  God  between  the  Devil  and  his  seed 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  woman  and  her  Seed  on  the  other  side.1 
We  have  herein  a  very  extraordinary  intimation  of  the  preter¬ 
natural  generation  of  Christ,  and  of  all  that  is  involved  therein  ; 
and  the  enmity  between  the  seed  of  Satan  and  the  Seed  of  the 
woman  is  as  clearly  denounced  as  the  enmity  between  Satan  and 
the  woman.  Bat  beyond  all  doubt,  Christ  is  that  Seed  of  the 
woman  intended,  and  his  people  in  him  as  their  head.2  And 
again,  beyond  all  doubt,  the  obstinately  impenitent  are  em¬ 
braced  among  the  seed  of  Satan,  and  are  expressly  and  repeat¬ 
edly  called  the  children  of  the  Devil,  a  generation  of  vipers  and 
the  like.3  The  obstinately  and  finally  impenitent  are,  therefore, 
no  more  embraced  in  any  provision  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace, 
terminating  in  salvation,  than  the  Devil  himself  is.  This  quench¬ 
less  and  eternal  enmity  of  Satan  and  his  seed  to  the  woman  and 
her  Seed,  is  a  large  part  of  their  interlocutory  sentence,  and  of  so 
much  of  the  penalty  of  transgression  as  is  executed  upon  them 
before  their  final  sentence  and  second  death.  Pitiless  hate,  and 
malice,  and  every  evil  passion  consuming  them  ;  aggravated  be¬ 
yond  conception  by  the  object  of  their  enmity  being  worthy  of 
their  boundless  love,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  their  inextinguish¬ 
able  hate  ;  a  state  of  case  applying  in  its  degree,  to  their  enmity 
towards  every  child  of  God.  At  the  same  time  the  enmity  of 
the  Seed  of  the  woman  to  Satan  and  his  seed,  begets  in  these 
enemies  of  God,  endless  disquiet,  dread,  and  terror,  and  ends  in 
their  total  overthrow,  ruin,  and  perdition.  Even  their  partial 
success  in  bruising  his  heel,  being  utterly  malicious  and  diabol¬ 
ical,  can  add  nothing  but  misery  and  pollution  to  them,  and 
can  effectually  promote  only  their  own  punishment  and  woe.  It 
can  never  be  more  than  a  partial  success,  bruising  the  heel  only ; 

1  Gen.,  iii.  14,  15. 

2  Ps.,  cxxxii.  11 ;  Isa.,  vii.  14;  vili.  8;  Matt,  i.  23-25  ;  Luke,  i.  31-35  ;  Gal.,  iv.  4. 

3  Matt,  iii.  7  ;  xiii.  38 ;  xxiii.  33;  John,  viii.  44;  Acts,  xiii.  10 ;  1  John,  iii.  8. 


CHAP  1.1  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 


13 


it  can  never  fail  to  be  in  the  end  a  source  of  rage  and  disappoint¬ 
ment — even  in  its  progress  attended  with  tormenting  uncertainty, 
disquietude,  and  alarm.  Even  when  the  crucifixion  of  the  prom¬ 
ised  Seed  had  been  achieved,  the  effect  was  the  overthrow  of  the 
kingdom  of  darkness  ;  a  result  whose  possibility  Satan  himself 
seems  to  have  had  some  fearful  suspicion  might  be  impending  in 
some  way  he  did  not  comprehend  ;  as  appears  to  be  intimated  in 
that  remarkable  attempt  of  the  wife  of  Pilate  to  arrest  the  exe¬ 
cution  of  Jesus.1  In  all  the  Scriptures  scarcely  anything  is  more 
distinctly  set  before  us,  than  the  great  outline  of  the  character 
and  career  of  Satan.  His  original  state  as  a  pure  and  exalted 
spirit ;  his  revolt  in  heaven  and  his  being  cast  into  hell ;  his  ruin 
of  our  first  parents  ;  his  hatred  and  malice  against  the  Christ 
of  God  and  all  his  followers  ;  his  ceaseless  temptations,  accusa¬ 
tions,  and  persecutions  ;  his  boundless  cruelties,  his  endless  se¬ 
ductions,  his  shameless  lies,  even  to  the  denial  of  his  own  exist¬ 
ence,  his  employment  of  civil  butchers,  his  inciting  religious 
seducers,  his  uniting  both  in  one  in  the  long  lines  of  Heathen, 
and  Papal,  and  Mohammedan  oppressors  of  the  children  of  God  ; 
a  liar  and  a  murderer  from  the  beginning — a  liar  and  murderer 
to  the  end  !  Blessed  be  God  for  the  hope  that  we  are  approach¬ 
ing  the  period,  when  God's  angel  will  lay  hold  on  the  Dragon, 
that  old  serpent  which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan,  and  bind  him  for 
a  thousand  years,  and  cast  him  into  the  bottomless  pit,  and  shut 
him  up,  and  set  a  seal  upon  him.2  Blessed  be  God  for  the  assu¬ 
rance,  made  ours  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  that  after  those 
thousand  years  are  out,  and  after  Satan  shall  have  been  loosed 
out  of  his  prison  to  deceive  the  nations  ;  our  eyes  shall  at  last 
behold  death  and  hell  and  Satan  cast  into  the  lake  of  torment, 
even  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  where  the  beast  and  the 
fallen  prophet  are,  and  where  they  shall  be  tormented  day  and 
night  for  ever  and  ever.3  Analogous  to  the  character,  the  career, 
and  the  destiny  of  Satan,  is  that  of  those  whom  the  Scriptures 
in  view  of  their  original  ruin  through  him,  their  bond  service  of 
him  through  their  mortal  existence,  and  their  final  perdition  with 
him — call  his  seed.  However  fearful  it  may  be  to  contemplate 
any  portion  of  the  human  race  under  an  aspect  so  terrible,  it  is 
impossible  for  us  to  escape  the  meaning  of  God  in  the  sentence 
we  have  been  considering,  or  to  avoid  the  confirmation  thereof  in 

J  Matt.,  xxvii.  19.  2  Rev.,  xx.  1-3.  3  Rev.,  xx.  7-15. 


14  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

every  statement  of  tlie  divine  word  relating  to  the  finally  impeni¬ 
tent,  or  to  shun  the  overwhelming  proof  of  the  guilt,  pollution, 
misery,  and  ruin  of  the  ungodly,  which  is  the  most  conspicuous 
part  of  the  sum  of  all  human  knowledge  concerning  the  human 
race.  Nay,  the  more  we  know  of  God  and  his  word,  of  Satan,  of 
the  human  race  and  of  ourselves,  the  more  are  we  ready  to  mag¬ 
nify  the  riches  of  that  divine  Grace  whereby  sinners  are  saved, 
and  to  confess  that  it  is  because  they  are  unsearchable  riches, 
that  any  sinner  at  all  is  saved.  It  is  in  vain  that  we  would  shut 
our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not  only  a  part  of  our  vocation, 
but  a  part  of  the  very  blessedness  thereof,  that  we  must  suffer 
with  Christ.1  It  is  worse  than  in  vain,  it  is  an  abnegation  of  the 
very  nature  of  redemption,  and  the  very  nature  of  the  universe 
in  which  redemption  is  manifested,  to  suppose  that  Christ  Jesus, 
contrary  to  his  own  express  teachings,  did  not  come  into  the 
world  to  send  a  sword,  but  only  peace  on  earth.2 

4.  Following  the  sentence  of  the  serpent,  the  sentence  of  the 
woman,  and  then  the  sentence  of  Adam  is  recorded  by  Moses.3 
Referring  to  the  former  Treatise,  in  which  the  whole  subject  has 
been  carefully  examined,  it  belongs  to  the  present  necessity  to 
treat  it  only  in  a  special  aspect.  It  is  to  he  carefully  observed 
that  these  sentences  are  pronounced  by  God  after  the  sentence 
upon  Satan  had  been  pronounced,  and  after  the  promise  of  the 
Seed  of  the  woman,  which  was  a  portion  of  that  sentence.  They 
are,  therefore,  sentences  of  God  upon  the  human  race  considered 
really  as  fallen  and  guilty,  but  with  the  further  and  transcendent 
facts,  that  God  had  already  promulged  his  purpose  to  destroy 
their  destroyer,  and  to  do  this  through  their  own  nature  mani¬ 
fested  in  the  promised  Seed  of  the  woman  ;  and  in  these  ele¬ 
ments  combined  lie  the  elements  of  the  whole  issues  of  human 
existence,  and  of  the  complete  explanation  of  them  all.  The 
facts  themselves,  few  as  they  are,  and  the  order  of  their  occur¬ 
rence,  precise  as  it  is,  all  divinely  made  known  to  us,  and  all  en¬ 
tering  fundamentally  into  every  subsequent  portion  of  the  word 
of  God,  are  perfectly  adequate  to  the  explanation  of  every  prob¬ 
lem  in  the  destiny  of  our  race,  and  among  the  rest  that  great 
problem  immediately  before  us,  of  a  race  lying  under  the  sentence 
of  God,  but  with  God's  promise  of  deliverance  through  a  Saviour. 
For  example,  the  fall  preceded  the  promise  of  the  Saviour  ;  the 

1  Rom.,  viii.  17  ;  Phil.,  i.  29.  2  Matt.,  x.  passim.  3  Gen.,  iii.  16-19. 


CHAP  I.]  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE.  15 

promise  of  the  Saviour  preceded  the  sentence  of  the  woman 
and  of  Adam  ;  how  wonderfully  distinct  it  is,  therefore,  that  the 
]Dromised  Seed  of  the  woman  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Works,  either  in  its  binding  obligation,  its  breach,  or 
the  pollution  and  sentence  which  followed  ;  and  how  clear  is  the 
light  thus  thrown  on  the  person  and  work  of  Messiah,  and  re¬ 
flected  hack  upon  the  condition  of  man  !  It  is  also  to  be  care¬ 
fully  observed,  that  these  sentences  of  Eve  and  of  Adam,  and  of 
their  race  in  them,  so  far  from  being  final,  are  in  a  manner  ob¬ 
viously  limited  and  interlocutory,  tending  to  and  distinctly 
awaiting  the  absolute  sentence  after  we  shall  have  returned  to 
the  dust  as  we  were.  And  so  far  are  they  from  being  complete, 
in  the  immediate  and  full  execution  of  the  penalty  of  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Works,  that  they  do  not  even  recite  that  penalty  in  its 
fulness  :  and  they  say  nothing  of  our  enormous  guiltiness  .as  un¬ 
der  the  Law  of  Nature,  the  Moral  Law,  and  the  Law  of  those 
primeval  Institutes  of  God  which  lay  between  the  creation  and 
the  covenant ;  of  all  which  I  have  treated  specially  in  another 
place.  As  in  the  case  of  Satan,  so  in  the  case  of  these  sentences 
upon  the  woman  and  the  man,  they  are  specific  sentences  under 
the  Covenant  of  Works — omitting  all  allusion  to  other  guilti¬ 
ness  ;  and  these  especial  sentences  tempered  with  the  remark¬ 
able  omission  of  any  distinct  curse  upon  the  human  race,  while 
that  curse  forms  a  most  conspicuous  part  both  of  the  sentence 
of  Satan,  and  of  the  sentence  of  the  earth.  They  are  sentences, 
which  on  their  very  face  show,  that  terrible  as  they  were,  they 
were  compatible  with  the  promised  deliverance,  and  that  they 
were  pronounced  against  a  race  whose  condition  taken  as  a  whole, 
was  one  of  trial  under  a  new  form,  and  not  of  final  condemna¬ 
tion.  A  peculiar  sense  is  therefore  to  be  given  to  all  our  state¬ 
ments  of  the  curse  of  God  upon  our  race,  and  of  a  divine  deliv¬ 
erance  for  the  race — which  though  they  be  true  as  general 
statements,  are  not  true  universally  and  strictly  of  all  individuals. 
It  is  strictly  and  universally  true  that  every  human  being  under¬ 
lies  the  penalty  of  every  system  of  divine  laws,  for  in  one  sense 
or  other  we  have  all  violated  them  all ;  and  it  is  strictly  true 
that  every  transgressor  lies  under  the  curse  of  every  law  he  has 
violated  ;  and  it  is  strictly  true  that  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  is 
able  to  save  and  is  willing  to  save,  and  will  save  to  the  uttermost 
all  who  come  to  God  by  him.  But  it  is  not  true  that  God  has 


16 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I, 


ever  by  a  formal  sentence  promulged  Ins  curse  against  his  re¬ 
deemed,  who  are  the  objects  of  that  eternal  love  and  that  irre¬ 
versible  decree,  of  which  the  Covenant  of  Grace  is,  in  thought, 
an  outbirth.  Nor  is  it  true  that  God  ever  promulged  a  promise 
of  deliverance  to  our  fallen  race,  which  can  be  tortured  into  an 
intimation  that  he  would  ever  save  from  endless  perdition,  even 
so  much  as  one  single  obstinately  impenitent  and  unbelieving 
sinner.  Under  the  sentence  of  God,  and  under  the  curse  of 
God’s  law,  and  under  the  promise  of  divine  deliverance,  we  strug¬ 
gle  together  on  this  side  of  the  Jordan  of  death  ;  on  the  other 
side,  it  is  all  glory,  or  all  perdition. 

5.  The  mother  of  mankind  incurred  a  double  liability  ;  first — 
as  she  was  first  in  the  temptation  and  a  direct  agent  in  Adam’s 
fall ;  and  secondly,  as  she  was  our  common  progenitrix,  and  in 
him  also  as  formed  out  of  his  rib,  one  of  his  race.  She  is, 
therefore,  first  sentenced  separately,  and  then  is  embraced  with 
us  all  in  the  sentence  pronounced  on  Adam.  Her  separate  sen¬ 
tence  involved  in  a  special  manner  all  her  sex,  considered  in  the 
particular  relations  occupied  by  her — every  wife  and  every  mother 
in  the  race.1  As  a  wife — subjection  ;  as  a  mother,  sorrow  in  con¬ 
ception,  and  sorrow  in  bringing  forth  children  ;  the  fundamental 
conception  which  under  our  estate  of  sin  and  misery  answers  to 
mother  is  anguish,  and  to  wife  is  servitude.  It  is  the  sentence 
of  God  ;  and  while  sin  pollutes  man,  every  wife  and  every  mother 
underlies  it,  as  a  perpetual  proof  of  the  overwhelming  calamities 
which  the  first  wife  and  mother  brought  upon  all  her  posterity  ; 
calamities  which  these  most  sacred  relations  may  indeed  assuage, 
but  may  also  fearfully  aggravate.  It  is  thus  that  every  decisive 
fact  which  the  Scriptures  connect  with  the  Fall  of  Man  lives  and 
has  its  import  made  manifest  through  all  generations.  The  sen¬ 
tence  of  God  upon  Adam  immediately  followed  the  sentence  upon 
Eve  ;  it  is,  as  I  have  largely  explained  in  the  former  Treatise,  a 
sentence  upon  the  race  of  which  he  was  at  once  the  natural  progen¬ 
itor  and  the  federal  head — in  one  word  the  root.  This  sentence 
contains  two  parts,  of  which  the  first  relates  to  the  mortal  exist¬ 
ence  of  the  race,  and  the  second  to  the  death  which  swallows  it 
up  ;  embracing  under  both,  the  moral  aspects  which  are  the 
chief  aspects  of  the  whole  case.2  A  life  of  trouble,  and  a  life 
of  toil,  is  the  essence  of  the  first  part  of  this  brief  and  awful 

1  Gen.,  iii.  16.  2  Gen.,  iii.  17-19. 


CHAP.  I.]  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE.  17 

sentence.  Trouble  of  every  sort  and  from  every  source  ;  toil, 
ceaseless  toil,  the  livelong  day  of  the  world's  life.  If  our  lives 
were  lives  of  innocence  and  virtue,  if  the  sentence  of  God  had 
only  touched  our  physical  and  mental  condition,  how  terrible  is 
the  catastrophe  which  has  thus  reduced  us,  the  condition  which 
this  sentence  contemplates  and  in  which  we  behold  ourselves  this 
day,  compared  with  our  estate  before  the  fall  !  Being  thus  re¬ 
duced  by  transgression,  and  being  therefore  depraved,  how  great 
is  the  goodness  of  God  that  both  trouble  and  toil  are  means — 
perhaps  chief  means  of  moral  good  to  us  !  For  toil  is  the  pa¬ 
rent  of  innumerable  virtues,  as  well  as  of  all  true  success,  ad¬ 
vancement,  usefulness,  and  greatness  ;  and  trouble  and  sorrow  are 
common  and  chief  occasions  of  the  richest  blessings  of  God,  and 
of  the  purest  and  highest  manifestations  of  virtue.  And  thus 
on  both  sides,  in  the  whole  progress  of  our  existence,  the  mixed 
condition  of  our  present  estate,  is  manifested  to  us  ;  our  fall  and 
our  sentence  on  one  side — the  divine  promise  and  our  hope  of 
deliverance  on  the  other.  But  the  second  part  of  this  sentence 
is  still  more  terrible  :  Dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou 
return.1  That  temporal  death  was  an  express  part  of  the  penal 
sanction  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  that  it  is  expressly  de¬ 
nounced  as  such  in  God's  sentence  upon  Adam,  and  that  in  this 
way  and  in  no  other  it  found  access  to  man  and  passed  upon 
all  men  ;  cannot  be  denied  without  subverting  every  claim  of 
the  Scriptures  to  be  a  divine  revelation.2  It  is  a  denial, 
moreover,  as  absurd  as  it  is  impious  ;  for  death  as  the  result 
of  life,  is  one  of  those  inscrutable  phenomena,  the  denial  of 
which  is  impossible,  the  occurrence  of  which  is  shocking  to  hu¬ 
man  reason,  the  infidel  explanations  of  which  are  ridiculous,  and 
the  divine  solution  of  which  is  perfectly  simple  and  complete.  I 
do  not  know  that  Christianity  has  any  interest  in  the  question, 
nor  that  the  Scriptures  decisively  settle  it,  how  far  the  decay 
and  death  of  the  inferior  creatures,  are  to  be  considered  as  the 
results  of  the  fall  of  man.  As  none  of  those  creatures  are  either 
spiritual  or  immortal,  it  is  certain  they  do  not  incur  either  spir¬ 
itual  or  eternal  death,  as  the  result  of  Adam's  fall  ;  and  there¬ 
fore  escaping  the  two  greater  portions  of  the  penalty,  it  seems 
to  me  a  very  minute  question,  and  unworthy  of  discussion  here, 
what  may  be  the  relations  of  dumb  beasts  to  the  third  and  low- 

1  Gen.,  in.  19.  2  Rom.,  v.  passim. 


VOL.  II. 


18 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


est  portion  of  it.  As  to  man,  the  Scriptures  teach  us  plainly 
not  only  that  his  mortal  existence  is  forfeited  by  the  fall,  but 
that  the  portion  of  it  allowed  to  him,  has  been  from  time  to  time 
greatly  shortened  and  weakened,  and  thereby  many  other  tem¬ 
poral  evils  of  the  hill  aggravated  upon  the  race.  But  even  here 
there  is  proof  of  the  mixed  condition  we  are  contemplating.  For 
as  the  life  of  man  is  depraved,  it  is  good  that  it  should  be  short  ; 
as  in  that  way  it  can  the  less  establish  on  earth  the  means  and 
instruments  of  sin  and  misery.  And  besides,  everything  which 
can  keep  us  alive  to  the  connection  of  sin  with  death,  and  to  that 
of  virtue  with  life,  is  at  once  a  testimony  to  our  actual  condition 
and  the  manner  in  which  we  fell  into  it,  and  an  incentive  to  shun 
evil  and  to  pursue  good.  It  is,  however,  the  body  only  of  man 
which  is  of  the  dust  ;  his  living  soul  is  of  the  breath  of  God.1 
Separated  at  death,  to  be  reunited  in  the  resurrection,  the  body 
returns  to  the  dust  as  it  was — the  spirit  to  God  who  gave  it.3 
And  then  when  the  final  judgment  is  passed  upon  the  united 
soul  and  body,  the  sentence  will  be,  Come  ye  blessed ,  or  Depart 
ye  cursed ,  as  their  works  shall  be,  when  the  books  are  opened.8 
Eternal  death,  therefore,  was  as  directly  involved  in  the  penalty 
of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  as  temporal  death  was  ;  and  nothing 
but  the  intervening  promise  of  a  Saviour,  prevented  it  from  being 
the  very  form  of  the  divine  sentence.  After  that  promise,  its 
indiscriminate  pronunciation  upon  the  whole  race,  was  no  longer 
possible  ;  the  final  separation  and  sentence  of  the  blessed  and 
cursed  being  laid  over  to  the  great  day  ;  and  the  seed  of  Satan 
and  the  redeemed  of  God  being  permitted,  under  this  long  re¬ 
spite  of  judgment  and  execution,  to  walk  together  through  all 
ages  of  trial  with  the  curse  and  the  promise  perpetually  mani¬ 
fested.  Let  us  note,  however,  that  it  is  only  final  sentence  and 
complete  execution  that  is  thus  respited  to  either  party,  till  the 
day  of  judgment ;  the  penalty  of  the  broken  covenant,  and  the 
promise  of  deliverance  which  latter  has  already  been  so  gloriously 
fulfilled,  both  abiding  in  their  unalterable  force  ;  and  the  final 
issue  of  the  mixed  condition  of  things  being  as  distinct  to  God 
as  it  can  be  when  it  is  reached.  But  there  is  still  a  third  aspect 
of  this  penalty  of  death  annexed  to  the  Covenant  of  Works 
which  is  indeed  the  fundamental  aspect,  and  which  is  made  the 
explicit  ground  of  the  sentence  we  are  immediately  considering, 

1  Gen.,  ii.  7.  3  Eccl.,  xii.  7.  3  Matt.,  xxv.  31-46. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 


19 


CHAP  I.] 

as  it  will  be  also  of  the  eternal  sentence,  according  to  the  per¬ 
petual  statements  of  the  word  of  God.  Because  thou  hast  done 
this,  are  the  words  with  which  God  prefaced  the  sentence  upon 
the  serpent  and  in  like  manner  he  said  to  Adam,  Because  thou 
hast  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  thy  wife,  and  hast  eaten  of  the 
tree  of  which  I  commanded  thee,  saying,  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it.* 
The  whole  trial  and  sentence  imply,  are  based  upon,  and  con¬ 
clude  to  trangression.  It  is  because  there  was  sin,  that  there  was 
any  punishment.  Without  it,  there  could  be  no  condemnatory 
sentence  by  God.  But  there  could  be  no  sin  on  the  part  of  a 
perfect  but  fallible  being  sentenced  as  Adam  was,  which  did  not 
involve  the  violation  of  his  own  nature,  and  that  of  every  rela¬ 
tion  in  which  he  stood  to  God.  We  may  indeed  cavil  about  the 
terms  in  which  we  will  express  our  idea  of  the  spiritual  condition 
of  Adam  after  this  transgression  ;  those  in  which  God  has  chosen 
to  express  it,  and  which  his  people  in  all  ages  have  adopted,  are 
that  it  was  a  condition  of  spiritual  death,  and  that  the  act 
whereby  it  occurred,  was  the  Fall  of  Man.  It  is  this,  the  whole 
of  which  I  have  carefully  expounded  in  another  place,  out  of 
which  both  the  temporal  death  and  the  eternal  death  of  man 
come.  Here  lies  the  chief  part  of  that  ruin,  and  the  source  of  all 
the  rest — which  nothing  but  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  could 
heal  ;  the  fountain  of  all  the  sin  which  pollutes  our  race,  and  of 
all  the  misery  which  makes  its  career  so  deplorable.  The  execu¬ 
tion  of  the  sentence  of  God  commenced  from  its  very  utterance  ; 
for  we  are  told  that  God  drove  out  the  man  from  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  and  placed  cherubim  and  a  flaming  sword  which  turned 
every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  tree  of  life.3  No  symbol  of 
the  Scriptures  is  more  remarkable  than  the  cherubim  ;  and  every¬ 
where  they  appear  to  be  a  token  of  the  divine  presence.  With¬ 
out  departing  from  the  special  object  of  our  present  enquiry,  in 
an  attempt  to  expound  that  portion  of  the  sacred  record  which 
recounts  the  expulsion  of  man  from  Eden  after  his  sentence  ; 
nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that  the  Covenant  of  Works 
had  ceased  to  be  a  means  of  access  to  God,  and  that  man  by  his 
fall  had  ceased  to  be  worthy  to  enjoy,  or  qualified  to  use  those 
mercies  and  blessings  which  had  been  unto  him,  in  his  estate  of 
innocence,  both  signs  and  seals  of  God’s  covenanted  relations 
with  him.  That  way  of  the  enjoyment  of  God’s  favour  was  open 

1  Gen.,  iiL  14.  3  Gen.,  iii.  17.  J  Gen.,  iii.  22-24. 


20  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

only  for  the  innocent  ;  that  method  of  approach  to  him  was  im¬ 
passible  for  the  guilty.  Surely  no  lesson  was  ever  taught  more 
impressively — surely  none  can  be  more  obvious  to  human  reason — 
than  that  upon  the  ground  of  our  own  righteousness  we  can  have 
no  access  to  God,  unless  that  righteousness  he  perfect ;  and  that  as 
fallen  creatures  our  own  righteousness  neither  is,  nor  can  be,  perfect. 

6.  Just  as  the  promise  of  deliverance  to  man  was  uttered  in  the 
divine  sentence  upon  Satan  ;  so  the  curse  promulged  against  the 
earth,  was  a  part  of  the  sentence  upon  Adam  ;  cursed  is  the  ground 
for  thy  sake.1  Yet,  so  far  as  Adam  was  concerned,  even  here  is 
one  of  those  perpetual  mitigations  which  keep  up  the  perpetual 
remembrance  of  God's  great  promise,  and  of  the  change  wrought 
by  it,  in  all  things.  For,  though  our  bread  must  be  eaten  in 
sorrow  and  toil,  produced  from  ground  accursed  for  our  sake  ; 
yet  the  sweat  of  our  face  will,  under  God's  promise,  make  our 
bread  sure,  even  out  of  cursed  ground,  till  we  ourselves  return  to 
the  ground  out  of  which  we  were  taken.2  Cursed  is  the  serpent, 
without  mitigation  or  limitation  ;  and  enmity,  without  limit  and 
without  end  is  denounced  between  the  serpent  and  the  woman, 
and  between  his  seed  and  her  Seed.  Cursed  also  is  the  ground  ; 
but  only  for  man's  sake,  who  was  of  it ;  and  only  so  long  as  sin¬ 
ful  man  shall  abide  on  it  in  his  sinful  condition,  and  it  shall  bring 
forth,  of  itself,  thorns  and  thistles  as  a  memorial  of  our  fall,  and 
shall  bring  forth,  under  our  toil,  bread  for  us  to  eat,  as  a  memo¬ 
rial  of  God's  great  promise.  This  is  no  more  its  final,  than  it 
was  its  first  condition.  For  when  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of  them,  God  in  a  survey  of  their 
generations,  in  the  day  that  he  made  them  all,  saw  every  thing 
that  he  had  made,  and  behold  it  was  very  good.3  Its  present 
subjection  is  not  a  willing  one — but  is  a  sovereign  act  of  God  ; 
nor  is  it  without  hope  ;  and  while  it  lasts  the  whole  creation 
groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  ;  even  the  children  of 
God  who  are  the  first  fruits  of  the  spirit,  groaning  while  they 
wait  for  the  redemption  of  the  body  ;  when  the  creature  itself 
also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption,  into  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God,  in  earnest  expectation  of 
which  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God,  the  creature  waiteth.4 
Such  is  the  account  given  by  the  Apostle  Paul,  of  the  present 
condition  and  future  deliverance  of  so  much  of  the  creation  as 

1  Gen.,  iii.  17.  a  Gen.,  iii.  17-19.  3  Gen.,  i.  31;  ii.  1-4.  4  Rom.,  yiii.  19-23. 


CHAP  I.]  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE.  21 

was  cursed  for  man's  sake.  Touching  that  glorious  deliverance, 
the  Apostle  John  is  still  more  explicit.  When  the  time  shall 
fully  come  for  the  earth  and  the  heaven  to  flee  away  from  the 
face  of  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  who  maketh  all 
things  new  ;  then  shall  there  be  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth, 
in  the  room  of  the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth,  which  were 
passed  away,  and  for  which  no  place  shall  be  found.1  And  the 
New  Jerusalem  shall  come  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  pre¬ 
pared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband — and  all  the  wicked 
shall  die  the  second  death — and  the  Devil  shall  be  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire  and  brimstone  where  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet 
are — and  he  that  overcometh  shall  inherit  all  things — and  they 
which  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life,  shall  dwell  in  the 
city  of  God,  whereof  the  Lamb  himself  is  the  light  !2  It  is  of 
no  consequence  here  to  enquire,  what  may  be  the  exact  nature, 
or  the  whole  extent  of  the  things  embraced  in  all  these  sublime 
statements.  It  is  impossible  for  them  to  mean  less,  than  that 
whatever  is  subjected  to  God's  curse  for  man's  sake,  will  receive 
a  glorious  deliverance  along  with  man.  It  is  the  same  great 
principle  which  applies  to  everything  which  is  subjected  in  hope  ; 
the  same  mixed  condition — actually  before  us — of  good  and  evil, 
to  gain  the  knowledge  of  which  Adam  destroyed  himself  and  his 
race  together  ;  the  same  misery  under  sin — even  though  it  be 
but  imputed  sin.  The  earnest  expectation  of  the  creature  strug¬ 
gling  under  the  burden  of  the  curse  and  penalty  ;  the  light  of 
God's  faithful  promise  shining  brighter  and  brighter,  till  the  per¬ 
fect  day  come  ;  a  universe  polluted  and  under  the  sentence  of 
God,  but  with  this  immeasurable  blessing,  that  it  justly  expects 
eternal  deliverance  ! 

IV. — 1.  Seen  from  the  side  of  reason  and  nature  only,  the  con¬ 
dition  of  the  universe,  which  I  have  endeavored  to  sketch,  pre¬ 
sents  us  with’  little  else  than  appalling  mysteries.  But  as  soon 
as  the  light  of  God's  word  unfolds  everything  with  its  marvellous 
clearness,  even  reason  and  nature  are  left  without  any  alternative 
but  to  reject  every  testimony,  human  and  divine,  or  to  accept 
Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  What 
reason  and  nature  left  to  themselves  have  to  expound,  is  a  uni¬ 
verse  lying  under  God's  curse,  without  any  promise  of  deliver¬ 
ance.  They  cannot  expound  it ;  and  atheism  or  superstition  is 

1  Rev.,  xx.  11;  xxi.  1.  1  Rev.,  xx.  passim ;  xxi.  passim. 


22  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

their  only  refuge.  The  word  of  God  introduces  the  new  and  de¬ 
cisive  element,  which  solves  these  terrible  enigmas  ;  the  universe 
is  under  the  curse  of  God — but  it  has  working  in  its  frightful 
abyss  of  sin  and  misery,  the  promise  of  deliverance  through  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh.  This  is  the  actual  universe  which  Reve¬ 
lation  expounds  at  the  bar  of  reason  and  nature,  and  demands 
that  they  examine  and  believe.  Salvation  by  Jesus  Christ,  is  the 
irresistible  conclusion  of  the  high  argument. 

2.  If  it  had  pleased  God  to  leave  our  race  forever  under  the 
full  force  of  the  penalty  annexed  to  the  Covenant  of  Works, 
there  is  no  ground  on  which  his  conduct  could  be  impeached, 
without  impeaching  at  the  same  time,  all  his  preceding  conduct 
in  relation  to  man  ;  because — omitting  the  idea  of  sovereign 
grace — that  would  have  been  the  unavoidable  result,  as  far  as  we 
can  see,  of  all  the  dealings  of  God  with  man,  whether  in  creation, 
in  providence,  or  in  covenant.  In  like  manner  we  should  be 
obliged  also  to  impeach  all  the  subsequent  dealings  of  God  with 
man,  even  under  the  Covenant  of  Grace  ;  because  whatever  is 
absolutely  elemental  in  God's  dealing  with  man  in  creation,  in 
the  first  acts  of  his  providence,  and  in  the  Covenant  of  Works, 
is  assumed  and  avouched  by  God  in  the  very  nature  of  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Grace.  If  God  had  thus  left  man,  there  were  various 
ways  in  which  the  destiny  of  the  human  race  might  have  been 
wrought  out,  producing  various  results.  God  might  have  pro¬ 
ceeded  at  once  to  complete  judgment  and  execution — have  sent 
Adam  and  Eve  to  perdition — and  blotted  out  the  creation  which, 
for  man's  sake,  had  fallen  under  the  curse.  Or  he  might  have 
left  the  terrible  penalty  to  execute  itself  upon  a  sinning  and 
dying  race,  generation  after  generation,  through  an  eternity  of 
universal  pollution  and  unmitigated  wo.  Or  he  might  have  left 
this  terrific  condition  to  manifest  itself  under  the  restraining  and 
directing  power  of  his  providence,  forever.  Or  he  might  have 
allowed  that  state  of  things,  for  a  period  limited  in  its  duration  ; 
and  might  have  done  this,  with  or  without  his  restraining  and 
directing  providence.  Or  he  might  have  limited  or  aggravated 
without  limit,  the  evils  of  this  condition,  by  lengthening  or 
shortening  the  life  on  earth,  either  of  all  men,  or  of  particular 
individuals  ;  or  by  applying  in  innumerable  forms,  the  resources 
of  his  divine  authority  over  his  rebellious  and  depraved  crea¬ 
tures,  without  implying  in  any  case  vengeance  unworthy  of  God, 


CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 


CHAP.  I.] 


or  indulgence  undeserved  by  the  creature.  And  these  are  but 
rude  suggestions,  but  obvious  possibilities  of  a  condition  at  once 
fruitful  and  awful  beyond  our  poor  conceptions,  which  in  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  that  estate  of  all  created  things  now  actually  exist¬ 
ing,  came  before  God  to  be  solved  according  to  the  sum  of  all 
his  infinite  perfections,  in  such  a  manner  as  would  be  most  for 
his  own  eternal  glory. 

3.  What  God  actually  did,  what  the  effect  of  the  course  he 
took  was  upon  all  things,  and  what  as  the  result  the  actual  po¬ 
sition  of  man  and  the  universe  is,  it  has  been  the  object  of  this 
chapter  to  exhibit  in  a  general  manner,  according  to  the  word  of 
God  ;  which  blessed  word  has  for  its  main  object  to  explain,  to 
develop,  and  to  enforce  the  counsel  of  God  touching  these  im¬ 
mense  realities,  and  as  the  great  result,  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
salvation  of  fallen  men.  On  the  very  ruin  of  the  Covenant  of 
Works,  the  existence  of  a  better,  a  more  ancient,  a  more  en¬ 
during,  and  in  all  respects  a  divine  Covenant  of  Grace  was  dis¬ 
closed.  A  covenant  between  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  by  which  provision  had  been  made  from  eternity  for  the 
very  casualty  upon  which  God  was  then  administering  ;  and  upon 
every  other  casualty  which  could  affect  the  stability  of  his  unal¬ 
terable  purpose  to  have  a  seed  to  serve  him,  or  the  glory  of  his 
sovereign  administration  of  all  things  according  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  his  own  will.  When  we  contemplate  the  whole  case 
together,  and  estimate  our  actual  condition  as  affected  by  both 
covenants,  and  as  explicated  by  the  sentence  of  God  already 
pronounced,  and  the  final  sentence  which  he  will  pronounce  at 
the  great  day,  and  by  his  great  promise  before  his  first  sentence, 
and  his  perpetual  fulfilment  of  it  even  to  his  final  sentence  ;  it 
is  perfectly  obvious  that  our  condition  as  explained  by  God  him¬ 
self,  is  one  of  actual  sin  and  misery,  threatening  to  end  quickly 
in  eternal  perdition — but  with  the  glorious  promise  of  a  Saviour, 
who  has  long  ago  come  into  the  world,  and  through  whom  who¬ 
soever  will  come  unto  God  by  him,  shall  not  perish,  but  shall 
have  everlasting  life.  This  is  the  divine  explanation  of  the  whole 
case.  So  much  of  it  as  relates  personally  to  each  one  of  us,  we  have 
as  ample  means  of  determining  whether  it  is  true  or  false,  as  we 
have  of  determining  any  thing  whatever  ;  we  may  certainly  know 
whether  or  not  we  are  sinners,  whether  or  not  we  are  miserable  ; 
we  may  certainly  know  whether  or  not  we  are  pure,  whether  or 


24 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


not  we  are  blessed  ;  we  may  certainly  know  whether  or  not  we 
have  any  apprehension  of  being  damned,  any  desire  to  be  saved. 
As  to  our  whole  race,  nothing  concerning  it  seems  to  be  more 
manifest,  than  that  the  exact  condition  which  God  describes  is 
precisely  that  which  it  has  always  exhibited,  that  through  which 
it  is  now  passing,  and  which,  so  far  as  we  can  comprehend, 
nothing  can  alter,  till  Christ  who  is  our  life  shall  appear  once 
more — when  all  his  followers  shall  appear  with  him — in  glory, 
and  all  his  enemies  shall  be  swept  into  endless  ruin. 

4.  In  so  far  as  the  creatures  to  be  benefitted  by  the  Covenant 
of  Grace,  are  in  a  different  condition  from  what  they  were  under 
the  Covenant  of  Works,  the  two  covenants  are  necessarily  differ¬ 
ent  from  each  other.  But  a  careful  scrutiny  of  the  intimate  na¬ 
ture  of  both  covenants,  makes  it  obvious  that  the  Covenant  of 
Works  might  well  proceed  from  the  divine  mind,  even  under 
the  eternal  purpose  to  execute  the  Covenant  of  Grace  ;  and 
when  the  fall  of  man  annulled  the  Covenant  of  Works  as  a 
Covenant  of  Life,  every  fundamental  and  indestructible  element 
of  it  which  tended  in  that  direction,  was  gathered  up  and  made 
full  account  of  in  the  Covenant  of  Grace.  The  penalty  of  the 
Covenant  of  Works  remains,  indeed,  in  full  force  ;  but  the  hu¬ 
man  race  received  the  promise  of  a  Saviour  even  before  their  first 
sentence  under  that  covenant ;  so  that,  in  effect,  they  have  never 
been  under  the  unmitigated  fury  of  that  penalty ;  and  never 
will  be  until  the  final  sentence  of  God.  No  one  was  ever  saved 
by  that  covenant,  or  ever  will  be  ;  anxious  as  the  wicked,  in  their 
folly,  pretend  to  be  to  commend  themselves  to  God  by  their  pre¬ 
tended  good  works.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are  apparently 
taught,  that  no  one  ever  perished  eternally,  or  ever  will,  under 
the  naked  penalty  of  that  covenant,  and  simply  because  of  original 
sin  ;  for  though  it  be  real  sin,  and  the  source  of  all  other  sin  in 
us,  it  is  also  that  form  of  sin  in  us  which  stood  side  by  side  with 
the  primeval  promise — that  sin  of  the  world  which  the  Lamb  of 
God  so  took  away,  that  none  will  perish  eternally  merely  for  it.1 
I  do  not  think  any  are  warranted  in  saying  that  infants  are 
damned  ;  that  Satan  will  be  permitted  to  exhibit  in  hell  as  a 
monument  of  triumph  over  Jesus  Christ,  a  single  soul  dragged 
down  to  eternal  despair,  which  was  originally  made  in  the  image 
of  Gocl,  and  which  is  free  from  actual  transgressions  of  its 

1  John,  L  29. 


25 


CHAP.  I.]  CONDITION  OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 

own.  The  divine  remedy  against  such  a  catastrophe  is  com¬ 
plete. 

5.  The  difference  between  the  conduct  of  God  towards  Satan 
and  his  seed,  and  that  towards  the  followers  of  the  promised  Seed 
of  the  woman,  is  infinitely  great.  It  is  not  diffcult  to  see,  why 
the  grace  of  an  infinitely  merciful  God  might  be  extended  to 
fallen  man  ;  and  why  the  full  measure  of  his  justice  might  burn 
against  Satan.  Indeed  it  is  hardly  possible  for  us  to  comprehend 
how  Satan  could  have  been  left  in  the  full  possession  of  his  ter¬ 
rible  triumph  over  man,  without  its  appearing,  in  some  sort,  to 
involve  a  triumph  over  God  himself,  in  the  absolute  defeat  of 
his  purpose  in  the  work  of  creation,  and  the  frustration  of  his 
design  in  entering  into  covenant  with  man.  The  question  be¬ 
comes  far  more  difficult,  when  it  is  so  applied  as  to  divide  the 
human  race  itself.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  seeing  why  men  are 
finally  lost ;  none  in  seeing  why  they  are  finally  saved  ;  none  in 
solving  all  the  intermediate  questions — in  each  particular  case  of 
a  lost  or  saved  soul.  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  without  divine  grace 
none  can  be  saved  ;  that  through  divine  grace  any — alb  could  be 
saved.  It  is  here  that  all  God  has  said  concerning  the  seed  of 
Satan  on  one  side,  and  the  followers  of  the  promised  Seed  of  the 
woman  on  the  other  side — confronts  us  ;  yea,  so  confronts  us, 
that  to  overlook  it,  or  to  explain  it  away,  subverts  every  thing 
which  is  clear  in  itself,  or  which  makes  the  condition  of  the  uni¬ 
verse,  or  that  of  the  human  race,  clear  to  us.  It  is,  if  I  may  so 
express  it,  that  portion  of  the  infinitely  gracious  dealings  of  God 
with  man,  in  which  his  infinite  sovereignty  makes  itself  particu¬ 
larly  manifest ;  and  the  whole  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact,  that  God 
really  acts  therein,  and  has  plainly  told  us  he  would  act,  in  a 
manner  different  from  that  in  which  we  would  act,  if  we  were 
God.  Be  it  so.  He  does  that  in  all  things.  There  is  no  alter¬ 
native  but  that  we  must  confide  in  him,  or  that  he  must  resign 
the  throne  of  his  universe  to  us. 

6.  Every  thing  depends  on  divine  grace,  and  turns  upon  the 
willingness  and  sufficiency  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  For  sinners  there 
can  be  no  hope  except  in  grace — for  sufferers  none  except  in 
mercy — for  the  helpless,  none  except  in  him  who  is  able  to 
save.  It  might  be  true,  or  it  might  not,  that  Jesus  Christ,  the 
sinner’s  friend,  is  willing  and  is  able  to  save  us.  But  it  is  abso¬ 
lutely  certain,  so  far  as  the  reason  of  man  can  reach,  and  so  far 


26  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

as  the  history  of  man  has  preserved  any  record  of  the  past,  that 
no  one  else  is,  or  ever  was,  either  able  or  willing  to  do  what 
must  he  done,  in  order  to  save  us.  Nor  is  the  certainty  one  whit 
less,  that  God  neither  is,  nor  ever  was,  in  the  least  degree  in¬ 
clined  to  save  us,  or  to  allow  us  to  be  saved,  in  any  other  way,  or 
by  any  other  being,  even  if  both  had  been  possible.  How  over¬ 
whelming,  therefore,  is  the  interest  of  our  fallen  race — not  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  should  be  put  to  shame,  and  the  blessed  word 
which  reveals  him  be  confuted — ■which  seems  to  be  the  chief  de¬ 
sire  of  all  the  enemies  of  God  ;  but  that  the  reality,  the  effi¬ 
cacy,  and  the  glory  of  this  great  salvation  should  be  established 
like  the  foundations  of  the  everlasting  mountains  ! 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION:  GENERAL  STATEMENT  OF  ITS 

GREAT  PRINCIPLES  AND  TRUTHS. 

I.  1.  The  Disclosure  of  this  Covenant:  Precise  Conception  of  it. — 2.  Jesus  Christ  the 
Mediator  of  this  Covenant. — 3.  The  Covenant  itself  the  Result  of  the  Eternal 
Purpose  of  God,  and  the  Eternal  Counsel  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit. — 
4.  The  Relevancy  of  Divine  Grace  to  the  Mode  of  the  Divine  Existence. — 5.  Em¬ 
phatic,  with  Relation  to  the  Covenant  of  Redemption. — 6.  The  Scriptural  Doc¬ 
trines  of  the  Trinity  and  of  Salvation  by  Grace,  stand  or  fall  together. — II.  1. 
The  whole  Subject  one  of  pure  Revelation — 2.  The  Revealed  Mode  of  God’s 
Being,  determines  the  Form  of  the  Eternal  Covenant. — 3.  The  Revealed  Nature 
of  Salvation  does  the  like. — 4.  The  Relation  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  respectively,  to  Elect  Sinners  in  the  Eternal  Covenant. — III.  1.  Christ 
the  Covenanted  Head  of  the  Redeemed. — 2.  Otherwise,  Salvation  is  neither 
promised,  nor  possible. — 3.  Need  of  restoring  a  truer  Method  of  Statement. — 
4.  Fatalism :  Human  Freedom :  A  free  Gospel :  Common  Operations  of  the 
Spirit. — 5.  The  Senses  in  which  Believers  are  in  Covenant  with  God:  Participa¬ 
tion  of  the  Universe  in  Covenanted  Blessings. — 6.  Recapitulation  of  the  Primary 
Conception  of  the  Covenant,  as  between  the  Persons  of  the  Godhead :  and  of 
its  Secondary  Conception,  as  embracing  all  the  Redeemed  in  Christ,  their  Head. 
— 7.  Practical  Appreciation  of  both  these  Aspects,  indispensable  to  Man. 

I. — 1.  It  is  not  to  the  universe,  situated  as  ours  now  is,  that  the 
knowledge  of  a  great  deliverance  is  first  disclosed  by  God  ;  but 
the  actual  condition  of  the  universe,  as  we  behold  it,  is  the  re¬ 
sult  of  that  disclosure  made  to  a  universe  over  which  absolute 
and  universal  ruin  was  impending,  and  in  which  that  disclosure 
has  been  perpetually  confirmed  and  augmented  throughout  the 
whole  life  of  the  human  race.  It  was  the  infinite  purpose  of 
divine  mercy,  thus  disclosed  in  the  very  sentence  of  God,  which 
totally  changed  the  condition  of  the  created  universe,  as  it  lay 
under  the  penalty  of  the  covenant  of  works.  And  what  we  now 
behold  is  the  combined  result  of  the  fall  of  man,  of  the  respite 
until  the  great  day,  of  the  full  infliction  of  the  penalty  annexed 
to  the  covenant  of  works,  of  the  actual  sentence  of  God,  of  the 
great  promise  of  deliverance  through  the  Seed  of  the  woman,  of 
the  complete  development  of  that  promise  in  the  sacred  Scrip- 


28  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

tures,  of  the  practical  manifestation  of  Kedemption  itself 
through  every  dispensation  hitherto  exhibited,  and  of  the 
ceaseless  conflict  between  sin  and  misery  on  the  one  side,  and 
grace  and  truth  on  the  other.  What  we  have  to  consider  in  the 
survey  of  all  these  immense  topics  is  the  elemental  nature  of  that 
eternal  purpose  of  God,  and  that  whole  working  of  God  unto 
the  restitution  of  all  things  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
We  express,  in  its  widest  sense,  the  idea  in  which  the  whole 
survey  results,  by  the  phrase,  The  Covenant  of  Grace,  because 
divine  grace  is  the  very  foundation  and  significance  of  the  whole  : 
and  also  by  the  phrase,  The  Covenant  of  Redemption,  because 
the  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  vital  point  of  the  whole  con¬ 
ception  of  grace  unto  salvation. 

2.  If  the  sacred  Scriptures  are  either  the  Word  of  God,  or  are 
intelligible  to  man,  then  is  Jesus  of  Nazareth  the  Seed  of  the 
woman  ;  the  Seed  promised  to  Abraham,  the  father  of  the 
faithful ;  the  Messiah  of  the  Old  Testament ;  the  Christ  of  the 
New  Testament  ;  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.1  It  is  to  the  effect  that  Christ  is  the  promised  Seed  that 
the  whole  Scriptures  conclude  ;  and  nothing  was  ever  more  dis¬ 
tinctly  asserted  by  Christ  himself  than  that  he  is  the  Messiah.3 
This  is  the  mediator  between  God  and  men.  Mediator  of  what, 
and  to  what  end  P  Mediator  to  the  end  that  God  and  men  may 
be  reconciled  ;  to  the  end  that  man  may  be  saved  ;  to  the  end 
that  God  may  be  glorified  in  the  eternal  manifestation  of  his 
sovereign  grace  by  means  of  the  everlasting  blessedness  of  re¬ 
deemed  sinners.  Mediator  of  a  scheme  of  eternal  life  proposed 
to  sinners  ready  to  be  sentenced  to  eternal  death  ;  of  a  plan  of 
salvation  for  the  guilty,  and  mercy  for  the  suffering  ;  of  redemp¬ 
tion  for  those  lying  under  a  fearful  penalty,  release  for  those  ex¬ 
posed  to  a  terrible  curse  ;  Mediator,  in  one  word,  of  a  covenant 
of  grace,  which  is  also  a  covenant  of  redemption.  It  was  to  fit 
him  to  be  the  Mediator  of  this  covenant  that  he  became  Im¬ 
manuel,  that  is,  God-man,  that  he  might  mediate  between  God 
and  men.  It  was  as  Mediator  of  this  covenant  that  he  was  in¬ 
finitely  humiliated,  even  to  the  cross ;  infinitely  exalted,  even  to 
the  throne  of  the  universe.  And  every  office  he  executes, 
whether  as  the  infallible  Teacher  of  all  truth,  or  whether  as  the 

i  Gen.,  iii.  15;  xii.  3,  7  ;  xvi.  7;  Job,  vii.  14;  Matt.,  i.  23-25;  Luke,  i.  31-35. 

8  Gal.,  iii.  16;  iv.  4;  John,  i.  41;  iv.  26;  ix.  37. 


29 


CHAP.  II.]  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

great  High  Priest  who  redeems  men,  or  whether  as  the  sole  King 
of  saints,  it  is  still  as  Mediator  of  the  same  eternal  covenant. 
And  when  he  shall  come  the  second  time  to  consummate  his  in¬ 
finite  work,  he  will  come  as  the  glorified  Redeemer,  perfecting 
and  then  delivering  up  to  the  Father  the  kingdom  which  this 
same  covenant  had  contemplated  from  eternity. 

8.  It  would  be  wholly  impossible  to  explain  any  part  of  the 
mediatorial  office,  or  character,  or  worth  of  Christ,  and,  there¬ 
fore,  wholly  impossible  to  explain  fully  any  part  of  the  actual 
mode  of  salvation  proposed  in  the  Scriptures  ;  without  being 
led  immediately  to  the  divine  nature,  and  the  divine  purpose, 
and  the  result  of  both  as  exhibited  in  the  conception  and  execu¬ 
tion  of  salvation  by  a  Redeemer  ;  which  result  is,  the  covenant 
of  redemption.  This  is  inevitable  in  the  nature  of  the  case. 
But  besides  this,  which  the  whole  Scriptures  not  only  recognize, 
but  assert  ;  the  Lord  Jesus  habitually  and  continually  discloses 
the  intimate  participation  of  the  Farther  and  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
all  his  work,  in  all  that  preceded  it,  and  in  all  its  results.  In  all 
his  teaching,  nothing  is  more  frequently  reiterated  than  that  in 
all  things  he  was  executing  the  purpose  of  the  Father :  in  all 
his  promises,  nothing  is  more  emphatic  than  that  in  all  things 
the  Holy  Ghost  would  consummate  his  work.  So  deeply  is  this 
participation  of  all  the  persons  of  the  Godhead  imbedded  in  the 
scriptural  conception  of  the  way  of  salvation,  that  there  is  a 
most  distinct  passing  over  from  one  divine  person  to  another,  as 
the  sacred  record  advances  in  its  sublime  disclosures  of  salvation 
itself.  First,  it  is  God  simply  considered  ;  then  it  is  the  Son,  who 
does  all  in  the  name  of  the  Father  ;  then  it  is  the  Holy  Ghost, 
who  does  all  in  the  name  of  the  Son.  Great,  therefore,  as  is  the 
certainty  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour 
of  the  world  ;  the  certainty  is  just  as  great  that  God  the  Father, 
and  God  the  Holy  Ghost  co-operate  in  all  his  glorious  work  ;  and 
that  salvation  is  the  result  of  the  eternal  purpose  of  God,  and 
of  the  concurrence  of  all  the  persons  of  the  Godhead.  This  is 
expressed  by  the  phrase,  The  Covenant  of  Redemption. 

4.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  if  salvation  is  of  divine  grace, 
it  must  be  of  him  who  is  God,  and  can  be  of  none  else.  What¬ 
ever  is  not  God,  is  wholly  impotent  as  a  source  of  divine  grace  : 
whatever  is  God,  is  divinely  competent  as  a  source  of  divine 
grace.  If  there  are  three  Gods,  there  must  be  three  distinct 


30  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  1 

sources  ;  if  there  be  but  one  God,  there  can  be  but  o*ne  source. 
But  if  the  inode  in  which  the  unity  of  the  infinite  essence  of 
the  only  and  true  God  subsists  and  acts  be  a  threefold  person¬ 
ality,  then  each  of  these  three  persons  must  concur  in  every  act 
and  purpose  of  this  single  and  infinite  essence,  and,  therefore, 
must  concur  in  every  act  and  purpose  of  divine  grace.  And 
whatever  ineffable  counsels,  or  mutual  intuition,  or  inbeing,  or 
intercourse  with  and  between  the  three  persons  of  the  one  God 
upon  any  subject  whatever,  or  in  relation  to  any  purpose  or  act 
whatever,  can  be  supposed  to  be  real  or  to  be  possible  ;  the  very 
same  as  a  possibility  and  as  a  reality,  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
the  divine  purpose  and  concurrence  in  that  divine  grace  which 
saves  sinners  through  a  Redeemer.  But  this,  again,  is  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  redemption. 

5.  It  is  easy  to  understand  that  every  divine  purpose  and  con¬ 
currence  must  conform  to  the  absolute  nature  of  God,  and  must 
be  wrought  out  in  a  manner,  answerable  to  that  nature.  What 
is  thus  true  universally,  must  be  true,  in  a  most  emphatic  sense, 
of  that  sublime  purpose  and  concurrence  of  salvation  by  grace, 
which  the  sacred  Scriptures,  through  which  alone  we  know  any¬ 
thing  about  either  grace  or  salvation,  teach  us  is  the  highest 
manifestation  of  the  glory  of  God,  and  therefore  the  highest  ex¬ 
hibition  of  his  nature  and  his  perfections.  If  it  is  true,  there¬ 
fore,  that  God  exists  in  an  absolute  unity  of  essence,  but  that 
the  mode  of  that  unity  is  a  threefold  personality  ;  then  it  is  in¬ 
fallibly  certain,  that  if  there  are  any  sinners  in  the  universe,  and 
God  should  save  any  of  them,  he  will  do  it  in  a  manner  answer- 
able  to  such  a  nature.  How  the  Scriptures  teach  us  that  there 
are  sinners  in  the  universe,  that  God  does  save  some  of  them, 
that  he  does  this  through  a  Covenant  of  Redemption,  based  upon 
that  very  mode  of  the  divine  existence,  and  that,  in  fine,  such  is 
the  exact  mode  in  which  God  does  exist ;  all  of  which  I  have 
proved  at  large  in  a  former  Treatise.  This  being  true,  upon  the 
only  authority  which  is  infallible  upon  the  question  under  con¬ 
sideration  ;  nothing  is  left  but  to  admit  the  eternal  purpose  and 
concurrence  of  the  one  living  and  true  God,  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  to  save  lost  sinners  through  divine  grace — 
which  is  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  ;  or  else  to  reject  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  iu  which  alone  is  found  either  this  great  doc¬ 
trine  of  salvation,  or  this  great  doctrine  of  the  divine  existence. 


31 


CHAP.  II. J  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

6.  To  that  issue  the  earnest  seeker  after  truth  will  always 
come,  first  or  last.  And  if  he  he  an  earnest  seeker  after  truth, 
that  issue  is  soon  settled.  It  is  an  issue  I  cannot  follow  here  ; 
its  consideration  belongs  to  another  department  of  our  great  sub¬ 
ject.  I  may  observe,  however,  that  the  mode  of  the  divine  exis¬ 
tence  which  must  be  true,  if  the  plan  of  salvation  taught  in  the 
Scriptures  is  either  divine  or  efficacious  ;  is  a  mode  of  that  exis¬ 
tence  which  so  far  from  being  capable  of  taking  its  origin  from 
human  conjecture,  is  really  riot  capable  of  being  taught  or  under¬ 
stood  except  in  connection  with  the  plan  of  salvation  which  is 
responsive  to  it.  It  is  not  systematically  revealed  except  in  con¬ 
nection  with  that  plan  ;  it  is  not  a  speculation  of  philosophy 
capable  of  being  thought  out  ;  it  is  a  sublime  result  set  before 
us  in  a  lost  soul  saved — and  educed  by  God  himself,  concerning 
himself,  teaching  and  saving  side  by  side.  Blot  out  all  we  know 
about  salvation,  and  then  see  what  it  is  we  know  about  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  Trinity,  and  the  eternal  counsel  of  God.  Or  blot 
out  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemp¬ 
tion,  and  then  see  what  it  is  we  know  about  salvation  for  lost 
sinners.  It  seems  to  me  that  such  transcendent  abstract  truths, 
and  such  overwhelming  practical  results,  with  the  intense  and 
inseparable  connection  between  them,  make  a  system  which  tran¬ 
scends  human  imposture. 

II. — 1.  According  to  the  Scriptures,  salvation  is  by  the  grace 
of  God,  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  by  means  of  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  within  us.1  If  the  Scriptures  be  rejected,  then 
there  is  no  knowledge  of  the  grace  of  God,  nor  any  knowledge  of 
faith  in  Christ,  nor  any  knowledge  of  any  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  left  upon  earth.  But  in  that  case,  we  have  also  lost  all 
true  conception  both  of  what  salvation  is,  and  of  what  is  the 
exact  nature  of  our  own  terrible  condition  ;  and  are  left  to  the 
fearful  dominion  of  sin  and  death,  under  which  the  goadings  of 
our  depraved  conscience  and  reason,  fleeing  from  despair,  drive 
us  to  atheism  or  to  superstition — the  only  refuges  for  man  with¬ 
out  the  Bible.  We  cannot  repeat  it  to  ourselves  too  often,  that 
sinners  cannot  be  saved  without  a  Saviour  ;  that  man  left  to 
himself  cannot  even  conceive  a  way  of  saving  himself  which  his 
own  reason  will  accept  till,  it  is  blinded  by  his  consuming  religious 
wants  ;  that  the  whole  subject  of  deliverance  for  sinners  lies 

1  Eph.,  ii.  4-10;  John,  i.  1-20;  1  Cor.,  i.  21-24. 


32  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I, 

merely  in  the  bosom  of  God  ;  and  that  his  divine  revelation  of  the 
manner  of  it,  and  the  fact  of  it,  is  a  revelation  of  that  which  lies 
wholly  out  of  the  range  of  natural  knowledge.  We  must  accept 
the  manner  of  the  divine  deliverance,  and  the  fact  of  it  together  ; 
or  we  must  reject  them  together.  In  one  terrible  sense  they 
may  be  both  rejected  ;  and  I  have  just  pointed  out  the  result 
thereof.  In  a  still  higher  sense,  their  rejection  is  no  longer  pos¬ 
sible.  For  these  sublime  ideas  once  revealed  to  man,  cannot  af¬ 
terwards  perish.  Their  very  existence  among  men  is  a  decisive 
proof  of  a  divine  revelation  ;  the  clearness  with  which,  notwith¬ 
standing  their  vastness  and  their  remoteness  from  human  think¬ 
ing,  they  still  make  their  way  into  the  human  understanding,  is 
an  equally  decisive  proof  of  their  absolute  truth ;  and  their 
transforming  power  in  the  soul  of  man  raises  up  through  all 
generations  such  living  monuments  of  divine  grace,  that  the  fact 
of  the  divine  revelation,  the  truth  of  its  heavenly  matter,  and 
the  efficacy  of  the  great  deliverance  it  makes  known,  become 
just  as  palpable  as  that  man  is  a  sinner,  or  that  he  will  perish 
if  left  to  himself. 

2.  The  Scriptures  being  accepted  as  a  revelation  of  the  way 
of  life,  and  their  divine  statements  as  to  the  manner  thereof 
being  accepted  in  their  simple  and  full  sense  ;  then  grace,  and 
faith,  and  a  spiritual  life,  become  the  grandest  realities,  carrying 
us  backward  into  eternity,  inward  to  the  depths  of  the  human 
soul,  and  forward  to  endless  glory.  God  considered  in  his  es¬ 
sence  and  totality,  and  each  person  of  the  Godhead,  namely, 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  sometimes  either  one, 
sometimes  either  two,  sometimes  all  three  Persons  ;  these,  in 
endless  repetition,  become  the  themes  of  revelation  touching  the 
deliverance  promised  to  man,  and  touching  the  way  thereof.  The 
poverty  of  all  languages  prevents  the  reproduction  of  the  im¬ 
mense  richness  with  which  Jehovah  has  made  himself  known  to 
the  earliest  ages,  by  means  of  the  numerous  names  by  which  he 
revealed  himself  :  that  primeval  form  of  permanent  revelation 
of  which  I  have  treated  specially  in  another  place.  Never¬ 
theless,  the  sacred  word  is  so  replenished  with  the  knowledge 
of  the  living  God,  that  the  divine  truth  most  deeply  seated 
therein,  is  that  the  God  of  Israel  is  one  God.  And  yet  the 
very  first  recorded  utterance  of  this  glorious  God  concerning 
man  was,  Let  us  make  man  iu  our  image,  after  our  like- 


CHAP.  II.]  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 


33 


ness  and  he  prefaced  man’s  expulsion  from  the  Garden  of  Eden 
by  the  wonderful  declaration,  Behold  the  man  is  become  as  one 
of  us,  to  know  good  and  evil.2  Before  either  of  those  state¬ 
ments,  the  Spirit  of  God  brooded  over  the  chaos  at  creation  ;  and 
the  omnific  Word  by  whom  all  things  were  created,  spoke  before 
all  great  creative  acts.3  Now  it  is  not  in  order  to  prove  the 
manner  of  the  divine  existence,  nor  the  manner  of  the  divine 
manifestation  founded  on  that  manner  of  existence,  both  of 
which  I  have  treated  at  large  elsewhere,  that  these  great  topics 
are  made  fundamental  here.  But  it  is  to  point  out  in  that  man¬ 
ner  of  existence,  and  that  manner  of  manifestation,  both  of 
which  are  most  conspicuous  of  all  in  the  salvation  of  fallen  sin¬ 
ners  of  the  human  race,  and  in  the  manner  thereof ;  the  una¬ 
voidable  needs  be,  either  of  a  wholly  independent  action  on  the 
part  of  God,  and  then  of  each  Divine  Person  in  the  Godhead — or 
else  of  that  eternal  counsel  and  concurrence  in  the  whole  God¬ 
head,  of  which  the  work  of  God,  and  of  each  Divine  Person  is 
the  result.  Bv  the  former  alternative,  there  must  be  four  divine 
wills,  and  therefore,  four  Gods,  which,  beyond  all  question,  the 
Scriptures  do  not  teach.  By  the  latter  alternative,  there  can  be 
but  one  divine  will  of  one  living  God,  in  whose  undivided  essence 
three  divine  Persons  subsist  ;  which  unquestionably  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  do  teach.  But  from  this  there  results  inevitablv,  out  of 
the  revealed  manner  of  the  divine  existence,  and  the  revealed 
and  actual  manner  of  its  manifestation  in  all  things,  and  espe¬ 
cially  in  Kedemption,  that  eternal  Covenant  between  the  Father, 
and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  the  outbirth  of  God’s 
eternal  counsel,  and  whose  outworkings  are  seen  in  the  whole 
Plan  of  Salvation. 

3.  There  are,  therefore,  two  perfectly  distinct  lines  of  enquiry, 
by  either,  or  by  both  of  which,  the  reality  and  the  nature  of  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption  between  the  persons  of  the  Godhead 
in  eternity,  and  from  eternity,  are  capable  of  being  made  just 
as  certain  as  the  reality  and  nature  of  salvation  itself.  One  of 
these  is  the  testimony  of  the  Scriptures  themselves  ;  wherein 
arc  innumerable  statements  revealing  to  man  the  counsel,  will, 
purpose,  and  Covenant  of  God  concerning  his  salvation,  and 
concerning  the  whole  reason,  caruse,  design,  ground,  manner, 
end,  and  object  thereof.  The  other  lies  in  the  facts  distinctly 

1  Gen.,  i.  26.  2  Gen.,  in.  22.  3  Gen.,  i.  1-26 ;  John,  i.  1-5. 

VOL.  II. 


3 


34  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

held  forth — the  effects  of  that  counsel  and  covenant  distinctly 
produced  and  recorded  as  such,  and  the  consequences,  results, 
and  products  thereof  reproduced  upon  the  soul,  and  with  the 
intimate  knowledge  of  man  ;  from  which  effects,  to  wit,  from 
the  recorded  acts  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ; 
and  from  the  results  of  those  effects  in  us,  for  example,  our  re¬ 
generation,  we  are  able  to  infer,  and  are  obliged  to  infer,  a  cause 
antecedent  to  those  divine  acts,  to  wit,  the  counsel  of  God,  and 
its  product,  the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  Both  of  these  lines 
of  enquiry  terminate  in  the  same  manner,  and  upon  the  same 
conclusion,  summarily  exhibited  in  the  following  statements  : 
The  sole  foundation  of  the  sinner's  hope  lies  in  the  sovereign 
grace  of  God  :  The  word  of  God  is  a  Revelation  of  that  grace 
and  of  the  manner  of  it  :  The  manner  of  it  in  its  first  and  most 
general  form,  is  a  covenant  from  eternity  between  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  save,  by  the  work  of  each,  with 
the  concurrence  of  all,  every  sinner  of  the  human  race,  whom 
God  purposes  to  save.1  It  is  a  covenant  infinitely  sure,2  ever¬ 
lasting,"  absolute/  and  filled  with  all  spiritual  blessings  to  true 
believers  in  Christ.5 

4.  In  this  Covenant  of  Redemption,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  covenanted  head  of  all  the  elect  of  God.  Whatever  grace 
they  can  receive  in  time,  and  whatever  glory  in  eternity,  both 
are  lodged  in  this  eternal  covenant,  and  settled  on  them  by  its 
terms,  only  in  him  whose  participation  in  it  was  the  participa¬ 
tion  of  their  head,  their  Lord,  their  Redeemer,  their  elder 
brother  ;  in  like  manner  as  the  participation  of  the  Father  in  it, 
was  the  participation  of  their  God  and  Father  ;  and  the  parti¬ 
cipation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  the  participation  of  their  New 
Creator,  Comforter,  and  Sanctifier.6  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life.7.  And  it  is  this 
amazing  love  which  the  Father  has  bestowed  on  us,  and  through 
which  God  calls  us  his  sons  ;  that  is  the  remotest  cause  of  our 
receiving  in  this  world,  all  the  privileges  of  sons  of  God,  and  in 
the  life  to  come,  the  incomprehensible  weight  of  glory  which  is 

1  Ps.  lxxxix.  3-28;  Eph.,  L  3,  4;  2  Tim.,  i.  9.  2  Isa.,  iv.  3. 

8  Isa.,  lxi.  8.  4  Jer.,  xxxii.  38-40.  6  Eph.,  i.  5. 

c  Rom.,  viii.  28-39;  xvi.  25,  26;  Eph.,  i .passim;  iii.  9-12;  2  Tim.,  i.  7-10;  Titus, 
i.  2 ;  1  Peter,  i.  20.  7  John,  iii.  16. 


CHAP.  II.]  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION.  35 

involved  in  the  fruition  of  the  glorified  Redeemer  as  he  is,  and 
in  our  being  like  him.1  The  sum  of  the  record  is,  that  God  hath 
given  to  us  eternal  life  ;  that  this  life  eternal  is  in  the  Son  of 
God  ;  that  whosoever  hath  the  Son,  hath  life  ;  and  that  he  that 
hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hath  not  life.2  Such  are  the  very  words 
of  God.  On  the  other  hand,  the  participation  of  the  Son  in  this 
eternal  covenant,  and  his  concurrence  alike  in  it,  and  in  the  coun¬ 
sel,  the  purpose,  and  the  decree  of  God,  and  his  whole  work  of 
Redemption  as  the  consequence  thereof,  and  as  the  Mediator  of 
that  covenant  ;  is  the  very  burden  of  the  sacred  Scriptures.5 
The  grace  which  is  held  forth  in  this  covenant  is  the  grace  of 
God,  in  which,  as  in  the  covenant  itself,  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  alike  participate.  The  infinite  Beneficence 
of  God,  which,  as  far  as  we  can  understand,  or  the  Scriptures 
instruct  us,  is  that  divine  perfection  from  which  springs  all  divine 
grace  to  fallen  sinners  of  mankind,  is  a  perfection  of  the  God¬ 
head  in  its  essence,  and,  like  all  such  perfections,  it  appertains 
alike  and  equally  to  each  Divine  Person.  The  same  thing  is 
true  of  the  divine  Wisdom  and  Power  in  their  relation  to  this 
divine  covenant,  and  its  execution.  At  the  same  time,  the  Per¬ 
sonality  of  the  Godhead  is  no  more  to  be  excluded  with  reference 
to  that  covenant,  and  its  execution,  than  the  Unity  thereof  is  ; 
nay,  it  is  in  these  sublime  manifestations  of  God  that  we  are  so 
precisely  taught  that  the  mode  of  that  Unity  of  essence  is  truly 
expressed  only  b}^  the  subsistence  of  a  threefold  Personality 
therein.  Specifically,  then,  the  office  of  the  Father  in  relation  to 
this  covenant,  is  the  manifestation  of  that  sovereign  and  eternal 
purpose  of  God  to  have  a  seed  to  serve  him,  which  was  exhibited 
concerning  the  whole  race  of  man,  by  the  Covenant  of  Works, 
and  all  that  preceded  it ;  which  was  exhibited,  in  another  form, 
in  pronouncing  sentence  upon  the  breach  of  the  Covenant  of 
Works,  wherein  the  distinction  in  the  race  itself  is  first  set  forth 
by  God  in  connection  with  his  promise  of  deliverance  ;  and  which 
wTas  fully  exhibited  in  the  form  of  eternal,  unchanging,  and  elec¬ 
ting  love,  and  in  that  form  lodged  in  the  bosom  of  this  covenant, 
for  the  infinite  glory  of  God  and  the  endless  blessedness  of  the 
inheritors  of  eternal  life  under  the  covenant  itself.  When  we 

1  1  John,  iiL  1,  2.  2  1  John,  v.  11,  12. 

3  John,  i.  1-14;  Rom.,  y.  passim;  Luke,  i.  26-55;  1  Cor.,  xv.  passim;  Gal.,  iv. 
3-7  ;  Phil.,  iL  5-13. 


36  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

encountered  the  first  manifestation  of  the  eternal  purpose  of 
God  to  deal  with  devils  and  men  differently — and  to  deal  with 
the  human  race  itself  with  reference  to  a  final  judgment  in  which 
that  race  would  he  eternally  separated  into  two  parts,  I  called 
attention  distinctly  to  the  overwhelming  facts  so  deeply  influen¬ 
tial  upon  the  condition  and  destinies  of  the  universe,  and  so  fun¬ 
damental  in  the  very  structure  of  the  Word  of  God.  We  en¬ 
counter  once  more  a  new  proof,  in  a  still  more  precise  form,  of 
this  eternal  purpose  of  God.  For  my  own  part,  I  am  not  able 
to  understand  the  Scriptures  otherwise ;  nor  am  I  able  to  under¬ 
stand  upon  what  ground  it  is  possible  for  us  to  assert  that  they 
would  be  more  rational,  more  credible,  more  honourable  to  God, 
or  more  in  accordance  with  all  we  know  of  him,  of  ourselves, 
and  of  the  universe,  independently  of  what  we  learn  from  them, 
if  they  had  taught  differently  on  these  vast  topics.  Undoubt¬ 
edly  there  is  an  end  of  all  salvation  promised  in  the  Scriptures, 
unless  it  is  secured  in  the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  Undoubt¬ 
edly  the  eternal  purpose  of  God,  and  the  electing  and  unalter¬ 
able  love  of  the  Father,  are  as  rational  and  as  exalted  motives  and 
grounds  upon  which  sovereign  grace  could  be  alleged  to  distin¬ 
guish  its  objects  in  a  race  of  sinners,  as  any  others  which  the 
poor  cavils  of  men  have  suggested.  So  it  is,  that  the  Son  does 
engage  to  take  flesh — become  Immanuel,  and  so  Mediator  be¬ 
tween  God  and  men,  under  this  covenant,  and  in  all  his  work  of 
humiliation  and  exaltation  to  bring  in,  and  to  work  out,  an  ever¬ 
lasting  righteousness  ;  not,  assuredly,  for  the  benefit  of  the  seed 
of  Satan,  the  finally  impenitent,  the  just  objects  of  the  aversion 
of  God  and  the  Father;  but,  assuredly,  for  the  benefit  of  all 
fallen  sinners  of  the  human  race,  whom  God  hath  purposed  to 
save,  and  whom  the  Father  had  loved  with  that  wondrous  love 
in  Christ  Jesus,  from  which  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels, 
nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to 
come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature  shall  be  able 
to  separate  the  objects  of  it.1  In  the  same  manner  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  third  Person  of  the  adorable  Trinity,  participating 
and  concurring  in  all  divine  acts  and  counsels,  has  a  special  office 
with  reference  to  the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  He  is  the 
Author  of  that  New  Creation  of  which  Christ  is  the  head,  and 
of  which  every  particular  member  is  in  covenant  with  God 

1  Rom.,  viii.  33-39;  Gal.,  iii.  16;  Isa.,  lix.  21  ;  Zech.,  vL  13;  Luke,  xxii.  29. 


37 


CHAP.  II.]  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

through  Christ  their  covenant  head.  It  is  the  divine  Spirit  who 
enables  them  and  inclines  them,  to  believe  to  the  saving  of  their 
souls,  and  to  repent  of  sin,  and  forsake  it.  Whatever  concerns 
the  complete  execution  of  this  divine  covenant,  and  the  effica¬ 
cious  application  of  it  to  the  redeemed,  appertains  to  the  parti¬ 
cipation  of  the  divine  Spirit,  in  the  covenant  itself,  and  to  his 
divine  office  with  reference  thereto.1  Precisely  as  the  office  of 
the  Son  herein  has  special  relation  to  the  office  of  the  Father, 
so  the  office  of  the  Spirit  has  special  relation  to  the  office  of  the 
Son.  The  objects  of  the  Father's  love  are  redeemed  by  the  Son ; 
and  those  redeemed  by  the  Son  are  regenerated  by  the  Spirit.  I 
have  used  the  word  special ,  because  the  Scriptures  do  not  permit 
us  to  do  otherwise  with  reference  to  the  whole  concatenation  of 
this  amazing  exhibition  of  the  nature,  the  counsel,  and  the  grace 
of  God.2  And  thus,  according  to  the  revelation  which  God  has 
given  to  man,  salvation  for  sinners,  so  far  from  being  that  casual, 
uncertain,  or  indeterminate  thing,  which  men  are  so  prone  to 
consider  it ;  is,  in  reality,  the  most  wondrous  manifestation  of 
God.  Whatever  effect  may  be  produced  upon  the  universe,  or 
upon  devils  or  men,  or  upon  particular  portions  of  either  indi¬ 
vidually  considered,  there,  absolutely  considered,  is  an  exhibition 
of  the  divine  nature,  the  divine  character,  and  the  divine  plans, 
transcendently  wonderful  and  efficacious — perfectly  distinct  after 
God  has  revealed  all  unto  us,  yet  utterly  remote  from  any  thing 
which  could  ever  have  been  suggested  by  the  natural  thinking  of 
the  human  soul.  In  its  sum,  it  is  the  revelation  of  the  eternal 
Covenant  of  Grace  for  the  Redemption  of  the  elect  of  God, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  by  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  of  the 
whole  of  which  natural  thinking  knows  nothing,  and  to  which 
nature  furnishes  no  clue.  So  far  as  nature  is  concerned,  it  is  a 
new,  a  distinct,  and  is  indeed  the  very  highest  manifestation  of 
the  glory  of  God. 

III. — 1.  I  shall  not  repeat  here  the  general  discussion  of  the 
doctrine  of  covenants,  which  has  been  very  carefully  drawn  out 
in  treating  of  the  covenant  of  works  in  the  First  Fart  of  The¬ 
ology.  It  becomes  us,  however,  to  be  fully  aware  of  what  the 
Scriptures  teach,  and  of  the  sense  in  which  we  understand  their 
teaching,  concerning  the  reality  and  the  effect  of  headship  of 

1  Ezek.,  xxxvi.  26,  27  ;  John,  vi.  37-44;  Gal.,  v.  22,  23. 

2  John,  xvi.  7-16;  1  Tim.,  iii.  16 ;  Rom.,  i.  4;  John,  xv.  26. 


38  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

tlie  Son  over  the  elect  of  God,  in  the  Covenant  of  Redemption. 
The  headship  of  Adam,  both  natural  and  federal,  seems  to  me 
to  he  taught  with  perfect  clearness  in  the  Scriptures  :  and, 
moreover,  if  it  were  otherwise,  the  Scriptures  would  afford  us  no 
solution  of  the  actual  condition  of  the  human  race,  and,  there¬ 
fore,  no  complete  solution  either  of  the  way  of  salvation,  or  of 
salvation  itself.  But  the  Scriptures,  in  innumerable  places  and 
ways,  illustrate  our  recovery  by  our  fall  ;  and  do  not  hesitate  to 
run  parallels,  for  this  purpose,  between  Adam  and  Christ  by 
name  ;  nay,  they  expressly  call  Christ  the  second  Adam,  in 
their  anxiety  to  make  us  comprehend  how  the  first  Adam,  who 
was  a  living  soul,  was  a  figure  of  the  second  Adam,  who  was  a 
cjuickening  spirit  and  the  Lord  from  heaven.1  The  Son  of  God, 
therefore,  is  as  really  the  Head  of  the  redeemed,  both  by  cove¬ 
nant  and  by  a  supernatural  regeneration  ;  as  the  first  man 
Adam  was  the  head  of  the  human  race,  both  by  covenant  and 
by  natural  generation.  It  is  of  no  consequence  now,  and  to  this 
proof,  whether  the  human  race,  and  the  redeemed,  be  or  be  not, 
absolutely  and  numerically  co-incident.  If  they  are,  all  are  re¬ 
deemed  ;  if  they  are  not — as  we  know  they  are  not — the  lost  are 
not  redeemed.  But  if  the  redeemed  are  embraced  in  the  cove¬ 
nant  of  redemption,  in  Christ  their  covenant  and  supernatural 
Head,  as  the  whole  race  was  embraced  in  the  Covenant  of  Works, 
in  Adam  their  covenanted  and  natural  head  :  it  is  as  wholly  in¬ 
evitable  that  the  redeemed  must  share  the  fate  of  their  head, 
as  that  the  race  must  share  the  fate  of  their  head.  Such  is  the 
overwhelming  demonstration  drawn  out  repeatedly  by  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  themselves  ;  confirmed  by  innumerable  separate  declara¬ 
tions  scattered  through  the  Word  of  God,  and  practically  illus¬ 
trated  throughout  all  generations,  as  the  human  race  has  ex¬ 
hibited  its  connection  with  Adam,  and  the  redeemed  of  the 
Lord  taken  out  of  the  bosom  of  that  race  have  exhibited  their 
connection  with  Christ. 

2.  It  is  no  doubt  very  common  to  reject  the  teachings  of  the 
Scriptures,  or  to  obscure  them,  concerning  the  Covenant  of 
WT>rks  and  the  fall  of  man.  It  is  also  very  common  to  reject 
their  teachings,  or  to  obscure  them,  concerning  the  Covenant  of 
Grace  and  the  recovery  of  man.  We  ought,  however,  to  reflect 
that  our  complete  success  in  such  undertakings  could  not  miti- 

1  1  Cor.,  sv.  45-50  ;  Rom.,  y.  passim. 


CHAP.  II.]  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION.  39 

gate  a  single  evil  of  the  fall,  and  could  destroy  nothing  but  the 
hope  of  the  redeemed.  Our  very  highest  success  terminates  in 
this,  that  having  abolished  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  we  are 
left  without  Christ,  and,  therefore,  without  God,  and  without 
hope  in  the  world.  For  how  are  we  to  be  made  partakers  of 
Christ,  except  by  means  of  his  redeeming  us  ?  And  how  is  he 
to  redeem  us,  except  as  Mediator  between  God  and  men  P  And 
how  is  he  to  mediate,  when  the  very  ground,  authority,  and 
power  to  mediate,  as  well  as  the  chief  end  and  object  of  the  me¬ 
diation  itself,  are  abolished  by  nullifying  the  covenant  of  grace 
and  redemption  ?  Who  has  any  right  to  talk  about  grace  after 
God  is  refused  the  right  to  stipulate  concerning  his  own  sover¬ 
eign  grace,  and  finds  his  veracity  assailed  when  he  says  he  has 
done  so  for  his  own  glory  ?  Who  has  any  right  to  make  men¬ 
tion  of  redemption,  after  the  Son  of  God  is  refused  liberty  to 
covenant  for  his  own  brethren  in  his  own  shed  blood,  unless  he 
will  treat  all  the  seed  of  Satan  precisely  as  he  treats  all  the  elect 
of  God  ?  If  it  is  said,  there  are  no  elect  of  God  ;  that  is  merely 
returning  by  a  short  way  to  the  same  subversion  of  the  covenant, 
and  of  grace  and  salvation  with  it,  only  it  is  less  respectful  to 
God,  who  has  said  a  thousand  times  there  are  elect  of  him  :  and 
it  is  immediately  fatal  to  man,  since  it  is  certain  that  if  God 
does  not  choose  us,  we  shall  never  choose  him. 

3.  There  are  questions  which  produce  extreme  embarrassment 
to  our  limited  faculties,  connected  with  every  possible  view  we 
can  take  of  the  great  problems  of  God  and  man.  Many  of 
these  are  questions  which  serious  minds  cannot  escape  ;  many 
others  are  questions  which  candid  minds  cannot  solve  to  their 
own  entire  satisfaction,  much  less  to  that  of  others.  There  is  no 
need,  however,  to  increase  either  the  number  or  the  difficulty  of 
such  questions  by  our  own  undocile  ignorance  and  obstinate  self- 
conceit.  Concerning  all  such  questions  as  rise  high  enough  to 
exhibit  a  double  solution — one  when  viewed  from  the  divine  side 
of  them,  and  another  when  viewed  from  the  human  side  of  them 
— I  have  expressed  my  sense  of  their  nature,  their  effects,  and 
their  proper  treatment,  at  the  close  of  the  former  Treatise. 
Those  which  merely  present  difficulties  in  reaching  any  clear 
solution,  at  all,  are  either  such  as  in  their  nature  are  out  of  the 
range  of  our  intelligence,  or  such  as  being  within  that  range  are 
not  explicable  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge.  It  is 


40 


TIIE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


under  this  last  description,  perhaps,  that  we  should  class  most  of 
those  difficulties  which  we  experience  with  regard  to  questions  in¬ 
cidentally  connected  with  the  great  topics  discussed  in  this  chap¬ 
ter.  The  whole  subject,  fundamental  as  it  is,  had  passed  away 
from  the  preaching,  from  the  religious  literature,  almost  from 
the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the  first  third  of  this  century.  No 
wonder  that  there  should  arise  difficulties  in  restoring  it  to  its 
fundamental  position  ;  difficulties  mainly  produced  by  the  errors 
which  had  occupied  the  place  of  these  immense  truths.  And 
thus,  whenever  that  state  of  case  is  present,  such  difficulties  as 
the  following  naturally  enough  arise  :  Is  not  this  fatalism  ?  Is 
there  any  room  for  human  freedom  here  ?  Any  for  a  free  Gos¬ 
pel  ?  Any  for  the  common  operations  of  the  Spirit  P  Let  us 
examine  them. 

4.  If  by  fatalism  we  mean  the  uncontrollable  dominion  of  an 
infinite  personal  God  over  the  created  universe,  and  the  absolute 
dependence  of  man,  both  as  a  creature  and  a  sinner  upon  God, 
both  as  his  Creator  and  Redeemer ;  then  we  have  given  a  very 
absurd  name  to  the  system  of  the  universe  which  actually  ex¬ 
ists,  and  which  is  clearly  exhibited  in  nature,  in  providence, 
and  in  revelation.  When  we  conceive  of  fate  as  subordinate  to 
God,  what  we  mean  by  fate,  if  we  mean  any  thing,  is  divine 
providence  :  when  we  conceive  of  fate  as  superior  to  God  him¬ 
self,  if  we  mean  any  thing,  it  is  that  fate  is  God,  and  that  God 
is  providence.  The  very  idea  of  fate  disappears  from  a  spiritual 
system  administered  by  an  infinite,  personal,  sovereign  God  ; 
and  although  such  a  system  might  be  conceived  of  as  presented 
under  innumerable  aspects,  and  as  administered  in  innumerable 
ways,  the  absolute  dominion  of  God  and  the  absolute  depend¬ 
ence  of  the  creature  on  God,  are  necessarily  inherent  in  every 
aspect  and  every  way.  Of  all  conceivable  systems,  the  one  I 
have  been  attempting  to  develop  most  thoroughly  excludes  every 
conception  of  fate. — As  to  our  personal  freedom,  considered  in 
itself,  there  can  be  no  question  with  man  of  the  existence  of 
that  of  which  each  one  is  conscious,  and  without  which  we  are 
not  able  to  conceive  that  virtue,  morality,  duty,  reward,  or,  on 
the  other  hand,  vice,  sin,  punishment,  which  are  the  highest  re¬ 
alities,  could  exist  at  all.  But  it  is  a  freedom  which  must  con¬ 
sist  with  all  the  past,  all  the  actual,  all  the  future  of  our  being  : 
which  must  exist  and  operate  in  such  a  way  as  accords  with  our 


41 


CHAP.  II.]  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

entire  dependence  on  God,  and  his  infinite  dominion  over  us. 
Existing  as  fallen  creatures,  our  moral  freedom,  as  such,  is  re¬ 
cognized  and  respected  in  the  whole  manner  of  our  restoration  ; 
or  more  truly  speaking,  our  moral  bondage  is  broken  and  we  are 
set  free  in  Jesus  Christ.  To  such  as  are  not  restored  in  Christ, 
assuredly  no  violence  is  offered  :  and  they  have  the  same  evi¬ 
dence  of  moral  freedom  in  rejecting  the  Saviour,  that  they  have 
of  the  existence  of  moral  freedom  itself.  It  is  remarkable  that 
only  they  who  reject  Christ  exhibit  a  sensitiveness  about  en¬ 
croachments  upon  human  freedom  in  divine  grace,  from  which 
the  subjects  of  that  grace  are  wholly  free.  They  ought  to  reflect 
that  the  efficacy  of  salvation  by  grace  within  the  human  soul 
depends  on  the  power  of  God,  and  not  on  the  freedom  of  the 
depraved  soul ;  and  that,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  is  obvious 
that  when  the  nature  of  man  is  changed,  all  that  appertains  to 
that  nature,  whether  intellect,  conscience,  will,  or  whatsoever, 
incurs  a  corresponding  change,  each  after  its  own  kind.  So  that 
the  real  difficulty  is,  not  that  our  moral  freedom  is  violated, 
which  it  never  is  ;  but  that  God  will  not  violate  it  so  as  to  save 
us  against  our  will ;  but  leaves  us  in  our  boasted  freedom,  to 
perish  for  our  sins,  or  to  save  ourselves  if  we  can. — Touching 
the  freedom  of  the  Gospel  offer,  nothing  can  he  more  certain 
than  that  salvation  is  to  he  freely,  sincerely,  urgently  proclaimed 
to  the  whole  family  of  man  ;  proclaimed  as  infinitely  worthy  of 
all  acceptation,  and  as  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every 
one  that  believes  it.  But,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  perfectly  cer¬ 
tain  that  innumerable  multitudes  have  always  despised  and  re¬ 
jected  it ;  that  they  do  so  still  ;  and  that  doing  so,  they  perish. 
Now  in  what  manner  can  it  affect  all  these  questions,  to  ascer¬ 
tain  and  point  out  the  grounds  upon  which  men  accept  the 
Gospel,  and  are  saved  ;  or  those  upon  which  they  reject  it,  and 
are  ruined  ?  Whether  the  explanation  is  true  or  false,  is  imma¬ 
terial  to  the  other  question.  God  reserves  to  himself  the  sover¬ 
eign  power  by  which  the  Gospel  is  made  efficacious  :  he  also 
reserves,  till  the  opening  of  the  Lamb’s  Book  of  Life,  the  pub¬ 
lication  of  the  names  of  the  redeemed.  Through  all  time,  they 
who  will  perish  and  they  who  will  be  saved,  pass  together 
through  this  state  of  trial :  the  Word  of  God,  which  is  the  in¬ 
fallible  source  of  knowledge,  and  rule  of  faith  and  obedience  to 
all,  is  open  to  all ;  and  all  the  means  of  grace  and  salvation  ad- 


42  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

ministered  by  men  utterly  ignorant  of  the  sovereign  purpose  of 
God  touching  individual  persons,  are  exhibited  before  all,  and  are 
accessible  to  all.  It  is  unquestionably  true  that  God  knows 
from  eternity  the  exact  result  of  each  particular  thing,  and  of  all 
things.  Bat  this  is  equally  true  of  all  possible  systems  ;  so  that 
absolutely  considered,  none  could  effect  any  thing  but  that  which 
God  designed  it  should  effect :  and,  therefore,  in  the  sense  of  the 
difficulty  I  am  now  considering,  the  real  cavil  is  against  God 
himself,  for  offering  salvation  generally  when  he  knew  it  would 
be  accepted  only  specially.  But  they  who  thus  cavil  ought  to 
reflect  that,  after  all,  the  offer  of  salvation  in  its  freest  form  is 
always  conditional,  and  the  conditions  always  a  part  of  the  offer  : 
that  if  these  simple  and  unalterable  conditions  are  performed  by 
any,  only  because  God  inclines  and  enables  them,  that  is  one 
more  proof  of  the  nature  and  reality  of  that  covenant  which  I 
have  exhibited  ;  whereas,  the  inability  or  the  refusal,  no  matter 
which,  of  men  to  believe  in  Christ,  and  to  forsake  sin,  as  the 
conditions  of  salvation,  and  their  neglect  or  refusal,  no  matter 
which,  to  ask  Christ  for  that  inclination  and  ability  which  he 
has  promised  to  give  if  they  will  ask  him,  clearly  prove  the  utter 
futility  of  all  mere  offers  of  salvation  to  lost  men.  In  effect, 
the  real  difficulty  is  the  same  as  in  the  former  questions  ;  the 
right  of  God  to  treat  devils  and  men  differently  ;  the  right  of 
God,  having  reserved  his  grace  for  fallen  man,  to  make  any  dis¬ 
crimination  between  them  ;  the  right,  after  being  rejected  by 
all,  to  save  any  through  sovereign  grace.  It  is  not  to  be  con¬ 
cealed  that,  if  this  can  be  denied  to  God,  the  sacred  Scriptures 
can  no  longer  be  vindicated  as  a  revelation  of  his  will ;  nor  can 
the  salvation  in  which  his  people  rejoice  be  considered  more 
than  a  vain  and  empty  delusion. — The  difficulty  founded  on 
what  are  called  the  common  operations  of  the  divine  Spirit — 
those  operations,  whatever  they  may  be,  which  come  short  of 
perfecting  in  the  human  soul  the  work  of  salvation  wrought  out 
by  Christ ;  arises  from  overlooking  the  intimate  relation  of  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  to  the  work  of  Christ,  which  I  have  before 
pointed  out.  It  is  inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  the  Covenant 
of  Kedemption,  and  with  the  office  of  each  divine  Person  in  it, 
and  with  innumerable  statements  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  to 
rob  the  purpose,  and  counsel,  and  plan  of  God  of  its  sovereign 
unity.  The  Son  does  nothing  as  Mediator  irrespective  of  the 


CHAP.  II.]  T  n  E  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION.  43 

eternal  love  of  the  Father  ;  and  the  Spirit  does  nothing  as  the 
author  of  the  New  Creation  irrespective  of  the  mediatorial 
work  of  the  Son.  Out  of  Christ,  there  is  no  grace  of  God  for 
sinners,  nor  any  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  sinners  ;  and  sin¬ 
ners  have  no  relation  to  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  irrespective 
of  Christ  their  covenant  Head  ;  the  gift  of  the  onlv  begotten 
Son  of  God  being  the  foundation  of  every  other  divine  gift.  All 
those  representations,  therefore,  which  set  forth  the  work  of 
Christ  as  indeterminate,  and  leave  the  grace  of  God  to  flow  still 
more  indeterminately,  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit  to  proceed  in 
the  same  manner  ;  involve  not  only  the  subversion  of  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Redemption,  and  the  substitution  of  a  way  of  salvation 
utterly  repudiated  by  the  Scriptures  ;  but  they  involve,  logi¬ 
cally,  the  existence  of  three  separate  and  independent  divine 
wills,  and,  therefore,  three  Gods  :  or  else  the  subjection  of  the 
separate  will  of  the  Son,  and  the  separate  will  of  the  Spirit,  to 
the  supreme  will  of  the  Father,  and,  therefore,  the  existence  of 
but  one  divine  person,  to  wit,  the  Father.  In  effect,  there  are 
common  operations  of  the  Spirit ;  but  they  are  not  irrespective 
of  Christ :  on  the  contrary,  they  are  absolutely  relevant  to  him. 
Every  mercy  of  God  does  not  terminate  in  salvation  ;  every  ben¬ 
efit  conferred  by  Christ  does  not  ensure  salvation  ;  every  work 
of  the  Spirit  does  not  fit  us  for  salvation.  It  is  the  glory  and 
blessedness  only  of  such  as  love  God,  such  as  are  the  called  ac¬ 
cording  to  his  purpose,  that  all  things  work  together  for  their 
good.  Whatever  comes  short  of  salvation,  may,  without  objec¬ 
tion,  be  called  common  ;  and  in  the  immense  benefits  of  this 
kind  which  are  conferred  by  Christ  upon  the  unthankful  and 
disobedient,  and  which  do  not  secure  their  salvation,  we  have  at 
once  the  key,  the  ground,  and  the  measure,  of  those  common 
operations  of  the  Spirit  which  come  short  of  salvation.  Surely, 
there  is  no  occasion  either  to  deny  their  reality,  or  to  undermine 
the  foundations  of  our  hope  in  order  to  allow  them. 

5.  In  our  English  version  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures, 
the  same  Greek  word0  is  rendered  both  covenant  and  testa¬ 
ment.  The  word  of  itself  undoubtedly  has  both  significations  ; 
and  when  Messiah  sealed  with  his  blood  the  covenant  to  which, 
as  the  Son,  he  was  a  party  in  eternity,  all  the  blessings  of 
redemption  which  had  always  been  in  him  covenant  mercies 

*  A iabriKi]. 


44  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

to  believers,  became  thenceforward  testamentary  devises  of  the 
Saviour  to  his  followers.  He  gave  the  cup  to  his  Apostles,  and 
said,  Drink  ye  all  of  it ;  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testa¬ 
ment  ( diaOj'jKiig )  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins.1 
There  are  also  two  senses  in  which  this  covenant  is  truly  called 
a  covenant  between  God  and  believers.  For,  in  the  first  place, 
every  believer  was  really  embraced  in  it,  in  his  covenant  head, 
the  Lord  Christ.  And,  in  the  second  place,  every  believer  in  his 
personal  union  with  Christ,  in  his  new  creation  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  wherein  he  accepts,  receives  and  relies  upon  Christ  for 
salvation,  enters  personally  into  covenant  to  take  God  to  be  his 
God,  and  Christ  to  be  his  Saviour,  whom  he  engages,  through 
grace  by  faith,  to  follow  in  a  new  obedience  ;2  and  God  accepts 
him,  in  covenant,  and  seals  to  him  the  blessings  and  benefits  of 
the  Covenant  of  Redemption.3  Nor  is  the  universe  itself,  which 
was  cursed  for  man’s  sake,  to  be  excluded  from  its  share  in  the 
blessedness  of  man’s  redemption.  The  Lord  Jesus  declared  in 
the  most  emphatic  manner,  that  his  crucifixion  was  the  crisis  of 
all  things  ;  that  by  means  of  it  the  ruin  of  Satan,  the  judgment 
of  this  world,  and  the  universality  of  his  own  dominion,  would 
be  established.4  And  it  is  the  constant  doctrine  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  that  all  things  are  to  be  restituted  in  Jesus  Christ,  and 
that  the  whole  creation,  which  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain 
together  until  now,  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corrup¬ 
tion,  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.5  There  is 
no  need  of  discussing  cosmical  questions  of  any  sort  here.  He 
who  created  all  things,  will  restore  all  things  which  have  been 
deranged  or  polluted  by  the  entrance  of  sin  through  the  fall  of 
man  ;  and  that  creation  which  he  pronounced,  in  the  survey  of 
the  whole  of  it,  to  be  very  good,  will  emerge  from  its  long  bond¬ 
age  under  corruption,  purged  by  fire,  a  new  heavens  and  a  new 
earth,  more  glorious  than  the  old.  All  the  enemies  of  God  shall 
be  put  under  the  feet  of  the  glorified  Redeemer  ;  death  shall  die, 
and  hell  shall  be  the  prison-house  of  Satan  and  his  seed.  As 
for  man,  he  shall  be  exalted  inconceivably  above  his  primeval 
condition,  inconceivably  beyond  all  to  which  it  was  possible  for 
him  to  have  attained  under  the  Covenant  of  Works.  In  con- 

1  Matt.,  xxvi.  28;  Rom.,  ix.  4;  Eph.,  ii.  12;  Gal.,  iv.  24. 

2  Isa.,  lix.  21;  Gal.,  iii.  16-21.  3  Ezek.,  xxxvi.  26,  2 1;  John,  vi.  37-44. 

4  John,  xii.  23-33.  5  Acts,  iii.  19-21 ;  Rom.,  viii.  19-23. 


CHAP.  II.]  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION.  45 

nection  with  him,  the  highest  glory  of  God  in  his  being,  his 
perfections,  and  his  works,  will  be  illustrated  forever  ;  and  his 
own  blessedness  and  renown  are  carried  so  high  as  to  be  ex¬ 
pressed  by  saying,  he  shall  be  made  partaker  of  the  divine 
nature.1  As  far  as  it  is  permitted  that  we  should  judge,  the  ob¬ 
jects  which  are  embraced  in  this  stupendous  covenant  are  worthy 
of  the  means  it  employs;  and  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  those 
means  are  infinitely  efficacious  to  their  end.  It  is  in  the  light 
of  these  means  and  their  efficacy,  these  objects  and  their  nature, 
this  end  and  its  transcendent  glory — in  one  word,  of  this  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Redemption,  that  the  whole  word  of  God,  and  our  per¬ 
sonal  share  in  the  grace  it  reveals,  become  distinct  to  the  humble 
follower  of  Christ.  It  is  in  the  absence  of  that  light  that  the 
children  of  God  stagger  through  life  under  a  load  of  tormenting 
doubts  and  fears,  and  are  saved  at  last,  as  it  were,  by  fire. 

6.  Primarily,  therefore,  and  in  its  great  elemental  sense,  the 
Covenant  of  Grace  or  Redemption  is  a  covenant  from  eternity, 
between  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the  resti¬ 
tution  of  all  things  from  the  effects  of  the  fall  of  man  ;  the 
realization,  in  thought,  of  the  eternal  purpose,  counsel,  and  con¬ 
currence  of  the  Godhead,  and  the  three  persons  thereof,  as  the 
whole  is  revealed  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  ;  in  general,  for  the  in¬ 
finite  glory  of  God  and,  in  particular,  for  the  eternal  blessed¬ 
ness  of  sinners  of  the  human  race,  chosen  of  God,  redeemed  by 
Christ,  and  effectually  called  unto  salvation  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  plan  of  salvation  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  is  the  complete 
realization,  in  time,  of  this  eternal  covenant.  The  Scriptures  are 
a  complete  disclosure  of  it,  so  far  as  is  needful  for  our  salvation. 
The  Kingdom  of  God  in  this  world  is  the  manifestation  of  it, 
from  age  to  age,  in  time;  and  when  time  is  done,  the  triumphant 
Kingdom  of  Saints  in  glory  will  manifest  it  completely  and  for¬ 
ever.  Secondarily,  and  in  a  subordinate  sense,  it  is  a  covenant 
between  God  and  every  sinner  saved  by  grace  :  because  all  such 
were  represented  by  Christ,  their  federal  head,  in  the  covenant 
itself  ;  and  being,  in  due  time,  supernaturally  regenerated  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  they  come  actually  into  covenant  with  God,  through 
Christ.  It  is  they  who  make  up  the  mystical  body  of  Christ. 
They  constitute  that  true  Kingdom  of  God  which  is  sometimes 
called  the  Messianic  Kingdom,  with  reference  to  its  head  ;  some- 

1  2  Peter,  i.  4. 


46  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

times,  the  New  Creation,  with  reference  to  its  author ;  most 
generally,  the  Church  of  God,  with  reference  to  themselves. 
They  are  the  heirs  of  all  the  promises,  and  for  them  is  laid  up  in 
heaven  an  inheritance,  incorruptible  and  undefiled,  which  shall 
never  pass  away. 

7.  There  are,  then,  two  sufficiently  distinct  aspects  of  this 
amazing  covenant.  On  the  one  hand,  as  it  is  divinely  exhibited 
to  us  in  the  Mediator  of  it,  working  out  our  salvation  ;  preceded 
by  the  eternal  purpose,  counsel,  and  acts  of  God,  which  resulted 
in  his  incarnation  and  sacrifice  ;  and  followed  by  the  mission  and 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  applying  to  men  the  whole  work  of 
Christ.  On  the  other  hand,  as  we  behold  man  and  the  applica¬ 
tion  to  him  of  the  blessings  and  benefits  of  that  covenant.  At 
first,  wholly  depraved,  and  a  child  of  wrath  ;  yet  still  susceptible 
through  the  power  of  God  of  restoration  to  him.  Then, 
awakened  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  a  sense  of  his  true  condition  ; 
yet  still  perverse,  stupid,  and  rebellious.  Then,  born  again, 
from  above,  and  of  the  Spirit  ;  yet  weak,  frail,  erring,  and  very 
slow  of  heart  to  believe.  At  last,  closing  his  career  of  sin,  and 
pardon,  and  deliverance,  in  peace,  perhaps  in  triumph.  Now  it 
behooves  us  to  realize  these  two  distinct  aspects  of  this  great  sub¬ 
ject — this  divine  and  this  human  element  of  our  destiny.  Both 
of  these  are  to  be  made  full  account  of  in  all  our  endeavours  to 
comprehend  the  ways  of  God  towards  man,  in  all  our  efforts  to 
keep  our  hearts  in  his  fear  and  love.  If  we  exalt  the  human 
element  too  much,  then  we  lose  sight  of  the  infinite  need  of  di¬ 
vine  grace,  and  fall  into  presumptuous  estimates  of  our  own  ability 
to  something  good  ;  and  if  we  weaken  it  too  much,  we  lose  that 
pungent  sense  of  responsibility,  and  that  deep  impression  of 
duty,  which  it  is  one  of  the  noblest  offices  of  the  Gospel  to  en¬ 
lighten  and  to  exalt.  On  the  other  hand,  the  least  weakening 
of  the  divine  element,  no  matter  in  what  way,  is  immediately 
fatal ;  and  every  error  on  that  side  immediately  reacts  and  pro¬ 
duces  a  corresponding  and  fatal  error  on  the  other  side.  Nothing 
can  be  more  absurd  than  to  suppose  that  religion  in  its  very  na¬ 
ture,  consists  merely  of  emotions  ;  unless  it  is  more  absurd  to 
suppose  that  such  emotions  as  God  would  recognize  as  constitu¬ 
ting  true  religion,  can  exist  independently  of  true  knowledge  of 
him.  It  is  true  that  mere  knowledge  is  not  religion  ;  but  it  is 


CHAP.  II.]  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 


47 


more  emphatically  true  that  neither  ignorance  nor  error  is  re¬ 
ligion.  But  what  is  most  important  is,  that  ignorance  and  error 
separate  us  from  God  precisely  in  proportion  as  they  exist ; 
while  God  himself  has  told  us,  that  to  know  him,  the  only  true 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  has  sent,  is  eternal  life.1 

1  John,  xvii  3. 


CHAPTER  III. 


RELATION  OF  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION,  TO  THE  INNER  LIFE 
OF  MAN,  AND  TO  HIS  FUNDAMENTAL  RELIGIOUS  CONVICTIONS. 


I  — 1.  The  Will  of  God  is  the  Rule  of  Duty  to  Man  considered  as  a  Creature. — 2.  The 
Rule  of  Duty  to  Fallen  Creatures  for  whom  God  provides  a  Saviour,  is  the  Will 
of  that  Saviour. — 3.  Precise  relation  of  the  Revealed  Way  of  Salvation,  to  the 
nature  of  Religion,  and  of  Man.  II. — 1.  Salvation  for  Sinners,  through  sover¬ 
eign  Grace. — 2.  Comparative  Statement  of  their  Condition — and  the  Remedy. — 
3.  Comparative  Statement  of  the  Moral  Impotence,  and  the  Moral  Susceptibility 
of  Fallen  Man. — 4.  This  Condition  of  Fallen  Man,  the  Covenant  of  Redemption, 

■ 

and  the  actual  Process  of  Salvation  mutually  illustrated. — 5.  The  Sovereignty  of 
God  and  the  Dependence  of  the  Creature,  universal  in  all  things,  are  emphatic  in 
Grace  unto  Salvation. — 6.  Divine  Grace  rendered  effectual,  only  through  our 
personal  Redemption. — I.  That  personal  Redemption  made  available  to  us,  not 
by  our  act,  but  by  the  work  of  God’s  Spirit.  III. — 1.  The  most  remote  reasons 
of  our  personal  Salvation. — 2.  The  most  remote  reasons  of  the  failure  of  personal 
Salvation  to  be  universal. — 3.  On  one  side  an  illustration  of  God’s  infinite  Per¬ 
fections  beyond  the  Covenant ;  on  the  other  of  his  infinite  Perfections  within  the 
Covenant ;  on  both  the  display  of  his  infinite  Nature. — 4.  Restatement  of  Re¬ 
deeming  Love,  in  its  method,  and  in  its  results. 

I.- — 1.  If  there  were  no  God,  there  could  he  no  religion  ;  and, 
in  that  case,  the  existence  of  a  moral  conscience  in  man  would 
je  the  most  inscrutable  of  all  the  wonders  of  his  being.  It  would 
be  the  precise  response  of  our  nature  to  our  Creator ;  when,  in 
reality,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  Creator.  To  say  that  we 
have  an  understanding — and  then  deny  that  there  is  any  such 
thing  as  truth — is  less  absurd  than  to  say  we  have  a  conscience — 
and  then  deny  the  existence  of  the  very  object  of  that  conscience. 
As  to  our  having  a  religious  nature,  it  is  just  as  certain  as  that 
we  have  any  nature  at  all.  But  the  sense  of  our  dependence  on 
God,  and  the  sense  of  our  responsibility  to  God,  are  the  deepest 
manifestations  of  that  religious  nature  ;  precisely  as  the  fact  of 
that  dependence  and  the  fact  of  that  accountability,  are  the 
deepest  foundations  of  religion  itself.  And  so  in  the  nature  of 
the  case,  to  which  our  own  nature  responds,  we  are  to  direct  all 


CHAP.  III.]  THE  COVENANT  —  AND  THE  SOUL. 


49 


our  actions,  not  according  to  our  own  pleasure,  but  according  to 
the  will  of  God.  And  this  obligation,  which  is  in  some  sort  the 
very  essence  of  all  religion,  is  equally  binding  upon  every  crea¬ 
ture  of  God,  that  is  capable  of  knowing  him. 

2.  Every  thing  which  separates  between  God  and  man — sin 
in  all  its  forms — is  abnormal,  that  is,  unnatural  to  man  as  he 
was  created  by  God.  Sin  places  man  in  a  new  relation  to  God  ; 
but  still  leaving  him  the  creature  of  God,  it  neither  releases  him 
from  the  dominion  of  God,  nor  from  his  dependence  on  God.  The 
obligation  to  regulate  all  his  actions  by  tbe  will  of  God,  still  con¬ 
tinues  in  full  force,  while  his  ability  and  his  desire  to  do  so  are 
both  lost,  and  his  sense  of  obligation  to  do  so  deprives  him  of  all 
peace  in  his  sins.  The  way  of  access  to  God  for  sinless  creatures 
is  open  and  clear,  and  they  have  light  and  strength  to  walk 
therein.  But  to  sinful  creatures,  nature  affords  no  access  to  God, 
and  reason  discloses  none,  except  merely  that  they  may  come  and 
be  condemned.  That  any  form  of  religion  should  be  effectual  in 
restoring  a  sinful  creature  to  the  favour  of  God,  it  must,  therefore, 
be  supernaturally  revealed,  it  must  contemplate  him  as  a  sinner, 
it  must  deliver  him  from  condemnation  for  his  sins,  and  it  must 
restore  to  him  both  the  desire  and  the  ability  to  conform  his  ac¬ 
tions  to  the  will  of  God.  In  effect,  this  has  been  done  through 
a  Saviour.  A  new  relation  has  been  established  between  God 
and  fallen  men,  considered  not  merely  as  creatures,  nor  merely 
as  sinful  creatures,  but  as  sinful  creatures  still  capable  of  resto¬ 
ration  and  of  salvation.  It  is  a  relation  of  grace  on  one  side  and 
faith  on  the  other,  superadded  to  the  relation  of  dominion  on  one 
side  and  dependence  on  the  other,  which  existed  before.  The 
fundamental  principle  of  this  religion  for  sinners  must  necessarily 
be,  dependence  on  the  Saviour  revealed  to  him  by  God.  And 
the  essential  principle  which  has  been  shown  to  lie  at  the  basis 
of  all  religion  assumes  a  corresponding  form,  namely,  that  all 
sinful  creatures  for  whom  God  has  provided  a  Saviour,  are  bound 
to  regulate  all  their  actions,  not  according  to  their  own  pleasure, 
but  according  to  the  will  of  that  Saviour. 

3.  God  the  Father,  the  supreme  ruler  of  the  universe,  requires 
of  every  creature  that  complete  obedience  which  lies,  as  I  have 
shown  alike  from  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  nature  of  man,  and 
the  relations  between  them,  at  the  base  of  all  religion  ;  and  by 
consequence,  he  demands  against  sinful  man,  satisfaction,  to  his 

VOL.  II.  4 


50  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

immaculate  justice,  to  his  broken  covenant,  and  to  his  violated 
law.  God  the  Son  undertakes  to  render  that  satisfaction,  and  is 
ordained  to  the  execution  of  that  work.  God  the  Holy  Ghost 
applies  to  the  redeemed,  the  satisfaction  demanded  by  the  Father, 
and  rendered  by  the  Son.  The  ineffable  love  of  each  divine  Per¬ 
son  in  the  Godhead  to  the  others,  prompts  them  all  to  manifest 
and  to  illustrate  in  this  manner,  the  infinite  glory  of  each  in  this 
sublime  procedure.  And  thus  in  a  line  of  thought  suggested  by 
the  very  nature  of  religion  itself,  which  is  the  very  highest  neces¬ 
sity  of  man,  we  arrive  at  the  most  naked  form  of  exact  accord¬ 
ance  between  the  fundamental  conception  of  the  Covenant  of 
Redemption  as  revealed  to  us  by  God,  and  the  fundamental 
nature  of  our  own  inner  life  as  attested  by  our  own  conscious¬ 
ness.  Now  let  it  be  considered  that  the  form  of  spiritual  life 
unto  which  fallen  man  is  transformed,  by  all  these  acts  of  God 
and  all  these  changes  in  us,  is  precisely  that  of  which  in  our  sins 
natural  reason  has  no  conception,  and  natural  conscience  no 
ability  ;  and  then  the  divine  reality  of  it  all  seems  to  reach  abso¬ 
lute  certainty. 

II. — 1.  It  is  not  the  righteous — it  is  sinners  whom  the  Sa¬ 
viour  calls  to  repentance  ;  it  is  the  sick,  not  they  that  be  whole, 
who  need  a  physician.1  As  long  as  we  do  not  realize  our  sinful¬ 
ness,  neither  can  we  realize  our  need  of  divine  grace  ;  and  as 
soon  as  we  deny  the  misery  which  sin  brings  upon  us,  we  re¬ 
nounce  the  necessity  of  divine  mercy.  It  is,  no  doubt,  common 
for  men  to  fall  temporarily  into  such  a  condition  as  this  ;  and 
ofttinies  the  conscience  becomes  so  far  seared  and  blinded,  that 
this  condition  becomes  permanent.  The  ordinary  condition  of 
impenitent  men  is,  perhaps,  one  of  ignorance,  indifference,  and 
inattention  to  divine  things,  and  to  their  own  spiritual  estate  ; 
and  the  more  so  in  all  Christian  lands,  where  the  light  of  God  is 
sufficiently  diffused,  to  make  obvious  the  folly  of  such  remedies 
for  our  fallen  state,  as  man  left  to  himself  has  been  able  to  sug- 
gest.  To  arouse,  to  awaken,  to  engage,  to  enlighten  the  human 
soul,  is  the  first  practical  necessity  in  saving  it  ;  and  then  to 
quicken,  sustain,  and  sanctify  it,  is  to  fit  it  for  the  acceptable 
service,  and  satisfying  enjoyment  of  God.  It  is  by  the  love  of 
God  the  Father,  the  saving  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  application  of  both  to  our  souls  with  divine  light  and  power 

1  Matt.,  ix,  9-13. 


51 


CHAP.  III.]  THE  COVENANT  —  AND  THE  SOUL. 

by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  all  this  is  accomplished.  And  in  the 
process,  the  word  and  ordinances  of  God,  together  with  his  divine 
providence,  and  together  with  the  whole  forces  abiding  in  the 
nature  he  has  given  us,  are  made  tributary  to  the  great  work  of 
our  restoration.  Countless  millions  of  human  beings  have  en¬ 
countered  all  the  conditions  embraced  in  all  these  statements  ; 
countless  millions  denying  and  rejecting  the  remedy  made  known 
by  God  ;  countless  millions  accepting  it  ;  all  of  them  on  both 
sides,  exhibiting  some  phase  or  other  of  the  relation  of  the  great 
truths  and  principles  on  which  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  rests, 
to  the  fundamental  religious  ideas,  convictions,  and  nature  of 
man.  Every  human  being  who  has  been  in  reach  of  the  word 
of  God,  has  had  the  opportunity  of  knowing  what  it  is  God  pro¬ 
poses,  and  the  means  he  has  provided  for  his  great  end.  Every 
human  being  who  has  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  children 
of  God,  has  had  the  means  of  appreciating  the  effects  of  God's 
purposes  and  acts  in  restoring  fallen  man  to  his  lost  image.  And 
every  human  being  who  has  either  accepted  or  rejected  the  Gos¬ 
pel,  has  had  in  his  own  mental  experience  the  most  intimate 
testimony  of  the  relation  between  that  Gospel  and  the  soul,  re¬ 
jecting  or  accepting  it.  The  question,  therefore,  so  far  from 
being  obscure,  is  one  which  nothing  but  voluntary  ignorance,  or 
sinful  indifference,  could  prevent  all  the  countless  millions  of 
whom  I  have  spoken,  from  appreciating  justly  and  determining 
with  certainty.  If  it  be  alleged  that  other  millions,  perhaps  as 
numerous,  never  heard  of  Christ  or  the  covenant  of  which  he  was 
the  Mediator ;  1  readily  admit  as  to  them,  that  the  position  in 
which  the  Scriptures  place  them  is  such,  as  to  require  a  modifi¬ 
cation  of  the  foregoing  statements,  to  the  whole  extent  of  remit¬ 
ting  them  back  to  the  position  in  which  fallen  man  stood  when 
he  was  driven  from  Eden — or  to  whatever  intermediate  position 
they  may  have  a  ttained  through  God's  mercy.  They  must  live, 
or  they  must  die,  according  to  their  actual  condition.  But  the 
more  dreadful  this  condition  may  be  supposed  to  be,  the  clearer 
is  the  evidence  drawn  from  human  nature  itself,  that  there  is  no 
salvation  for  man  except  through  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  ; 
and  that  it  has  always  been  administered,  as  it  has  always  been 
revealed,  in  a  way  of  sovereign  grace. 

2.  Our  actual  condition,  therefore,  is  capable  of  the  most  dis¬ 
tinct  appreciation  ;  and  so  the  elements  of  it  are  capable  of  the 


52  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

most  exact  comparison  with  that  glorious  covenant  through 
which  we  are  saved.  Depraved,  but  capable  of  restoration ;  per¬ 
ceiving  the  true  and  the  good — the  false  and  the  evil,  but  all  in¬ 
distinctly  and  inadequately  ;  dependent  and  accountable,  lying 
under  the  clear  sense  of  duty  even  amidst  its  perpetual  viola¬ 
tions,  and  the  strong  sense  of  blameworthiness  which  even  the 
sense  of  our  moral  impotence  sharpens  instead  of  alleviating  ; 
recalling  vaguely,  but  yet  powerfully,  the  great  estate  we  have 
lost,  and  incapable  of  extinguishing  a  hope  equally  vague,  yet 
not  less  powerful,  of  a  still  greater  estate  to  come  ;  such  are  the 
outlines  of  that  mysterious  inner  life,  full  of  anomalies,  wonder¬ 
ful  in  its  ceaseless  activity,  the  outworkings  of  whose  consuming 
unrest  even  the  most  calm  and  thoughtful  can  neither  perfectly 
regulate  nor  completely  control.  The  word  of  God,  revealing  us 
to  ourselves,  points  out  all  the  realities,  all  the  mysteries  of  our 
being  ;  and  as  often  as  w~e  test  its  statements,  we  feel  more  and 
more  how  boundless  its  insight  is.  Then  it  explains  to  us  the 
sources  of  all  these  mixed  and  wondrous  things  ;  our  creation, 
our  primeval  estate,  our  trial,  our  fall,  the  promise  of  a  Saviour, 
the  sentence  of  God,  our  mortal  probation,  and  our  eternal  judg¬ 
ment  ;  and  as  we  listen  to  its  great  and  solemn  utterances,  and 
compare  them  with  that  inner  life  to  which  they  constantly  ap¬ 
peal,  the  darkness  vanishes  before  those  testimonies  whose  en¬ 
trance  giveth  light  and  giveth  understanding.  And  then  it 
takes  up  its  wondrous  parable  of  sovereign  grace.  What  we  are, 
it  has  already  explained.  How  we  came  to  be  as  we  are,  it  had 
also  explained.  But  now,  it  is  deliverance — and  the  way  thereof. 
The  eternal  love  of  God  the  Father  ;  redemption  through  the 
Son  of  God  made  flesh  ;  a  new,  holy,  blessed,  and  immortal 
life,  through  the  Holy  Ghost  !  And  this  sublime  remedy  is  ad¬ 
dressed,  point  by  point,  to  every  element  of  the  inner  and  the 
outward  life  of  man,  as  the  fall  left  him,  and  as  sin  has  made 
him.  The  question  is,  the  relevancy  of  the  glorious  remedy,  to 
the  fearful  case  ;  the  relevancy  of  the  Covenant  of  Kedemption 
to  the  fundamental  religious  ideas,  convictions,  and  nature  of 
man.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  universal  judgment  of  all  intel¬ 
ligent  beings  must  be,  that  sinners  who  cannot  be  saved  in  this 
way,  cannot  be  saved  at  all.  And  surely  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  any  sinner  saved  in  this  way,  will  not  only  joyfully  testify 
to  the  efficacy  and  the  blessedness  thereof,  but  will  forever  exalt 


CHAP.  III.]  THE  COVENANT  —  AND  THE  SOUL.  53 

and  magnify  that  Saviour,  whom  he  has  found  to  he  the  way, 
the  truth,  and  the  life. 

3.  The  Apostle  Paul,  in  celebrating  our  deliverance  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  has  recounted  to  us  his  own  mental  strug¬ 
gles,  his  weakness,  and  the  nature  of  his  victory,  in  a  way  level 
to  the  comprehension  of  every  child  of  God,  and  probably  real¬ 
ized  in  the  experience  of  each  one  of  them.1  The  more  we  are 
enlightened  to  discern  the  holiness  of  the  law  of  God,  the  more 
clearly  do  we  perceive  our  present  inability  to  keep  it,  and  at  the 
same  time  our  just  condemnation  under  it.  The  good  that  we 
would,  we  do  not :  but  the  evil  which  we  would  not,  that  we  do. 
Well  may  we,  with  that  great  Apostle,  cry  out,  on  the  one  hand, 
Oh  !  wretched  man  that  I  am  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  Thanks 
be  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  !  What  can  we  do,  of 
ourselves,  to  commend  ourselves  to  God,  as  fallen  sinners  ?  We 
cannot  change  our  natures,  even  if  we  desired  it,  any  more  than 
an  Ethiopian  can  change  his  skin,  or  a  leopard  his  spots  :  and 
even  if  we  could  change  it,  if  we  desired  to  do  so,  we  are  abso¬ 
lutely  incapable  of  forming  such  a  desire,  in  our  own  strength. 
Because  the  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God :  for  it  is  not 
subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.2  And,  more¬ 
over,  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  ;  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him ,  neither  can  he  know 
them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned.3  However  power¬ 
ful  our  religious  impulses  may  be,  it  is  absolutely  certaia  that, 
if  left  to  ourselves,  they  can  never  conduct  us  to  the  true  and 
living  God.  Impotent  alike  to  render  account  of  our  past  trans¬ 
gressions,  or  to  atone  for  them  ;  it  would  be  of  little  avail,  even 
if  we  were  competent  to  do  both,  so  long  as  our  depraved  nature, 
which  we  cannot  change,  remains  a  perennial  source  of  all  ini¬ 
quity,  and  its  pollution  a  complete  disqualification  while  it  lasts, 
for  the  service  and  the  enjoyment  of  God.  It  is  true,  indeed, 
that  the  pungent  knowledge  of  all  this  is  derived,  not  from  na¬ 
ture,  or  reason,  but  from  God.  But  it  is  also  true  that  the  soul 
accepts  this  divine  exposition  of  the  significance  of  its  whole 
condition,  as  soon  as  the  Holy  Ghost  has  quickened  it  to  know 
God  and  itself.  That  great  Apostle  already  referred  to,  has  de¬ 
veloped,  in  his  own  experience,  how  it  is  that  one  who  is  a  blas¬ 
phemer,  a  persecutor,  and  injurious,  may  be  at  the  same  time 

1  Rom.,  vii.  7-25.  2  Rom.,  viii.  7.  3  1  Cor.,  ii.  14. 


54 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


zealous  towards  God,  even  after  a  manner  revealed  from  Heaven. 
Nor  can  the  carnal  heart  understand  how  the  chief  of  sinners 
could  be  aided  in  his  transformation  into  the  most  enlightened 
and  heroic  of  all  believers,  by  a  voice  saying  to  him,  I  am  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  whom  thou  persecutest.1  It  is  here  precisely,  we 
perceive  so  clearly  that  the  world  by  wisdom  cannot  know  God  ; 
and  that  this  is  a  result  neither  casual  nor  variable,  but  one  in 
which  the  wisdom  of  God  himself  is  involved.2  Here  it  is  we 
realize,  that  unto  them  which  are  called,  Christ  crucified  is  the 
power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  ;  and  that  he  is  made  of 
God  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and 
redemption  !3  Every  thing  in  us  exacts  precisely  what  God  has 
done  for  us  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  has  accomplished  it,  every  thing 
in  us  exults  in  the  completeness  and  the  fitness  of  it  all. 

4.  I  have  already  pointed  out  the  obligation  resting  on  us,  con¬ 
sidered  merely  as  creatures  of  God,  to  regulate  our  conduct  by  his 
will;  and  the  corresponding  obligation  resting  on  us  as  offenders 
against  God,  to  regulate  our  conduct  by  the  will  of  the  Saviour  he 
has  provided  for  us.  In  both  cases  obedience  is  the  conception  which 
is  responsive  to  our  estate — obedience  of  the  creature  to  his  Creator 
— obedience  of  the  sinner  to  his  Saviour.  Under  the  Covenant  of 
Works,  the  obedience  of  the  creature  must  of  necessity  be  complete, 
and  be  rendered  by  the  creature.  Under  the  Covenant  of  Grace, 
an  imperfect  obedience  of  the  sinner  may  be  accepted  by  God,  for 
the  sake  of  the  perfect  obedience  rendered  by  his  divine  Saviour. 
To  suppose  that  God  can  save  us  in  our  sins  is  both  absurd  and 
impious.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  lost  by  the  fall  not  only 
the  ability  to  render  a  complete  personal  obedience  unto  eternal 
life — but  even  the  opportunity  of  making  such  an  attempt, 
since  the  Covenant  of  Works  as  a  covenant  of  life  no  longer  ex¬ 
ists.  That  we  are  naturally  neither  able  nor  inclined  to  render 
that  new  obedience  which  God,  through  his  grace,  accepts  from 
penitent  and  believing  sinners,  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  is  felt  to 
be  certain  by  every  human  heart ;  and  is,  moreover,  manifest  in 
that  natntally  we  are  not  penitent,  and  do  not  believe  in  the 
Saviour.  Here,  then,  by  our  own  impenitence  and  unbelief,  we 
are  cut  off  from  Christ,  and  from  the  obedience  of  faith ;  and  if 
the  matter  is  left  there,  we  perish  under  the  Covenant  of  Grace 

1  Acts,  xxil  1-16;  1  Tim.,  i.  12-17.  3  i  Cor.,  i.  21. 

8  1  Cor.,  i.  23,  24,  30. 


CHAP.  III.]  THE  COVENANT  —  AND  THE  SOUL.  55 

itself.  What  occurs  is,  that  God  imputes  to  us  the  righteous¬ 
ness  of  Christ  which  is  the  fruit  of  his  obedience — that  we  re¬ 
ceive  this  righteousness  through  faith — that  the  faith  whereby 
we  receive  it  is  a  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  resulting  from  the  re¬ 
newal  of  the  soul  by  him — that  our  new  obedience,  whether 
outward  or  inward,  is  the  product  of  the  acts  and  works  of  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost — and  that  salvation  is  real,  and 
wholly  gratuitous.  We  are  united  to  our  Saviour,  both  to  suffer 
with  him  and  to  reign  with  him :  this  has  resulted  from  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  us  :  that  resulted  from  the  act  of  the 
Father  imputing  to  us  the  righteousness  of  Christ  :  those  acts 
and  works  were  all  immediately  the  fruits  of  the  Covenant  of 
Grace — and  remotely  of  the  eternal  counsel,  purpose,  and  decree 
of  God.  Now  here  is  the  Covenant  of  Eedemption,  and  the 
process  of  our  actual  salvation — face  to  face.  It  seems  to  me 
that  their  relation  to  each  other  is  precise  and  complete.  For 
so  much  as  relates  to  that  covenant,  God  is  the  witness  :  for  so 
much  as  relates  to  our  own  souls,  the  testimony  of  our  own  con¬ 
sciousness  is  added  to  the  declarations  of  God. 

5.  I  have  said  repeatedly  that  the  absolute  dominion  of  God 
over  man,  and  the  absolute  dependence  of  man  on  God,  are  the 
fundamental  truths  that  control  all  the  relations  between  God 
and  man.  Every  conception  we  have  of  God's  existence,  nature, 
or  works,  every  idea  we  can  form  of  creation,  providence,  or 
grace — all  terminate  in  the  absolute  dominion  of  God.  On  the 
other  hand,  every  conception  we  have  of  our  condition  as  crea¬ 
tures  of  God,  no  matter  of  w7hat  degree,  or  in  what  estate,  re¬ 
sults  in  our  absolute  dependence  on  him.  And  every  conceivable 
relation  between  God  and  man,  no  matter  how  high  man  may 
rise,  or  how  low  he  may  sink,  and  no  matter  by  what  means  in 
either  case  ;  necessarily  involves  this  dominion  on  the  one  side, 
and  this  dependence  on  the  other.  There  is  no  escape  from  this, 
but  by  some  means  that  will  annihilate  either  God  or  ourselves  ; 
as,  for  example,  by  atheism  which  annihilates  God  ;  or  by  pan¬ 
theism  which  annihilates  every  thing  but  that  which  they  call 
God.  And  what  is  gained  by  either  result  P  Absolutely  nothing. 
For  our  dependence  on  something — whether  chance,  or  fate,  or 
fortune,  is  just  as  real  as  it  was  before  ;  and  the  dominion  of 
something — whether  chance,  or  fate,  or  fortune,  over  us,  is  just 
as  absolute  as  it  was  before.  Whatever  else  we  have  gotten  rid 


56  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  .  [BOOK  I. 

of,  we  have  not  gotten  rid  of  our  absolute  dependence,  or  of  an  ab¬ 
solute  dominion  over  us.  Why  then  should  it  be  thought  strange, 
that  this  infinite  sovereignty  of  God  should  attach  to  his  grace  ? 
Or  rather,  of  all  things,  is  not  his  unmerited  favour  that  in  re¬ 
gard  of  which  his  sovereign  disposal  should  be  most  absolute  ? 
And  why  should  it  be  thought  strange,  that  our  universal  de¬ 
pendence  should  embrace  dependence  in  the  matter  of  salvation  ? 
Or  rather,  of  all  things,  is  not  saving  grace  that  for  which  sinful 
creatures  must  be  most  dependent  on  an  offended  God  ?  If  we 
suppose  that  this  sovereignty  attaches  to  divine  grace,  only  in 
the  original  conception  of  it,  then  it  is  grace  which  can  be  of  no 
avail  to  us  ;  for  unless  we  be  redeemed  by  the  divine  Saviour,  we 
must  perish.  And  if  we  suppose  the  sovereignty  of  divine  grace 
may  go  that  far  and  stop — then  we  are  lost ;  for  unless  we  are 
renewed  by  the  divine  Spirit,  we  must  perish.  And  every  sup¬ 
position  we  can  make,  which  comes  short  of  bearing  forward  the 
sovereign  grace  of  God,  divinely  and  efficaciously  to  our  personal 
salvation,  leaves  us  as  sinners  in  a  condition  of  certain  destruc¬ 
tion.  In  truth,  the  only  effect  of  abrogating  the  divine  sover¬ 
eignty  touching  the  whole  range  of  God's  saving  grace,  is  to  ren¬ 
der  it  absolutely  certain  that  no  sinner  will  be  saved.  And  all 
our  attempts  to  lower  and  weaken  our  complete  dependence  on 
God,  in  our  whole  salvation,  so  far  from  being  of  any  avail  to 
the  impenitent,  tend  only  against  the  hopes  of  the  children  of 
God.  Our  nature  and  our  condition  are  such,  that  grace  may 
save  us  ;  and  if  the  sovereignty  of  God  be  brought  to  bear  with 
divine  efficacy  upon  our  souls,  it  ivill  save  us.  But  if  we  be  left 
to  ourselves — released  in  any  degree  from  our  dependence  on  God 
and  his  dominion  over  us,  in  the  matter  of  grace  and  salvation — 
we  are  lost ;  and  they  for  whose  supposed  benefit,  the  elect  of 
God  are  fobbed  of  their  covenanted  interest  in  eternal  life,  are 
also  lost.  Eternal  life,  as  St.  Paul  has  expressly  stated,  is  simply 
the  gift  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.1 

6.  If  we  will  exclude  from  our  conception  of  salvation  for 
sinners,  the  distinct  scriptural  idea  of  redemption,  I  suppose  it 
is  impossible  to  realize  in  thought,  even  with  the  Scriptures  to 
instruct  us,  how  it  is  possible  for  sinners  to  be  saved.  But  as 
soon  as  we  admit  that  scriptural  idea  of  redemption,  all  that  I 
have  hitherto  asserted  becomes  inevitable,  and  is  all  taught  in  the 

1  Rom.,  vi.  23. 


57 


CHAP.  III.]  THE  COVENANT  —  AND  THE  SOUL. 

Scriptures  in  direct  connection  with  redemption.  We  cannot 
understand  how,  under  the  dominion  of  God,  transgression  can 
be  passed  over,  without  atonement  ;  nor  is  it  possible  to  inter¬ 
pret  one  out  of  many  thousand  declarations  of  his  word,  so  as  to 
make  out  any  thing  else  hut  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death.  The 
claims  of  divine  justice  cannot  be  set  aside  ;  the  demands  of 
God’s  violated  law  cannot  be  resisted  ;  the  penalty  of  his  broken 
covenant  cannot  he  disregarded  ;  the  infinite  majesty  of  God  can¬ 
not  be  defied,  and  his  infinite  dominion  assailed,  and  his  infinite 
goodness  outraged,  without  retribution.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
ourselves  have  no  certitude  deeper,  than  the  reality  of  our  own 
blameworthiness  in  the  sight  of  God ;  we  perceive  nothing  more 
clearly,  than  the  necessity  of  retribution  ;  we  can  conceive  of  no 
impossibility  greater,  than  that  God  should  either  approve  our 
sins,  or  deny  their  existence.  Utterly  insuperable  as  this  barrier 
is — there  remains  something  more.  For  these  terrible  offences 
are  the  fruit  of  a  polluted  nature,  which  is  no  more  fit  for  God’s 
reconciled  presence,  than  the  sinful  fruits  of  it  are  fit  for  his  ap¬ 
probation.  It  is  only  through  the  unsearchable  riches  of  his 
love  that  God  proposes  to  save  such  sinners  ;  and  redemption 
through  the  blood  of  Christ  is  the  method  by  which  divine  wis¬ 
dom  and  divine  power,  prompted  by  divine  goodness,  accomplish 
the  proposals  of  divine  love.  The  Lord  Jesus,  addressing  him¬ 
self  directly  to  the  Father,  said  that  the  power  over  all  flesh 
which  he  had  received  from  him,  was  to  the  end  that  he  should 
give  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  the  Father  had  given  to  him. 
These  are  they,  he  added,  which  thou  gavest  me  out  of  the 
world  ;  thine  they  were,  and  thou  gavest  them  me.  I  pray  for 
them  ;  I  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for  them  thou  hast  given 
me.1  And  to  this  purport  is  the  whole  of  the  wonderful  passage, 
a  few  words  of  which  I  have  quoted.  It  is  for  those  whom  God 
has  given  to  him,  that  Christ  has  given  himself  to  be  a  ransom, 
to  be  wisdom,  to  be  righteousness,  to  be  sanctification,  to  be  re¬ 
demption.2  And  so  Christ  Jesus  having  obtained  eternal  redemp¬ 
tion,  by  his  own  blood,  has  passed  into  the  heavens ;  and  that 
blood  of  his  who  through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  with¬ 
out  spot  unto  God,  purges  our  conscience  from  dead  works,  to 
serve  the  living  God.3  Well  may  we  believe  the  emphatic  dec- 

1  John,  xvii.  2,  3,  6,  9.  3  1  Tim.,  it  6  ;  1  Cor.,  i.  30  ;  Gal.,  iv.  4,  5. 

3  Heb.,  ix.  12-15 ;  Dan.,  ix.  24,  25. 


58 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


laration  of  Christ,  All  that  the  Father  giveth  me,  shall  come 
to  me  ;  and  him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  east  out. 
Well  may  we  confide  in  his  assurance,  that  it  is  the  Father’s 
will,  that  of  all  he  has  given  to  the  Son,  he  should  lose  nothing, 
but  should  raise  it  up  again,  at  the  last  day.1 

7.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  the  natural  heart  easily 
contents  itself  with  any  general  statements  of  God  concerning  his 
divine  grace  ;  but  is  prompt  to  take  offence  as  soon  as  those  state¬ 
ments  assume  a  specific  and  determinate  shape.  And  yet  it  is 
extremely  obvious,  that  if,  after  all,  it  was  left  wholly  and  abso¬ 
lutely  to  us,  whether  we  would  choose  to  be  saved  or  not, — ad¬ 
mitting  that  in  such  a  case  any  natural  heart  ever  would  choose 
to  be  saved,  in  the  manner  pointed  out  in  the  Gospel  ;  the  final 
and  decisive  matter,  in  every  case,  would  be  an  act  of  the  human 
soul,  and  that  in  its  unregenerate  state — and  not  a  work  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  And  it  makes  no  difference  how  this  act  of  the 
soul  is  explained,  so  long  as  it  is  the  final  and  decisive  thing, 
whereby  we  live  or  whereby  we  perish  ;  for  salvation  is  made  to 
depend,  at  last,  on  some  action  of  our  depraved  soul,  and  not  on 
the  power  of  God.  No  doubt  the  soul  must  consent,  and  does 
consent  ;  it  believes  and  repents  and  it  is  saved.  But  it  is  the 
soul  renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  thus  consents,  believes, 
and  repents  ;  these  acts  of  the  soul  are  all  manifestations  of  its 
new  life,  not  methods  of  obtaining  that  life.  We  are  not  chosen 
of  God  because  we  have  chosen  Christ,  but  we  have  chosen  Christ 
because  we  were  chosen  of  God.  And  in  point  of  fact,  however 
we  may  bewilder  ourselves,  this  is  the  actual  experience  of  the 
human  soul.  Not  as  distinct  always  as  in  the  case  of  Abraham, 
or  the  case  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  ;  but  real  and  inevitable  in  the 
case  of  every  renewed  soul  ;  and  Christ  may  as  truly  say  to  every 
one  of  them,  as  he  said  to  bis  Apostles,  ye  have  not  chosen  me, 
but  I  have  chosen  you.2 

III. — 1.  When  we  attempt  to  pass  into  the  bosom  of  God, 
and  to  seek  for  the  most  remote  reasons  of  our  personal  salva¬ 
tion — and  the  most  remote  reasons  for  the  failure  of  personal  sal¬ 
vation  to  be  universal ;  it  becomes  us  to  speak  with  the  greatest 
reserve  and  modesty.  It  is  perfectly  certain  that  no  reason  known 
to  any  child  of  God,  exists  in  him,  upon  which  he  could  ground 
any  explanation  of  God’s  eternal  love  for  him.  Perhaps  we  may 

1  John,  vi.  37-39.  a  John,  xv.  16. 


59 


CHAP.  III.]  THE  COVENANT  —  AND  THE  SOUL. 

venture  so  far  as  to  assert,  that  in  our  present  state  of  being,  no 
one  could  understand  clearly,  even  if  it  were  revealed  to  him, 
what  the  exact  nature  of  that  remotest  reason  was.  And  yet  we 
dare  not  say  that  God,  who  is  the  fountain  of  all  intelligence, 
can  act  without  a  sufficient  reason  ;  nor  can  we  venture  to  assert, 
that  when  we  come  to  see  light  in  the  very  light  of  God,  as  the 
Psalmist  has  expressed  it,1  we  shall  not  comprehend  innumerable 
mysteries  of  God,  of  the  very  existence  of  the  most  of  which  we 
may  now  have  no  suspicion.  We  cannot,  without  denying  the 
faith,  hesitate  to  assert  that  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him,  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.2  Nor  are  we  permitted  to 
doubt  that  this  free  and  special  love  of  God  is  the  ground  of  our 
being  made  heirs  of  God,  according  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life  ; 
for  which  we  are  fitted  by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  re¬ 
newing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.3  In  that  free  and  eternal 
love  of  God,  we  have  found  the  most  remote  reason  of  our  per¬ 
sonal  salvation  which  is  comprehensible  to  us,  or  revealed  by  God. 
And  surely  no  object  of  it  could  conceive  of  any  thing  so  enno¬ 
bling,  as  a  motive  to  whatever  is  good  or  great  ;  any  thing  so  as¬ 
sured  as  a  foundation  on  which  to  rest  ;  any  thing  so  affecting 
as  an  incentive  to  unqualified  self-consecration  ;  any  thing  so 
overwhelming  as  a  power  within  the  soul,  so  irresistible  as  a 
force  impelling  the  soul !  And  the  rapture  of  our  brother  Paul 
should  find  a  response  in  all  Christian  hearts,  in  behalf  of  every 
one  of  which  he  has  exclaimed,  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor 
angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor 
things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature, 
shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord/ 

2.  The  other  aspect  of  a  mystery  so  fearful  in  itself,  and  so 
obscure  to  us  in  its  earliest  stages,  demands  of  us  still  more  self- 
distrust  in  pursuing  its  remotest  reason.  It  is  clear  to  us  that 
sinners  perish  for  their  sins.  But  this,  under  a  dispensation  ot 
divine  grace,  is  scarcely  a  sufficient  explanation  ;  because  it  is 
the  glory  of  Christ  that  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  all 
who  come  to  God  by  him  :  and  indeed,  he  not  only  does  save 

1  Pa.  xxxvi.  9.  3  John,  iii.  10. 

3  Titus,  iii.  4-7  ;  Eph.r  ii.  4-10.  4  Rom.,  viii.  38,  39. 


60  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

many  of  the  chief  of  sinners,  hut  his  salvation  is  exclusively  for 
sinners.  Going  hack  a  step  farther,  it  is  clear  to  us  that  the  re¬ 
jection  of  Christ,  is  the  cause  of  our  perdition ;  hut  we  must 
hear  in  mind  that  all  to  whom  he  was  ever  offered,  have  rejected 
him — none  more  distinctly  than  many  of  the  chief  of  saints — 
.  and  that  all  would  persist  in  doing  so  forever,  hut  for  the  grace 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Still  going  back,  we  easily  understand  that 
it  is  by  grieving  and  resisting  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  remain  obsti¬ 
nately  in  our  alienation  from  Christ,  and  so  perish  ;  but  it  must 
not  be  concealed  that  everv  child  of  God  would  have  done  the 

W 

same  thing,  with  the  same  result,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  spe¬ 
cial,  efficacious,  and  preventing  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  enabling 
him,  and  inclining  him,  and  fitting  him  to  accept  Christ.  In 
another  step  backward,  we  encounter  the  source  of  all  evil  in  all 
men,  in  their  original  depravity ;  and  at  the  next  step  we  en¬ 
counter  the  cause  of  this  natural  pollution,  in  the  fall  of  man  ; 
but,  as  to  both  of  these  terrible  realities,  there  is  absolutely 
nothing  which  can  distinguish  the  case  of  one  human  being  from 
another  ;  for  all  are  by  nature  equally  the  children  of  wrath,  and 
the  first  man,  Adam,  was  equally  the  progenitor  and  the  repre¬ 
sentative — the  root,  of  all.  We  have,  therefore,  traced  the  mys¬ 
tery  to  a  point  antecedent  to  the  entrance  of  sin  into  the  uni¬ 
verse,  and  have  found  the  remotest  reason  of  the  perdition  of 
ungodly  men  still  eluding  us — still  passing  back  as  we  carefully 
followT  it.  At  last  we  must  pass  into  eternity,  and  put  in  a  nega¬ 
tive  form,  what  before  we  put  in  a  positive  form.  We  do  not 
know,  neither  could  we  comprehend  if  it  were  explained  to  us, 
why  the  special  and  free  love  of  God,  did  not  select  for  its  eter¬ 
nal  objects  the  particular  sinners  which  it  did  not  select,  any 
more  than  why  it  selected  the  particular  sinners  it  did  select. 
And  yet  we  dare  not  say  there  was  no  reason  for  it  ;  that  it  w’as 
a  mere  caprice.  What  we  know  is,  that  both  facts  are  asserted 
in  the  most  distinct  manner  by  God,  in  his  holy  word  that  the 
existence  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  involves  them  both  ; 
that  the  personal  history  of  every  human  being  establishes  one  or 
the  other  of  them  ;  and  that  the  aggregate  career  of  the  whole 
race  of  mankind  is  inexplicable,  unless  both  of  them  be  true. 
Being  true — every  thing  is  explained — which  we  are  capable  of 
understanding  ;  but  in  a  manner  wonderful  and  overpowering. 

1  Rom.,  ix.  22,  23 ;  Eph.,  i.  5,  6 ;  Prov.,  xvi  4;  Matt.,  xxv.  34,  41. 


61 


CHAP.  III.]  THE  COVENANT  —  AND  THE  SOUL. 

3.  The  whole  case  terminates  at  last  in  the  same  sublime  re¬ 
sult,  whether  we  pursue  it  simply  upon  the  word  of  God,  or 
whether  we  illustrate  the  systematic  theory  of  salvation  by  the 
course  of  divine  providence  practically  developing  it,  or  by  tbe 
inner  life  of  the  individual  soul  personally  exhibiting  it.  We 
cannot  conceive  that  either  creation,  or  providence,  or  grace, 
could  exist  without  an  end  worthy  of  God,  or  in  a  manner  con¬ 
trary  to  any  of  his  infinite  perfections.  The  illustration  of  his 
infinite  being  to  an  intelligent  universe,  and  thereby  his  own 
declarative  glory,  and  the  highest  blessedness  of  the  universe 
compatible  with  the  chief  end  of  its  own  existence  ;  is  the  high¬ 
est  end  which  we  can  conceive,  and  is  the  end  declared  by  God, 
as  the  reason  of  creation,  providence,  and  grace.  Redemption 
belongs  to  that  part  of  the  case  which  we  call  grace  ;  and  must 
incur  the  force  of  the  end  and  reason  of  the  whole  case — and 
does  so  in  the  most  explicit  manner.  Upon  whatever  ground 
sin  exists  in  the  universe,  it  is  a  ground  which  the  infinite 
wisdom  of  God,  and  the  infinite  holiness  of  God  respect ;  and 
upon  whatever  ground  misery  exists,  it  is  a  ground  which  the 
infinite  goodness  and  mercy  of  God  respect.  Addressing  the  re¬ 
sources  of  his  infinite  being,  for  the  ends  and  upon  the  reasons 
already  suggested,  to  the  treatment  of  the  tremendous  questions 
of  sin  and  misery,  in  such  a  universe  ;  most  assuredly  it  ought 
not  to  surprise  us,  that  one  result  should  be  the  illustration,  for¬ 
ever,  of  his  immaculate  justice,  that  another  result  should  be  the 
illustration,  forever,  of  his  infinite  beneficence — and  that  both 
results  should  so  occur  as  to  display  his  nature  and  perfections  in 
the  clearest  manner.  Still  less  should  it  surprise  us,  that  in 
such  a  case  God  should  reveal  to  us  these  sublime  procedures 
with  the  ends  and  effects  of  them  ;  that  thus  revealed,  they 
should  be  found  to  accord  with  our  own  nature  and  condition,  a 
nature  created  and  then  renewed  in  the  image  of  God,  and  a 
condition  to  which  these  very  procedures  of  God  have  relation  ; 
or  that,  clear  as  all  might  be  in  its  immediate  personal  ap¬ 
plication  to  us,  it  should  all  be  overpowering,  and  much  of  it 
inscrutable,  in  its  most  remote  analysis,  and  in  its  immeasurable 
compass.  This  appears  to  be  precisely  what  has  occurred.  We 
shall  comprehend  it  all  the  better,  in  a  higher  state  of  existence. 
In  our  present  estate  what  we  need  is,  a  sufficient  insight  to  com¬ 
prehend  in  what  manner,  and  upon  what  principles,  it  may  all 


G2  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

avail  to  deliver  us  from  the  wrath  to  come.  And  the  more 
clearly  we  can  see  that  we  are  exposed  to  that  wrath,  the  more 
urgently  does  it  become  us  to  address  ourselves  to  the  remedy 
afforded  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  Nay,  that  very  sense  of  our  sin¬ 
fulness  is  at  once  a  proof  that  we  are  like  those  Christ  came  to 
save,  and  a  help  to  us  in  discerning  him  as  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life.  It  is  a  true  saying,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners  ;  and  the  assured  way  of  being  saved  is  to 
call  on  his  adorable  name.1 

4.  We  are  told  that  God  has  chosen  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without 
blame  before  him  in  love.2  And  in  immediate  connection  with  this 
statement,  the  separate  and  the  concurring  action  of  each  person 
in  the  Godhead,  for  us  and  in  us,  as  well  as  the  blessings  and 
benefits  which  flow  to  us,  and  the  glory  which  redounds  to  God, 
are  distinctly  set  forth.3  It  was  the  will  of  God  that  the  Son 
should  undertake  our  salvation  ;  and  he  did  it  with  delight.4 
As  a  part  of  his  reward,  he  asked  and  received  as  his  own,  those 
whom  he  would  redeem  by  his  own  most  precious  blood.5  And 
it  was  his  unalterable  love  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  redeemed, 
which  led  him  to  undertake  and  perform  all  his  work  as  Media¬ 
tor  between  God  and  men.6  It  is,  in  divine  love,  through  divine 
goodness,  and  with  a  divine  satisfaction,  that  through  the  coun¬ 
sel,  the  purpose,  and  the  will  of  God,  we  are  chosen  by  him  be¬ 
fore  the  foundation  of  the  world,  in  Christ  Jesus,  in  whose  blood 
we  have  redemption,  and  in  whom  we  are  sealed  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,  unto  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  God.7  This,  let  us  re¬ 
member,  is  not  stated  as  the  conclusion  of  our  poor  reason,  but 
is  the  detailed  account  given  by  inspiration  to  the  saints  them¬ 
selves,  through  the  greatest  human  expositor  of  the  mind  of 
God  :  and  therewith  all  the  Scriptures  concur.3  And  therewith 
also  the  unalterable  faith  of  the  church  of  God  agrees,  and  the 
spiritual  life  and  experience  of  the  children  of  God  accord.  The 
work  of  God  confirms  the  word  of  God. 

1  1  Tim.,  i.  15;  Rom.,  x.  13.  3  Eph.,  i.  4.  3  Eph.,  i.,  passim. 

4  Ps.  2d.  6-10.  5  Ps.  ii.  6-9 ;  Isa.,  liii.  10-12. 

6  John,  xiii.  1  ;  xvii.  4-6.  7  Eph.,  i.  1-13. 

8  John,  iii.  15-17  ;  Rom.,  v.  8  ;  1  Thess.,  iv.  8  ;  1  Pet.,  L  2  ;  2  Thess.,  ii.  13. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  SPECIAL  OBLIGATIONS  LAID  ON  MAN,  AS  SPECIAL  CONDITIONS 
OF  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

I.  1.  Ultimate  Truths  concerning  Human  Nature. — 2.  Influence  of  these  Truths 
upon  the  Divine  Means  of  Human  Restoration. — 3.  The  Universal  Relation  of 
Obedience  to  God  and  Life  in  God :  this  Relation  as  exhibited  through  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Redemption. — 4.  The  Universal  Need  of  Special  Divine  Assistance,  in 
order  to  Obedience  and  Life. — II.  1.  Special  Conditions  of  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption  considered  as  a  Covenant  between  God  and  Elect  Sinners. — 2.  The 
Grounds  of  Separation  between  Men  and  God,  and  the  Means  of  their  Removal 
— with  the  Relations  of  all  to  the  Conditions  of  this  Covenant. — 3.  Faith  and 
Repentance,  the  Conditions  of  Salvation  for  Sinners. — III.  1.  The  double  Office 
of  both  these  Graces  of  the  Spirit:  their  special  Nature  as  considered  here. — 2. 
Analogy  between  the  two  Sacraments  which  signify  and  seal,  and  the  two  Condi¬ 
tions  on  which  we  receive,  all  the  Benefits  of  this  Covenant. — 3.  Saving  Faith 
summarily  explained. — 4.  Repentance  unto  Life  summarily  explained. — 5.  Re¬ 
pentance  toward  God  considered  as  a  Duty,  in  the  neglect  of  which  Salvation  is 
impossible  for  Sinners. — 6.  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  considered  in  the 
same  respect. — 7.  Analogy  of  the  two  Covenants,  with  respect  to  the  obligatory 
Force  of  their  special  Conditions. — IV.  1.  Nature  of  the  Impotence  produced  by 
Sin :  and  of  Obedience  performed  in  Sin. — 2.  No  conceivable  Change  in  God  or 
Ourselves,  can  make  Salvation  for  Sinners  possible,  in  any  other  way. — 3.  It  is 
effectual  in  this  way,  only  upon  the  Allowance  of  Divine  Assistance. — 4.  The 
overwhelming  practical  Illustration  furnished  by  all  Sinners,  whether  Believing 
or  Unbelieving,  Penitent  or  Impenitent. — 5.  The  Means  proposed  by  God,  and 
their  Result. 

I. — 1.  There  are  elements  in  human  nature,  ultimate  truths 
of  our  being,  original  data  of  consciousness,  which  neither  the 
teacher  of  theology  nor  the  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  can  lose 
sight  of  for  a  moment,  without  giving  up,  at  the  same  time,  the 
very  foundation  of  every  appeal  to  man.  The  sense  of  duty, 
which  touches  on  one  side  our  sense  of  the  true,  and  on  the  other 
our  sense  of  the  good  :  the  sense  of  responsibility,  commensurate 
exactly  with  the  sense  of  duty,  testifying  continually  both  to  our 
moral  nature,  and  to  the  moral  government  which  is,  and  which 
must  forever  be,  over  us  :  the  sense  of  blameworthiness  on  ac¬ 
count  of  duty  neglected  and  condemnation  justly  incurred,  which 


64  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

is  the  testimony  of  our  conscience  to  our  guilt :  the  sense  of 
satisfaction  on  account  of  duty  discharged  and  approval  justly 
awarded,  which  is  the  testimony  of  our  conscience  to  our  recti¬ 
tude  :  these  are  indestructible  conditions  of  our  moral  constitu¬ 
tion,  which  must  exist,  so  far  as  we  can  understand,  while  our 
nature  exists,  under  every  possible  form  of  the  divine  adminis¬ 
tration  over  us.  Any  fundamental  change  in  them  applied  to 
our  whole  race,  would  immediately  change  the  relations  of  the 
whole  race  to  Adam,  to  Christ,  and  to  God,  as  well  as  the  rela¬ 
tions  of  the  individuals  of  the  race  to  each  other  ;  and  any 
such  change  applied  to  any  individual  of  the  race,  would  im¬ 
mediately  break  in  two  the  chain  of  his  own  continued  conscious 
existence,  and  destroy  his  personal  identity. 

2.  Whatever,  therefore,  may  be  the  nature  of  the  Covenant 
of  Redemption,  considered  as  a  covenant  in  eternity  between 
the  Persons  of  the  Godhead,  having  any  applicability  to  man  ; 
in  all  the  obligations  it  may  lay  on  him,  and  all  the  conditions  of 
it  which  may  have  special  relation  to  him — these  fundamental 
peculiarities  of  his  moral  constitution  will  be  made  full  account 
of  by  him  who  is  the  author  alike  of  human  nature,  and  of  the 
infinitely  gracious  covenant  by  which  that  nature  is  to  be  restored 
and  exalted.  In  like  manner,  only  still  more  clearly,  when  in 
that  eternal  covenant,  Christ  is  considered  as  the  head  of  all 
believers,  or  it  is  considered  as  being  manifested  in  time  as  a 
covenant  between  God  and  the  soul  of  the  believer ;  this  moral 
constitution  of  man,  deduced  not  only  from  his  own  intimate 
consciousness,  but  also  from  the  statements  of  God  concerning 
it  in  his  blessed  word,  must,  in  a  manner,  be  decisive  in  its  in¬ 
fluence  on  the  infinite  remedy,  so  far  as  it  is  to  be  applied  to  his 
own  inner  life.  It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  discuss  questions 
which  seem  to  be  so  obvious.  I,  therefore,  content  myself  with 
repeating,  that  in  every  act  and  work  of  God,  he  respects,  in  the 
most  exact  manner,  every  other  act  and  work  of  his  ;  every  de¬ 
parture  from  this  method  being  indeed  strictly  miraculous.  And 
as  to  his  covenant  dealings  with  man,  the  fundamental  principle 
on  which  they  all  proceed,  is  the  special  bestowment  of  new  and 
higher  mercies  :  and  the  specifio  difference  between  God’s  Cove¬ 
nants  with  man,  considered  as  of  Works  and  of  Grace,  lies  in  the 
transcendent  mercy  of  the  way  in  which  grace  is  bestowed,  as 
well  as  in  the  transcendent  grace  itself.  It  is  under  the  light  of 


CHAP.  IV.]  CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION. 


05 


truths  such  as  these,  that  whatever  conditions  and  obligations 
are  annexed  to  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  are  to  he  contem¬ 
plated  ;  as  on  the  one  hand  they  are  exalted  in  their  relation  to 
the  glory  and  love  of  God,  and  on  the  other  magnified  in  their 
relation  to  the  sinner  they  would  save  and  advance.  The  idea 
of  their  being  obstructions  which  the  sinner  must  overcome, 
difficulties  thrown  across  the  entrance  of  the  way  of  life,  is 
wholly  inconsistent  with  the  nature  and  objects  of  Redemption, 
and  wholly  subversive  of  our  hope  of  deliverance  thereby. 

3.  It  has  been  abundantly  shown,  that  if  God  had  not  made 
the  Covenant  of  Works  with  man,  every  duty  obligatory  on  man 
in  his  primeval  estate,  would  have  been  a  condition  of  life  :  and 
that  any  breach  of  any  obligation  imposed  on  him  by  that  estate 
sufficiently  grave  to  require  redress,  would  have  necessarily  for¬ 
feited  the  favour  of  God.  Everywhere  under  the  dominion  of 
God,  obedience  and  life  go  together.  The  universal  obedience  of 
all,  in  all  things,  under  our  primeval  estate  ;  the  restricted  and 
covenanted  obedience  of  Adam,  under  the  Covenant  of  Works ; 
the  universal  and  covenanted  obedience  of  Christ,  under  the 
Covenant  of  Grace  ;  and  the  new  obedience  of  the  elect  under 
the  same  covenant.  Everywhere  it  is  obedience  and  life.  Do 
and  live:  do  that  others  may  live:  do  that  sinners  may  live,  and 
living  may  do  in  Christ.  These  are  the  successive  forms  in  which 
the  universal  conception  of  obedience  and  life  is  developed  in 
the  word  of  God,  and  the  spiritual  progress  of  man.  The  duty 
of  universal  obedience  unto  life  in  man's  first  estate,  or  that  of 
special  obedience  unto  life  under  the  Covenant  of  Works,  could 
be  no  clearer,  no  more  binding,  no  more  indispensable  to  the  re¬ 
ward,  nor  its  breach  any  more  attended  by  loss  of  the  favour  of 
God  :  than  the  duty  of  the  new  obedience  under  the  Covenant 
of  Redemption,  and  the  loss  of  the  favour  of  the  Saviour  with¬ 
out  it.  There  is  this  grand  difference,  that  Adam  fell,  and  that 
Christ  triumphed;  so  that  in  Adam  it  is  the  consequences  of  the 
breach  of  duty  that  we  encounter ;  while  in  Christ  it  is  the  con¬ 
sequences  of  all  righteousness  fulfilled  that  we  encounter.  But 
this  instead  of  making  more  obscure  makes  more  clear,  the  obli¬ 
gation  of  our  new  obedience  in  order  to  the  favour  of  the  Saviour, 
and  the  recovered  favour  of  God,  and  therewith  our  recovered  and 
better  life  through  him.  And  so  with  relation  to  that  new  obe¬ 
dience,  and  in  order  to  our  fitness  for  it,  are  those  special  condi— 

5 


66  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

tions  and  obligations  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  through 
which  our  ability  to  that  new  obedience  is  either  obtained  or 
manifested.  And  this  is  but  another  way  of  saying,  those  spe¬ 
cial  conditions  and  obligations  are  with  relation  to  our  union  with 
Christ,  and  our  restoration  through  him  to  God;  and  are  in  order 
to  enjoy  and  manifest  that  union  and  that  restoration.  And  if 
no  such  special  obligations  and  conditions  were  annexed  by  God 
to  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  ;  what  would  occur  would  be, 
that  every  duty  and  every  obligation  of  man  under  that  covenant, 
would  become  a  condition  of  life  to  us,  under  it.  That  is,  in 
effect,  the  Covenant  of  Grace  would  be  most  signally  changed  to 
our  total  undoing.  For  now,  by  means  of  these  special  condi¬ 
tions  and  obligations,  we  are  so  united  to  Christ,  that  our  imper¬ 
fect  obedience  is  accepted  on  account  of  his  perfect  obedience  : 
whereas,  but  for  them,  our  new  obedience  would  have  to  be  per¬ 
fect  in  all  things,  in  order  to  be  accepted. 

4.  Nor  does  it  alter  the  case  at  all,  under  either  covenant, 
that  man,  on  account  of  his  fallibility  under  one,  and  his  de¬ 
pravity  under  the  other ;  stood  in  constant  need  of  divine  help, 
in  order  to  perform  the  special  duties  imposed  on  him,  as  condi¬ 
tions  of  obtaining  the  blessings  held  forth  in  either  covenant. 
For  he  needed  the  divine  aid,  under  both  covenants,  to  enable 
him  to  discharge  every  duty  possible  under  each  of  them,  as 
really  as  he  needed  it  to  perform  the  special  duties  designated  as 
special  conditions  of  them,  and  special  tests  of  his  condition  be¬ 
fore  God.  His  dependence  on  God  is  absolute,  both  as  a  crea¬ 
ture  merely,  and  as  a  sinful  creature.  His  moral  constitution, 
once  fallible  only,  is  now  fallen  :  but  it  is  otherwise  the  same 
moral  constitution.  Life  and  immortality,  now  brought  to  light 
in  a  new,  perfect,  and  glorious  form  by  the  Gospel  for  sinful 
men,  were  offered  to  be  confirmed  and  augmented  to  man  in  his 
estate  of  innocence.  The  grand  difference  is,  that  under  the 
first  covenant,  special  divine  aid  was  not  promised  and  was  not 
given,  and  therefore  fallible  man  did  not  discharge  the  special 
condition  of  that  covenant — but  fell :  while  under  the  second 
covenant  special  divine  aid  was  promised  and  is  given,  and 
therefore  fallen  man  does  discharge  the  especial  conditions  of  that 
covenant — and  is  restored.  And  the  whole  ground  of.this  differ¬ 
ence  is,  that  the  first  covenant  was  one  of  Works,  while  the  sec¬ 
ond  covenant  is  one  of  Grace  and  Redemption.  I  have  explained 


CHAP.  IV.]  CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION.  67 

at  large,  in  another  place,  the  merciful  nature  of  the  special 
condition  of  the  first  covenant.  It  is  still  more  obvious,  that  the 
special  conditions  of  the  second  covenant,  namely,  Repentance 
toward  God,  and  Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  are  mani¬ 
festations  of  divine  mercy  so  special  and  so  distinct,  that  with¬ 
out  them  the  perdition  of  all  sinners  is  as  inevitable,  after  the 
publication  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  as  before.  It  is  by  deal¬ 
ing  simply  and  thoroughly  with  the  great  truths  of  God,  and 
keeping  before  our  minds  and  hearts  the  sublime  proportion  of 
faith,  that  we  escape  many  errors,  and  solve  many  difficulties, 
and  receive  light  and  comfort  as  we  walk  humbly  before  God. 

II. — 1.  The  Covenant  of  Redemption  as  a  covenant  in  eter¬ 
nity,  between  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  absolutely  con¬ 
sidered  ;  as  a  covenant  also,  in  which  all  the  redeemed  were  rep¬ 
resented  by  the  Son  of  God,  their  covenant  head  ;  and  finally, 
as  a  covenant  between  God  and  the  soul  of  every  believer,  mani¬ 
fested  in  time  ;  has  been  already  very  carefully  set  forth.  And 
then  the  perfect  accordance  of  that  covenant,  in  whatever  light, 
with  our  own  intimate  spiritual  life,  nature,  and  convictions,  has 
been  exhibited  at  length.  Considered  more  especially  as  a  cove¬ 
nant  between  God  and  the  soul  of  the  believer,  and  as  a  covenant 
in  which  our  divine  Redeemer  represented  all  the  elect  of  God  ; 
the  special  conditions  and  obligations  of  it,  concerning  which  we 
now  particularly  enquire,  assume  their  most  distinct  form.  And 
as  we  make  application  of  these  aspects  of  it,  in  the  light  of  the 
great  truths  I  have  just  been  attempting  to  set  forth,  we  shall 
see  how  completely  it  is  the  foundation  of  our  hope,  and  how 
thoroughly  it  provides  for  our  salvation. 

2.  The  Scriptures  plainly  teach,  as  I  have  repeatedly  pointed 
out,  that  there  are  two  grounds  of  separation  between  God  and 
our  souls,  and  two  things  required  in  us  in  order  that  we  may  be 
restored  to  the  favour  of  God.  Our  actual  transgressions,  in 
thought,  word,  and  deed,  terrible  as  they  are,  must  be  disposed 
of  in  such  a  manner  as  will  satisfy  divine  justice  :  and  while 
they  remain  as  they  are,  they  present  an  insuperable  barrier 
between  God  and  the  sinner.  Our  polluted  natures,  the  source 
of  all  actual  sins,  must  be  purified  ;  for  while  they  remain  as 
they  are,  they  render  us  utterly  unfit  for  the  service  and  en- 
ioyment  of  God.  Here  are  the  two  terms  between  every  sin¬ 
ner  and  God  :  the  two  necessities  preliminary  to  any  possible 


68 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


restoration  of  any  sinner  to  God.  Now  how  it  is  that  Jesus 
Christy  the  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  removes  directly, 
by  his  own  satisfaction  for  us,  all  such  barriers  and  difficul¬ 
ties  as  lie  in  our  actual  offences  ;  and  how  by  the  purchase 
and  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  indirectly  removes  all  such  as  lie 
in  our  polluted  nature  ;  I  have  largely  exjfiained  in  a  former 
Treatise.  And  how,  in  the  practical  application  to  us  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  of  the  benefits  of  Christ's  whole  work  as  Mediator, 
we  are  led  on  from  one  degree  of  grace  and  strength  to  another, 
through  the  whole  Christian  experience  and  the  new  life,  to  end¬ 
less  glory  and  blessedness  ;  will  he  set  forth  in  order,  in  this 
Treatise.  The  point  immediately  before  us  is,  those  conditions 
of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  directly  responsive  to  our  actual 
and  our  original  sin,  our  practical  and  our  inward  pollution  ; 
those  special  obligations  upon  us,  immediately  responsive  to  par¬ 
don  and  purification  ;  those  special  duties  under  the  Covenant  of 
Grace,  which  respond  to  the  special  duty  laid  on  Adam  under  the 
Covenant  of  Works  ;  those  special  graces  immediately  connected 
with  our  new  life  in  Christ,  which  are  analogous  to  the  special 
aid  which  would  have  been  given  to  man,  if  Adam  had  obtained 
the  promised  reward,  and  his  seed  had  obtained  it  in  him.  I 
have  already  said,  they  are  Faith  and  Repentance. 

3.  The  Apostle  Paul,  in  his  solemn  and  final  appeal  to  the 
Elders  of  the  Church  at  Ephesus,  when  by  his  request  they  met 
him  at  Miletus,  as  he  went  up  bound  in  the  Spirit,  to  Jerusalem, 
to  encounter  bonds  and  afflictions  ;  plainly  told  them  that  he  had 
kept  back  nothing  that  was  profitable  unto  them,  but  that  show¬ 
ing  and  teaching,  not  only  publicly  but  from  house  to  house,  that 
which  he  had  testified  both  to  the  Jews  and  also  to  the  Greeks, 
was  Repentance  toward  God ,  and  Faith  toivard  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ*1  And  then  he  solemnly  adjured  them,  that  having  so 
taught,  he  was  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men,  because,  said  he, 
I  have  not  shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all  the  counsel  of  God.f2 
Faith  and  Repentance,  therefore, — Repentance  toward  God  and 
Faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ — on  the  part  of  man,  sum¬ 
marily  express  the  whole  counsel  of  God  concerning  our  salva¬ 
tion.  These  are  the  grand  obligations  resting  on  man  under  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption.  These  are  the  grand  conditions  of 


*  Tr/v  kig  tov  Qedv  fxeruvoiav ,  icai  ttlgtlv  ri)v  eif  tov  icvpiov  r/vtiv  ’ Irjcovv  XpioTov. 
1  Acts,  xx.  $1.  f  TLuoav  rrjv  (3ovhj}v  tov  Qeov.  3  Acts,  xx.  27. 


CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION. 


69 


CHAP.  IV.] 

that  covenant^  as  propounded  to  us  by  God.  Unless  these  con¬ 
ditions  are  performed — unless  these  obligations  are  discharged, 
salvation  by  that  covenant  is  impossible  for  man.  By  that  cove¬ 
nant,  therefore,  they  who  never  were  sinners  cannot  be  saved  ; 
for,  in  the  scriptural  sense,  they  can  exercise  neither  Faith  nor 
Repentance.  It  is  not  the  righteous,  but  sinners,  whom  Jesus 
came  to  save.  In  like  manner,  the  unbelieving  and  the  impeni¬ 
tent,  though  they  be  sinners,  cannot  be  saved.  It  is  the  precise 
and  explicit  purpose  of  God,  to  save  penitent  and  believing  sin¬ 
ners  ;  and  this  is  perfectly  elemental  in  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption,  and  in  the  way  of  its  practical  administration.  From 
the  commencement  of  the  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  onward 
through  all  ages,  the  cry  has  continually  sounded  in  the  ears  of 
lost  men — Repent  ye.1  From  the  moment  that  Paul  and  Silas, 
in  the  jail  at  Philippi,  proclaimed  for  the  first  time  to  the  race 
of  Japhet,  the  Gospel  of  the  Grace  of  God,  every  soul  desiring  to 
know  what  it  must  do  to  be  saved,  has  received  for  answer,  Be¬ 
lieve  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy 
house.2  And  Jesus  himself,  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the  King¬ 
dom,  and  proclaiming  that  the  time  was  fulfilled  and  the  King¬ 
dom  of  God  at  band,  laid  the  foundation  of  all  his  teaching,  and 
of  all  salvation  through  him — in  the  great  command,  Repent  ye 
and  Believe  the  Gospel  !3 

III. — 1.  Faith  and  Repentance,  it  is  necessary  to  observe,  oc¬ 
cupy  a  double  position,  in  the  matter  of  our  salvation — and  per¬ 
form  a  twofold  office  therein.  They  are  in  a  peculiar  sense,  not 
only  graces  themselves,  but  means  whereby  other  graces  exist  or 
grow  ;  acts,  also,  of  the  soul — and  moreover  means  and  aids  to 
other  acts  of  the  soul,  and  therefore,  in  both  respects  duties. 
Being  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  can  be  nothing  else  than 
exercises  of  the  renewed  soul ;  manifestations  of  the  new  life 
begotten  in  us  by  him,  even  the  life  of  the  second  Adam,  who 
was  a  quickening  spirit  and  the  Lord  from  Heaven, — of  which 
all  the  Redeemed  are  made  partakers.  And  in  this  respect  they 
partake  of  the  nature  of  every  Christian  grace.  But  besides 
this,  as  we  derive  every  thing  through  Christ,  and  Faith  in  a  pe¬ 
culiar  manner  unites  us  to  him,  and  has  a  peculiar  relation  to 
him  ;  it  becomes  the  means  by  which  all  that  Christ  bestows  on 
us  is  received.  In  like  manner,  as  we  receive  pardon  of  sin  fiom 

1  Matt.,  iil  2.  2  Acts,  xvi  31.  3  Mark,  i.  15. 


70  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

God,  together  with  all  that  is  immediately  involved  therein,  and 
Repentance  has  a  peculiar  relevancy  to  him  on  one  side,  and  to 
our  sins  on  the  other  ;  it  becomes  one  means  of  all  our  growth  in 
grace  and  in  conformity  to  God.  These  functions  of  Faith  and 
Repentance  are  manifestly  different  from  those  which  they  both 
perform  when  we  consider  them  as  the  special  conditions  of  our 
being  Christians  at  all.  In  the  former  aspect,  they  will  both  be 
considered  carefully,  in  another  connection  ;  it  is  in  the  latter 
aspect  we  are  considering  them  now. 

2.  There  is  a  wonderful  analogy  in  all  these  mysteries  of 
grace.  In  the  two  Sacraments  of  the  Christian  Church — Bap¬ 
tism  and  the  Lord’s  Supper — we  have  represented,  by  the  former, 
our  cleansing  through  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  by  the 
latter,  our  pardon  and  acceptance  through  the  sacrifice  of  Christ. 
And  this  pardon  and  purification,  as  I  have  before  shown,  are  all 
that  is  necessary  to  our  salvation.  In  like  manner,  in  the  two 
great  offices  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption — namely,  Faith  and 
Repentance — we  have  set  before  us,  in  the  former,  the  only 
means  of  union  with  Christ,  whereby  alone  can  we  obtain  any 
grace  at  all — and  whereby  we  can  obtain  all  grace  ;  and  in  the 
latter  the  only  means  of  our  deliverance  from  sin,  either  outward 
or  inward,  either  original  or  actual.  Nothing  can  be  more  cer¬ 
tain,  as  I  have  repeatedly  shown,  than  that  every  benefit  we  de¬ 
rive  from  Christ  is  made  to  depend,  in  some  way,  on  our  Faith 
in  him  ;  while  all  pardon  of  sin  is  directly  connected  with  Re¬ 
pentance,  and  all  increase  in  holiness  is  beyond  our  power,  ex¬ 
cept  as  we  see  and  hate  sin  on  one  side,  and  see  and  strive  after 
holiness  on  the  other.  And  thus  we  have  multiplied  corrobora¬ 
tions  of  the  mystery  of  Godliness.  The  twofold  barriers  to  God, 
in  our  offences  and  our  pollution,  removed  in  our  pardon  and 
purification,  through  the  work  of  Christ,  and  the  work  of  the 
Spirit ;  and  all  this  set  forth  alike,  in  the  sacraments  of  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption,  whereby  its  benefits  are  signified  and 
sealed  to  believers  ;  and  in  the  conditions  of  that  covenant  as 
they  are  held  forth  to  penitent  and  believing  sinners,  and  as  they 
are  actually  imparted  to  us,  in  proportion  as  these  great  condi¬ 
tions  are  fulfilled  in  us — -these  great  obligations  discharged  by 
us.  An  infinite  order  and  fulness,  as  well  as  a  divine  simplicity 
and  power,  pervade  the  whole  counsel  of  God  for  our  recovery. 
And  though  the  carnal  mind  cherishes  only  enmity  to  the  things 


CHAP.  IV.]  CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION.  71 

of  the  Spirit,  and  though  flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  them  ; 
yet  the  renewed  soul  that  is  docile  and  earnest,  will  find  cease¬ 
less  comfort  and  strength,  as  it  advances  in  the  nearness  and  the 
distinctness  of  its  vision  of  them. 

3.  Passing  by  all  scholastic  distinctions,  the  faith  of  which  I 
speak  continually,  is  Saving  Faith:  the  act  of  those  who  believe 
to  the  saving  of  the  soul.1  The  object  of  it  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.*2  The  rule  of  it  is  the  word  of  God.3  The  author  of  it 

•  is  the  Holy  Ghost.4  It  is  in  the  soul  of  man,  a  living  power,3 
which  works  by  love,6  which  purifies  the  heart,7  and  overcomes  the 
world  3  And  the  aim  and  end  of  it  is  the  salvation  of  the  soul.9 
Now  what  is  intended  to  be  asserted  is,  that  it  is  a  fundamental 
condition  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  that  the  soul  of  fallen 
man  in  order  to  partake  of  its  benefits,  must  first  of  all  incur  the 
benefit  of  exercising  this  Faith  in  Jesus  Christ:  and  that,  under 
the  dispensation  of  divine  grace  in  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  the  duty 
of  all  men  to  possess  and  exercise  this  habit  of  the  soul. 

4.  In  like  manner,  passing  by  all  scholastic  distinctions,  the 
repentance  of  which  I  speak  continually,  is  Repentance  unto 
Life  :  the  act  of  those  who  turn  unto  God,  sorrowing  for  their 
sin.10  The  object  of  it,  is  God  himself,  whose  mercy  in  Christ 
Jesus,  the  penitent  apprehends.11  The  author  of  it,  is  the  Holy 
Spirit.12  The  rule  of  it  is  the  word  of  God,  in  all  that  it  has 
commanded  and  all  that  it  has  forbidden.13  The  subject-matter 
of  it  is,  on  the  one  side,  ourselves  as  sinners,  and  ail  our  sins, 
from  which  we  turn  with  holy  hatred  ;  and  on  the  other,  every 
good  thing,  and  God  in  Christ  as  the  chief  good,  to  whom  we 
turn  with  set  purpose  of  heart  after  a  new  obedience.14  The 
fruits  of  it,  are  all  good  works.15  And  the  end  and  aim  of  it,  are 
pardon,  acceptance  with  God,  and  eternal  life.16  Now  what  is 
asserted  is,  in  this  as  in  the  preceding  case,  that  it  is  a  funda¬ 
mental  condition  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  that  the  soul 
of  fallen  man  in  order  to  partake  of  its  benefits,  must  first  incur 
this  benefit,  of  exercising  Repentance  toward  God,  along  with 
Faith  in  Jesus  Christ :  and  that  under  a  dispensation  of  divine 

1  Heb.,  x.  39.  2  Acts,  xx.  21.  3  Rom.,  x.  14,  17. 

4  Eph.,  i.  17-19.  s  ip  20.  6  Gal.,  v.  6. 

7  Acts,  xv.  9.  8  1  John,  v.  4.  9  1  Pet.,  i.  9. 

10  Acts,  xi.  18;  xx.  21.  11  Ps.  exxx.  3-7.  12  Zee.,  xii.  10. 

13  2  Cor.,  vii.  9-11 ;  Deut.,  xxix.  29.  u  Ps.  li.  5,  6 ;  Acts,  xxvi.  18. 

15  Matt.,  iii.  8.  19  Mark,  i.  4;  Luke,  xiii.  3-5;  Acts,  xi.  18. 


72  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

grace  in  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  the  duty  of  all  men  to  possess  this 
penitent,  as  well  as  the  preceding  believing  habit  of  the  soul. 

5.  It  is,  as  I  have  already  said,  in  the  sense  of  the  second  of 
the  two  statements  annexed  to  both  of  the  two  immediately  pre¬ 
ceding  paragraphs,  that  Faith  and  Repentance  are  to  be  specially 
contemplated  at  this  point.  It  is  a  duty  which  we  owe  alike  to 
God  and  to  our  own  souls,  to  repent  of  our  sins  and  to  forsake 
them  :  a  duty  perfectly  clear  in  itself,  on  the  ground  of  its  own 
evidences,  and  which  cannot  be  denied  without  denying  the  being 
of  God,  or  denying  the  moral  nature  of  man.  It  is  a  duty,  the 
neglect  of  which  renders  salvation  simply  impossible,  if  by  sal¬ 
vation  we  mean  any  thing  different  from  depravity.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  duty  of  honouring  and  obeying  God,  of  seeking 
his  favour,  and  regulating  our  conduct  according  to  his  will,  is 
also  perfectly  clear  upon  the  ground  of  its  own  evidences.  And 
while  it  is  neglected,  salvation,  if  it  means  any  thing  different 
from  alienation  from  God  and  unfitness  for  his  service,  is  incon¬ 
ceivable.  It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  if  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption  had  failed  to  make  Repentance  toward  God  an  absolute 
condition  of  salvation  for  sinners,  that  omission  would  have  been 
inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  God,  of  man,  of  sin,  and  of  sal¬ 
vation,  as  far  as  we  are  capable  of  understanding.  Except  ye 
repent,  said  Jesus,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish.1 

6.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  all  men  under  a  dispensation  of 
divine  grace,  to  believe  in  the  Saviour  provided  by  God  for  their 
deliverance  from  sin  and  misery  ;  is  also,  of  itself  and  upon  the 
ground  of  its  own  evidences,  perfectly  clear.  In  this  case,  the 
obligation  resting  on  sinful  creatures  to  regulate  their  conduct  by 
the  will  of  the  Saviour ;  is  precisely  of  the  same  nature  as  the 
obligation  resting  on  man  considered  merely  as  the  dependent 
creature  of  God,  to  regulate  his  conduct  by  the  will  of  his  Crea¬ 
tor.  But  it  is  sufficiently  plain  that  it  is  impossible  for  sinners 
to  regulate  their  conduct  by  the  will  of  a  Saviour,  while  they 
neither  obey  him,  trust  him,  nor  believe  in  him  :  that  is,  it  is 
self-evidently  plain,  that  the  first  duty  of  a  sinner  is  to  believe 
unto  salvation  in  the  Saviour  whom  God  has  provided.  Just  as 
the  duty  of  Repentance  toward  God,  results  directly  from  the 
two  facts  that  there  is  a  God  and  that  man  has  sinned  :  so  the 
duty  of  Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  results  directly  from  the 

1  Luke,  xiii.  3,  5. 


T3 


CHAP.  IV.]  CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION. 

two  facts  that  man  is  a  sinner  and  that  Christ  is  the  Saviour  of 
sinners.  And  to  have  omitted  to  make  this  first  duty  of  the 
sinner,  a  fundamental  condition  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption, 
would,  as  far  as  we  can  understand,  have  utterly  subverted  the 
spiritual  system  of  the  universe  disclosed  to  us  in  nature  and  in 
providence,  revealed  to  us  in  the  word  of  God,  and  confirmed 
by  our  inner  life.  And  so  the  Lord  Jesus  has  said,  if  ye  be¬ 
lieve  not  that  I  am  he,  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins.1 

7.  If  we  will  admit,  or  if  it  can  be  proved,  that  the  scriptural 
account  of  the  creation  and  fall  of  man  and  of  the  offer  of  sal¬ 
vation  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  is  true  ;  then  the  condition 
of  man  as  a  sinner,  under  the  requirements  of  the  Gospel,  and 
the  condition  of  man  as  no  sinner  under  the  requirements  of  the 
Law,  is,  as  to  the  obligatory  force  of  those  conditions,  respectively, 
that  is,  as  to  the  nature  of  duty,  essentially  the  same  condition. 
The  Gospel  is  as  perfectly  suited  to  the  condition  of  fallen  man, 
as  the  Law  could  be  to  the  condition  of  unfallen  man.  The  whole 
question  is,  in  the  first  place,  whether  man  owes  any  obligation 
to  God  ;  and,  secondly ,  whether,  admitting  that  he  does,  it  can 
be  a  conceivable  end  or  way  of  salvation  to  release  that  obliga¬ 
tion.  St.  Paul  has  told  us  plainly  that  if  Faith  released  the 
obligation  of  man  to  God,  this  would  be  a  fatal  objection  ;  but 
that,  on  the  contrary,  Faith  establishes  that  obligation.2  It  is 
no  part  of  salvation  to  show  favour  to  sin — but  to  sinners  :  the 
very  height  and  object  of  that  salvation,  as  a  mercy  to  sinners, 
being  involved  in  their  complete  deliverance  from  sin.  But  it 
has  been  shown  that  the  sense  of  duty  in  man,  though  obscured 
and  depraved,  cannot  be  obliterated  without  destroying  his  ra¬ 
tional  and  his  moral  nature — and  rendering  every  conception 
of  salvation  absurd  as  to  him.  It  remains,  therefore,  that  of  two 
possibilities  one  must  occur.  We  must  reject  the  way  of  salva¬ 
tion  offered  in  the  Scriptures,  and  remitting  ourselves  to  Nat¬ 
ural  Religion,  accept  the  only  provision  it  makes  for  sin — 
namely,  death  :  or  we  must  accept  the  duties  of  Repentance 
toward  God,  and  Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  unalterable 
conditions  of  salvation  for  sinners  through  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption. 

IV. — 1.  It  is  made  the  ground  of  a  cavil  that  we  are  not  able 
to  perform  these  conditions  and  discharge  these  obligations  : 

1  John,  viii-  24.  2  Rom.,  iii.  31. 


74 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


and,  strangely  enough,  of  an  opposite  cavil,  that  we  are  able  to 
do  both.  The  first  cavil  is  in  order  to  deny  the  binding  force 
of  that  which  exceeds  our  ability:  the  second  cavil  is  in  order 
to  deny  the  supernatural  aid  whereby  ability  is  conferred  on  us. 
As  to  the  first,  if  we  will  reflect  that  what  we  mean  by  our 
inability,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  our  depravity  ;  then  it  is 
tantamount  to  saying  that  depravity  is  in  its  owm  nature  justifi¬ 
able  ;  which  is  a  contradiction  in  terms.  As  to  the  second ,  that 
which  we  boast  of  having  accomplished,  and  that  ability  in  our¬ 
selves  by  which  it  was  achieved — whatever  it  may  be — can  be 
neither  more  nor  less  than  the  natural  result  of  our  depraved 
powers;  but  if  this  can  be  truly  called  either  Repentance  toward 
God  or  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  then,  obviously,  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption  is  wholly  insignificant.  Both  cavils 
are  founded  on  a  general  misconception  ot*  the  nature  of  sin  :  to 
which  is  added,  in  the  first  one,  a  special  misconception  of  the 
nature  of  duty  ;  and  in  the  second  one,  a  special  misconception 
of  the  nature  of  salvation.  A  sense  of  the  impotence  which  de¬ 
pravity  begets,  is  inseparable  from  the  sense  of  depravity  itself: 
a  sense  of  the  reality  of  our  Faith  and  Repentance  is  inseparable 
from  a  sense  of  self-abnegation  and  self-condemnation  :  a  sense 
of  deliverance  from  the  wrath  of  God,  is  inseparable  from  the 
sense  of  a  new  illumination  and  a  new  life  within  us. 

2.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  how  we  could  be  made  par¬ 
takers  of  the  blessings  of  salvation,  otherwise  than  as  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  propose,  without  producing  the  most  prodigious  results. 
For,  on  the  one  hand,  any  serious  change  in  the  nature  of  God, 
of  sin,  or  of  holiness,  would  make  what  we  now  call  God,  sin,  and 
holiness,  perfectly  immaterial  to  us,  and  us  to  them.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  any  change  in  us,  corresponding  to  the  change  just 
supposed,  so  as  to  bring  us  into  sympathy  with  that  new  state  of 
things  :  would  separate  our  existence  into  two  portions  having  no 
relation  to  each  other,  would  destroy  our  personal  identity  ;  and 
would  convert  all  God’s  dealings  with  us  into  acts  of  mere  power, 
regardless  of  all  moral  distinctions.  So  that  whatever  imaginaiy 
difficulties  we  may  create  in  order  to  evade  the  necessity  of  Faith 
and  Repentance  ;  the  insuperable  difficulty  is,  to  save  sinners  in 
any  other  way. 

3.  These  conditions  of  salvation,  then,  do  not  discharge  in 
any  degree,  the  infinite  dominion  of  God  over  us,  or  release  our 


CHAP.  IV.]  CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION.  75 

absolute  dependence  on  him  ;  since  the  fundamental  and  unal¬ 
terable  relation  we  bear  to  him  is  that  of  creatures  to  their  Cre¬ 
ator.  Nor  can  the  performance  of  these  conditions  give  us — no 
matter  how  we  came  to  perform  them — any  strict  or  any  merito¬ 
rious  claim  upon  God  for  any  recompense  or  any  reward  ;  because 
to  believe  what  is  infinitely  true,  to  regret  what  is  infinitely 
wrong,  to  embrace  infinite  mercy,  and  to  avoid  infinite  ruin, 
proves  nothing  except  that  he  who  so  acts  is  not  a  madman.  Nor 
are  these  conditions  of  such  a  nature,  that  they  either  preclude 
divine  assistance,  or  render  it  unnecessary,  in  order  to  their  per¬ 
formance.  Man,  when  fallible,  needed  divine  assistance,  to  pre¬ 
vent  his  fall.  Man,  when  fallen,  needs  divine  assistance,  in  order 
to  his  recovery.  The  creature  depends  upon  his  Creator — the 
sinner  depends  upon  his  Saviour — 'every  dependent  being  needs, 
and  must  eternally  need,  each  according  to  his  kind,  divine  grace 
to  help  him  in  his  time  of  need.  But  this  of  which  I  constantly 
speak  is  the  Covenant  of  Grace  itself,  whereby  Redemption  is 
provided  and  is  applied  to  fallen  man.  And  so  close  is  the  con¬ 
nection  between  the  nature  and  exercises  of  the  human  soul,  and 
the  scriptural  account  of  the  creation,  fall,  and  recovery  of  man, 
that  the  pungent  exhibition  of  the  mystery  of  Godliness,  in  all 
the  power  and  fulness  thereof — though  it  be  foolishness  to  them 
that  perish,  yet  unto  them  which  are  saved,  it  is  the  power  of 
God.1 

4.  In  every  part  of  this  great  subject  the  remotest  point  of 
our  enquiries  always  presents  the  most  serious  difficulty.  We 
come  always  to  the  same  profound  certainty  which  affects  every 
thing  else,  that  salvation  is  not  absolute  and  universal  ;  to  the 
same  inscrutable  union  and  separation  of  the  finite  and  infinite, 
at  the  foundation  of  all  ;  to  the  same  tendency  to  opposing  re¬ 
sults,  one  human  and  the  other  divine,  in  the  last  solution.  On 
the  other  hand,  nothing  could  be  more  immense  and  more  over¬ 
whelming,  than  the  practical  demonstration  which  everywhere 
exists,  to  put  beyond  doubt  the  final  shape  of  those  truths  whose 
remotest  forms  may  so  perplex  us.  Without  one  single  excep¬ 
tion,  every  human  soul  that  embraces  Jesus  Christ  as  its  Saviour, 
does  so  by  Faith  in  his  name — and  every  one  that  returns  to 
God,  does  so  by  Repentance  for  sin  ;  and  every  one  openly  and 
ioyfully  confesses  that  he  has  done  both,  through  divine  grace 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  18. 


76 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


and  yet  that,  so  far  from  being  put  in  bondage  either  in  the  pro¬ 
cess  or  the  result,  he  has  done  it  freely,  and  has  been  set  free 
therein.  On  the  other  hand,  every  human  soul  that  lias  failed 
or  refused  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  is  fully  sensible  that  Christ 
is  not  his  Saviour ;  and  every  one  that  will  not  repent  of  sin,  is 
fully  sensible  that  Christ  is  not  the  ground  of  whatever  hope  he 
may  suppose  he  has  before  God  ;  nor  is  one  of  them  able  to  sug¬ 
gest  any  reason  why  God  is  not  his  God,  and  Christ  his  Saviour, 
which  would  not  be  completely  removed  and  confuted  by  Faith 
and  Repentance.  But  this,  in  its  whole  extent,  is  just  the  mani¬ 
festation  of  what  God  has  said — just  the  universal  illustration  of 
the  truths  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  state,  to  classify,  and  to 
enforce.  Again  I  repeat,  the  whole  work  of  God  confirms  his 
word  ;  and  our  nature  in  its  inmost  life,  and  our  reason  in  its 
utmost  power,  and  our  experience  in  its  whole  compass,  each  de¬ 
livers  its  distinct  confirmation. 

5.  On  account  of  the  extreme  importance  of  the  matter,  it 
may  be  proper  to  note  in  a  special  manner,  how  complete  the 
means  are  which  God  has  provided  to  lead  men  to  Faith  and 
Repentance.  Truth  is  the  very  aliment  of  the  soul ;  and  God 
has  made  the  belief  of  divine  truth,  made  known  bv  himself, 
concerning  his  infinite  glory,  and  his  eternal  love  for  us,  and  con¬ 
cerning  our  own  endless  blessedness  ;  the  very  point  in  which 
our  souls  embrace  J esus  Christ,  and  pass  over  from  death  to  life. 
A  sense  of  our  blameworthiness  is  a  most  complete  and  pungent 
manifestation,  at  once  of  our  moral  nature  and  of  its  present  con¬ 
dition— on  the  one  side  God  and  his  nature  and  dominion,  on  the 
other  our  creatureliood,  and  our  depravity  and  shame  therefor  ; 
and  in  this  very  point  God  locates  the  first  movements  of  our 
discharge  from  the  bondage  of  the  law  of  sin  and  death,  and  of 
our  freedom  through  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus.1 
And  thus,  all  the  outward  means  of  grace  and  salvation,  by  which 
the  knowledge  of  ourselves  and  of  God  is  so  continually,  so  ur¬ 
gently,  and  so  completely  delivered  to  our  rational  and  moral 
faculties ;  find  in  the  very  depths  of  our  nature,  the  very  con¬ 
ditions  to  which  they  can  most  effectually  appeal.  According  to 
the  structure  of  our  nature,  and  the  character  of  the  means  used 
by  God,  how  is  it  possible  to  doubt,  that  the  result  which  ought 
to  follow  is,  that  we  believe  and  repent  P  But  this  result  does 

1  Bom.,  viii.  2. 


CHAP.  IV.]  CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION. 


77 


not  follow.  And  the  result  which  does  follow,  so  long  as  we  are 
left  to  ourselves,  is  absolutely  incomprehensible,  except  as  we  ac¬ 
knowledge  that  the  carnal  mind  is  enmity  to  God,  not  subject  to 
the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.1  Wherefore,  there  can 
be  no  remedy  but  that  proclaimed  from  heaven,  namely,  that 
we  put  off  the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt ;  and  be  renewed  in  the 
spirit  of  our  mind  ;  and  put  on  the  new  man,  which  after  God  is 
created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.3 

1  Rom.,  viii.  7.  2  Eph.,  iv.  22-24. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  (ECONOMY  OF  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION. 

I.  1.  Transition  from  the  Objective  to  the  Subjective  Consideration  of  the  Knowledge 
of  God. — 2.  General  appreciation  of  the  (Economy  of  Grace. — 3.  Method  pro¬ 
posed  here. — II. — 1.  The  Four  Estates  of  Man,  and  the  Relations  of  the  two 
Covenants  thereto. — 2.  The  absolute  Unity  of  the  Way  and  Method  of  Salva¬ 
tion,  under  .all  Dispensations. — 3.  Divine  Grace,  through  the  Mediator. — 4.  Per¬ 
petual  Development  thereof. — 5.  Perpetual  Sufficiency  thereof. — TIL — 1.  The  Es¬ 
sence  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace. — 2.  Fundamental  points  of  Agreement  between 
the  Covenants  of  Works,  and  Grace. — 3.  Fundamental  points  of  Difference  be¬ 
tween  them. — 4.  What  is  involved  in  this  comparison,  and  what  results  from  it. — 
IV. — 1.  Gradual  disclosure  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption. — 2.  Universal  prin¬ 
ciple  and  result  of  this  progress. — 3.  Unity  of  the  Counsel  of  God  and  of  the 
Essence  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace ;  variety  of  Dispensation. — V. — 1.  Dispensa* 
tions  of  tire  (Economy  of  Redemption. — 2.  Our  own  posture  in  this  vast  adminis¬ 
tration,  perfectly  distinct. — 3.  The  Adamic  Dispensation. — 4.  The  Noacic  Dispen¬ 
sation. — 5.  The  Old  World  and  the  New — Adam  and  Abraham,  connected  by 
Noah. — 6.  The  Abrahamic  Dispensation,  and  Covenant. — 7.  The  Institutions  of 
Moses. — 8.  Their  career  and  their  catastrophe. — 9.  Christ:  the  Gospel  Church. — 
10.  The  future  Dispensations  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption. — 11.  The  nature 
and  the  power  of  the  Knowledge  thus  attainable. 

I. — 1.  The  aim  of  this  first  Book  of  this  Treatise  of  the  Know¬ 
ledge  of  God  Subjectively  Considered,  is  to  point  out  the  method 
by  which,  in  its  widest  sense,  the  objective  Knowledge  of  God 
becomes  subjective  ;  the  relation  between  the  mere  outward 
knowledge  of  divine  things,  and  the  method  and  power  and  ef¬ 
fects  of  that  divine  knowledge  in  the  soul  and  upon  the  life  of 
man.  The  preceding  chapters  might  perhaps  be  considered  as 
having  sufficiently  accomplished  that  purpose.  For  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Grace  and  Redemption,  which  is  the  expression  of  the 
whole  purpose  and  power  of  God  manifested  in  our  salvation,  has 
been  carefully  considered  in  its  nature,  its  relations,  and  its  force, 
up  to  the  point  of  the  effectual,  internal  application  of  its  bene¬ 
fits  unto  and  within  the  soul  of  man  :  to  which  we  might  now  pro¬ 
ceed.  That  is,  I  have  endeavoured  to  exhibit  the  first  utterance  by 
God  of  the  existence  and  nature  of  this  covenant,  and  to  point  out 


CHAP.  V.]  (ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION.  79 

the  influence  thereof  upon  the  catastrophe  produced  by  the  Fall 
of  Man,  and  the  entrance  of  sin  ;  then  to  state  as  clearly  as  I 
could,  the  origin,  the  object,  and  the  great  principles  and  truths 
of  this  covenant ;  then  to  disclose  the  intimate  relevancy  of  it  to 
our  own  intimate  nature,  and  to  our  fundamental  religious  ideas 
and  convictions  ;  and  then  to  exhibit  and  to  illustrate  the  unal¬ 
terable  conditions  on  which  its  benefits  can  be  applied  to  fallen 
men,  and  the  corresponding  special  obligations  resting  on  them. 
What  would  immediately  follow  would  be  the  exhibition  of  sal¬ 
vation  in  the  human  soul,  in  the  actual  present  posture  of  grace 
on  one  side,  and  man  on  the  other. 

2.  It  occurs,  however,  that  the  actual  present  posture  both 
of  divine  grace  and  of  sinful  men,  with  respect  to  salvation 
through  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  is  related  in  a  manner  so 
intimate,  to  all  that  has  gone  before,  and  to  all  that  is  to  follow, 
touching  both  the  development  of  grace  and  the  career  of  man  ; 
that  a  right  understanding  of  the  actual  and  present,  is  greatly 
promoted  by  a  clear  perception  of  the  relation  of  that  present  to 
the  past  even  to  the  beginning,  and  to  the  future  even  to  the 
end.  The  administration  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  has 
been  an  immense  and  continual  development  of  the  grace  of  Gfod 
in  the  salvation  of  fallen  men  ;  and  the  point  at  which  our  race 
now  stands  is  one  of  rest,  so  to  speak,  in  that  grand  progress,  and 
we  have  reached  it  only  after  incurring  the  whole  force  of  divine 
providence  up  to  this  point.  And  before  us,  both  in  grace  and 
in  providence,  both  in  time  and  in  eternity,  are  other  immense 
developments,  .other  immense  cycles.  It  is  nothing  that  these 
rests  are  long  or  short,  compared  with  each  other,  whether  in  the 
past  or  in  the  future  ;  they  all  influence  each  other — they  are  all 
parts  of  one  whole  ;  and  some  insight  into  all  of  them,  into  their 
relations  to  each  other,  and  into  the  grand  wdiole  they  all  make 
up,  is  necessary  to  the  clear  knowledge  of  any  part ;  as,  for  ex¬ 
ample,  the  part  now  appertaining  to  us,  and  in  connection  with 
which  we  must  be  saved,  or  must  perish.  It  is  this  total  admin¬ 
istration  of  divine  grace  in  its  whole  progress,  and  in  its  whole 
connection,  which  I  call  the  (Economy  of  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption,  and  whose  general  appreciation  seems  to  be  the  neces¬ 
sary  conclusion  of  the  foregoing  chapters  of  this  Book,  and  to 
be  necessarily  preliminary  to  the  exhibition,  in  the  next  Book, 
of  the  work  of  salvation  within  us. 


80 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


3.  In  attempting  to  sketch  in  a  very  narrow  compass,  an  out¬ 
line  so  vast,  in  which  questions  so  immense  occupy  an  area  ex¬ 
tending  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  time— and  stretching 
both  ways  into  eternity  ;  it  behooves,  not  only,  that  we  walk 
very  carefully  in  the  light  of  God,  but  that  every  step  be  taken 
very  humbly  before  him.  Recognizing  the  whole  as  a  manifes¬ 
tation  of  God,  I  have  exhibited  aspects  of  it,  more  or  less  exten¬ 
sive,  in  various  parts  of  the  Treatise  of  The  Knowledge  of  God 
Objectively  Considered ;  and  especially  in  the  Fourth  Book  of 
that  Treatise,  which  is  devoted  expressly  to  the  consideration  of 
those  manifestations  of  God  whereby  all  our  knowledge  of  him 
is  obtained.  I  have  occupied  a  considerable  portion  of  the  chap¬ 
ters  which  treat  of  Divine  Providence,  of  the  New  Creation,  and 
of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  with  various  illustrations  of  this  great 
topic.  What  I  shall  further  say  will  be  in  the  way  of  completing 
and  generalizing  the  subject,  with  special  reference  to  its  use  in 
this  place  ;  praying  the  reader  who  will  honour  me  so  far,  to  ex¬ 
amine  what  I  have  advanced  in  the  chapters  just  alluded  to. 

II. — 1.  The  condition  of  man  is  represented  to  us  in  the 
Scriptures  in  a  fourfold  aspect.  His  original  condition  was  per¬ 
fect,  but  fallible  ;  in  which  our  first  parents  alone  existed — and 
from  which  they  fell  by  transgression.  By  that  fall  the  whole 
race  came  into  its  second  condition,  which  is  one  of  weakness  and 
depravity  ;  in  which  it  underlies  the  sentence  of  God  pronounced 
at  the  fall,  and  awaits  the  final  sentence  of  the  great  day.  The 
third  condition  of  man  is  one  of  begun  recovery  ;  regenerated 
and  partially  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  enjoying  union 
and  communion  with  the  Saviour  Christ  Jesus  ;  which  condition 
is  not  universal  of  all  men — but  only  of  all  penitent  and  believing 
sinners.  The  fourth  condition  of  man  is  one  of  perfect  restoration 
and  eternal  glory  and  blessedness  ;  which  is  the  final  estate,  not  of 
all  men,  but  only  of  just  men  made  perfect,  through  the  complete 
fruition  of  God  in  Christ.  The  impenitent  and  the  unbelieving 
perish  in  their  sin — endless  perdition  being  the  final  condition  of 
ungodly  men.  The  original  condition  of  fallible  perfection,  was 
the  one  to  which  the  Covenant  of  Works  applied  ;  and  the  object 
of  that  covenant  was  to  relieve  man  from  the  peril  arising  from 
the  fallibility  of  his  nature,  to  invest  the  human  race  with  the 
absolute  possession  of  a  life  at  once  perfect  and  immortal,  and  to 
secure  to  it  the  perpetual  augmentation  of  glory  and  blessedness 


CHAP.  V.] 


(ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION. 


81 


therein.  The  Covenant  of  Grace  applies  to  the  second  condition 
of  man,  namely,  to  his  fallen,  weak,  and  depraved  condition  ; 
and  its  object  is  to  restore  man,  through  a  Saviour,  and  by  means 
of  a  new  creation,  to  the  image,  the  service,  and  the  enjoyment 
of  God  in  this  life,  and  to  the  complete  and  endless  fruition  of 
him  in  a  better  life  to  come.  It  has  therefore  no  relation  to  man 
except  as  he  is  considered,  first,  in  his  sins,  then  as  penitent  and 
believing,  then  as  carried  forward  through  his  new  life  to  his  im¬ 
mortal  inheritance.  Grace  and  glory  for  fallen  men,  are  the  sum 
of  its  proposals. 

2.  However  various  the  aspects  of  God's  merciful  dealings 
with  sinful  men  may  seem,  there  never  was  but  one  divine  way 
of  salvation  revealed  ;  and  there  never  was  but  one  divine  method 
of  making  that  way  of  salvation  effectual.  That  method  always 
was  and  needs  must  be,  as  it  regarded  man,  by  divine  assistance 
through  divine  love  ;  granting  to  us  pardon  for  our  sins  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  satisfaction  of  Christ,  and  renewing  our  nature  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  so  that  we  might,  by  Faith,  accept  the  right- 
eousness  of  Christ  imparted  us,  and  by  Repentance  turn  from 
Satan  unto  God.  Any  thing  short  of  this  would  leave  salvation 
wholly  out  of  our  reach  ;  while  any  thing  essentially  different 
from  it  would  be  wholly  inapplicable  to  our  condition.  The 
divine  way  of  salvation  to  which  this  divine  method  appertains, 
the  fruit  of  infinite  beneficence,  wisdom,  and  power — -always  was 
and  needs  must  be,  by  the  incarnation,  the  obedience  and  sacri¬ 
fice,  and  the  glorious  resurrection  and  ascension  of  the  Son  of 
God  ;  and  by  the  application  to  us  by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  all  the 
benefits  of  the  work  of  Christ,  secured  to  us  in  the  Covenant  of 
Redemption  ;  and  as  a  consequence,  our  deliverance,  restoration, 
and  endless  perfection  and  blessedness.  Therefore  the  whole 
administration  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  necessarily  em¬ 
braces  all  that  God  has  vet  done,  and  all  that  he  will  ever  do,  in 
the  way  of  grace  and  glory  for  fallen  men.  There  never  was  any 
way  of  salvation  for  sinners,  but  through  a  Mediator  ;  there 
never  was,  nor  will  be,  but  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men  ; 
and  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  is  that  Mediator.1 

3.  Whatever  is  unto  salvation,  under  whatever  aspect,  at 
whatever  period,  and  by  whatever  means,  is  therefore  ot  mere 
grace  :  yea,  free,  sovereign,  efficacious,  special,  eternal  grace. 

1  1  Tim.,  ii.  5. 

6 


VOL.  II. 


82  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

This  grace  is  absolutely  and  exclusively  in,  by,  and  through  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  ;  out 
of  whom  there  is  no  grace  of  God  unto  the  salvation  of  fallen 
men.  This  grace  and  salvation,  are  unto  all  the  redeemed 
through  Faith  and  Eepentance,  covenanted  through  the  blood 
of  the  Son  of  God  ;  both  in  that  he  was  a  party  to  the  eternal 
covenant,  in  that  he  represented  them  as  their  head  therein,  and 
in  that  God  renews  the  covenant  with  each  one  of  them  upon 
his  actual  union  with  Christ.  And  all  the  blessings  and  benefits 
of  all  this  covenanted  mercy,  are  actually  applied  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  in  time  and  eternity,  to  every  soul  saved  out  of  our  lost 
race,  from  the  fall  of  Adam  to  the  end  of  time.1 

4.  The  progress  of  divine  grace  in  the  soul,  is  represented  by 
the  Saviour  to  be  like  leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in 
three  measures  of  meal  till  the  whole  was  leavened.2  God  re¬ 
veals  himself  in  the  hearts  of  his  people  by  little  and  little  ; 
leading  them  powerfully,  but  almost  imperceptibly,  from  one  de¬ 
gree  of  grace  and  strength  unto  another,  until  all  of  them  in  Zion 
appear  perfect  before  him.  It  is  in  this  way  also,  that  he  has 
developed  the  plan  of  salvation,  and  led  his  Church  across  the 
ages  with  a  constantly  increasing  light.  One  dispensation  has 
emerged  from  the  bosom  of  another,  as  each  in  succession  accom¬ 
plished  its  own  special  end  ;  all  tending  in  the  same  direction — 
all  constituting  portions  of  one  great  (Economy  of  Grace.  A 
covenant  from  eternity  was  proclaimed  for  the  first  time  as  a 
practical  remedy  for  sin,  in  God’s  sentence  upon  Satan  for  his 
part  in  the  fall  of  man,  even  before  he  passed  sentence  upon 
man.  Its  development  through  all  time  is  the  most  glorious 
manifestation  of  God  to  the  universe.  Its  consummation  will 
occur  at  the  delivery  up  of  the  Kingdom  it  has  created,  by  the 
Son  to  the  Father,  upon  the  Lamb’s  Book  of  Life  ;  and  God 
will  be  all  and  in  all.  But  from  that  jDoint  a  new  and  higher 
glory  for  eternity  will  begin — the  precise  nature  of  which,  eter¬ 
nity  itself  must  unfold. 

5.  It  necessarily  follows,  and  the  Scriptures  expressly  teach, 
that  the  Jewish  system  was  as  really  a  dispensation  of  the  Cov¬ 
enant  of  Redemption  as  the  Christian  system  is  :3  and  that  from 
Adam  to  Moses  the  same  covenant,  though  differently  adminis- 

1  1  Cor.,  iii.  31-33;  Ileb.,  vi.  13-20;  Rom.,  viil  passim. 

J  Matt,  xiii.  33.  3  Ileb.,  viil,  ix.,  x. 


CHAP.  V.]  (ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION.  83 

tered,  was  as  really  administered  as  it  was  during  tlie  personal 
ministry  of  Christ,  or  is  now.1  The  Saviour  promised  to  Adam, 
was  the  same  Saviour  promised  more  explicitly  to  Abraham,  to 
Moses,  and  to  all  the  Prophets  ;  the  same  who  was  crucified 
under  Pontius  Pilate,  who  is  now  preached  unto  the  Gentiles, 
and  who  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness.  It  also  follows 
of  neccessity,  and  the  Scriptures  expressly  teach,  that  however 
the  administration  of  the  covenant  maybave  varied,  from  period 
to  period,  in  its  outward  application  to  the  elect ;  yet,  under 
every  successive  dispensation  of  it,  the  means  provided  were  suf¬ 
ficient  and  effectual  for  the  comfort  and  salvation  of  those  who 
.  received  them,  under  whatever  form,  and  in  whatever  stage  of 
the  divine  (Economy.2  For  the  Spirit  of  God  was  always  in  the 
Church  of  God,  and  with  the  redeemed  of  God,  making  effectual 
application  of  the  existing  means  of  grace  to  the  souls  of  all  be¬ 
lievers.3  Nor  must  it  be  overlooked,  that  the  extraordinary  deal¬ 
ings  of  God  with  his  people,  in  the  way  of  divine  guidance  and 
support,  were  always  great  and  striking  in  proportion  as  the  ordi¬ 
nary  means  of  grace  existing  under  the  particular  dispensation 
were,  as  compared  with  other  means  of  grace,  either  small  or  ob¬ 
scure.  Nothing  is  more  striking  than  this  :  and  we  need  only 
compare  carefully  the  present  condition  of  the  Church  in  these 
respects,  with  its  condition  under  any  former  dispensation,  to 
appreciate  the  importance  of  the  truth  stated. 

III. — 1.  The  whole  (Economy  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  thus 
contemplated,  suggests  two  aspects  which,  taken  together,  pre¬ 
sent  for  our  consideration  a  complete  outline  of  it.  The  first  of 
these  exhibits  the  covenant  considered  in  its  essence,  in  its  analogy 
with  the  Covenant  of  Works  ;  and  discloses  to  us  the  agreement, 
and  the  difference  between  the  two — and  therein  the  nature  and 
the  state  of  man  under  each.  The  second  opens  before  us  the 
whole  progress  and  development  of  God’s  mercy  unto  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  fallen  men,  under  all  the  successive  dispensations  of  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption  ;  and  furnishes  us  with  the  means  of 
appreciating  distinctly  our  actual  position  in  this  divine  admin¬ 
istration.  What  is  meant  by  the  essence  of  this  covenant, 
which  on  one  side  is  to  be  compared  with  the  Covenant  of 
Works,  and  on  the  other  side  is  to  be  traced  through  a  manifold 

1  Horn.,  iv.  2  ;  Gal.,  iii.  7-14.  2  Heb.,  xi.,  passim. 

3  John,  viii.  56 ;  1  Cor.,  x.  1-4. 


84 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


progress  of  its  own  ;  is  that  wherein  its  own  nature  and  unity 
consist.  For  what  it  provided  was  always  the  same  eternal  life, 
under  the  same  peculiar  form  of  life,  namely,  that  of  fallen  men 
restored  to  the  lost  image  of  God.  And  the  way  in  which  this 
was  provided  was  always  through  a  Mediator  between  God  and 
fallen  men,  and  always  through  the  same  Mediator,  to  wit,  Im¬ 
manuel — the  Messiah  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures — the  Christ  of 
the  Christian  Scriptures — the  author  and  the  giver  of  that  eter¬ 
nal  life.  And  the  method  by  which  that  eternal  life  was  always 
bestowed  on  fallen  men,  was  in  that  they  were  divinely  enabled 
and  inclined  to  exercise  Repentance  toward  God,  and  Faith 
toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  However  various  may  be  the 
manifestations  of  this  covenant,  however  distinct  its  successive 
dispensations,  or  however  wide  the  difference  between  the  first 
and  the  last  aspect  of  its  vast  (Economy  ;  its  absolute  oneness 
cannot  be  disputed,  when  the  same  grace  reigned,  the  same  sal¬ 
vation  is  propounded,  the  same  Saviour  is  held  forth,  the  same 
method  of  union  with  him  is  exhibited  for  the  rescue  of  the  same 
fallen  race,  throughout. 

2.  The  most  fundamental  points  of  agreement  between 
these  two  covenants  may,  perhaps,  be  stated  in  the  following 
manner  : 

(ci)  Both  of  them  are  the  product  of  divine  wisdom  and 
love,  and  are  addressed  with  divine  authority  and  power  to  the 
particular  conditions  of  human  nature,  which  they  respectively 
contemplate  :  while  both  of  them  were  proofs  of  infinite  con¬ 
descension  on  the  part  of  God,  and  proposed  unspeakable  and 
eternal  mercies  to  man. 

( b )  Both  of  them  propose  an  identical,  and  peculiar  method 
on  the  part  of  God,  of  dealing  with  his  creature  man  ;  a  method 
we  express  by  the  word  Covenant.  Whereby  God,  in  order  to 
confirm  and  augment  the  blessedness  of  man  before  he  fell,  and 
in  order  to  restore,  increase,  and  perpetuate  that  blessedness  after 
man  had  fallen  ;  propounded  to  man  the  attainment  of  an  in¬ 
finite  reward,  upon  conditions  which,  while  they  were  obligatory 
on  God,  were  so  full  of  goodness  to  man,  that  nothing  could  pre¬ 
vent  his  reaping  the  promised  reward,  except  deliberate  rejection 
of  his  Creator  before  the  fall,  and  deliberate  rejection  of  his  Sa¬ 
viour  after  the  fall. 

(c)  And  as  touching  these  conditions  themselves,  both  cov- 


CHAP.  V.]  (ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION.  85 

cnants  agree  in  this,  that  the  head  of  those  to  he  benefitted 
under  each,  to  wit,  Adam  under  the  first,  and  Christ  under  the 
second,  so  stood  for  and  represented  them,  that  the  triumph  or 
failure  of  that  head  should  he  decisive  concerning  every  one  he 
represented.  Upon  this  great  and  identical  principle  the  condi¬ 
tion  and  the  reward  of  the  first  covenant,  to  wit.  perfect  obedi¬ 
ence  and  endless  perfection,  became  by  its  breach  by  Adam  utterly 
impossible  under  it;  and  the  conditions  and  reward  of  the  second 
covenant,  to  wit,  Faith  and  Repentance,  and  salvation  as  the  re¬ 
sult,  became  infallibly  certain  by  the  execution  of  it  by  Christ. 

(d)  Both  of  them  demanded  on  the  part  of  the  creature  a 
righteousness  that  would  satisfy  a  divine  law  and  a  holy  God  ; 
and  both  of  them  required  the  same,  and  a  peculiar  kind  of 
righteousness,  to  wit,  that  which  is  manifested  by  the  perfect 
love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbour.  And  both  of  them  proposed 
to  secure  to  every  one  represented  in  them  respectively,  the  abso¬ 
lute  certainty  of  possessing  this  righteousness  in  a  peculiar  and 
an  identical  manner,  to  wit,  by  means  of  their  union  with  him 
who  was  their  head.  On  the  one  hand,  having  the  righteousness 
of  Adam,  had  he  stood,  imputed  to  them  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
having  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  them.  In  like 
manner,  on  the  one  hand  having  the  righteousness  of  Adam’s 
nature,  had  he  stood,  inherited  by  means  of  a  natural  genera¬ 
tion  ;  on  the  other  hand  having  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
wrought  in  them,  by  means  of  supernatural  regeneration.  In 
both  instances,  the  righteousness  to  be  obtained  by  the  head 
under  each  covenant,  and  to  be  manifested  as  above  set  forth, 
was  a  divine  righteousness  in  this,  namely,  that  it  was  the  right¬ 
eousness  of  perfect  conformity  to  a  divine  law. 

( e )  Both  covenants  proposed  to  deal  with  men  in  two  ways, 
very  dissimilar  in  themselves  and  extremely  difficult  to  be  per¬ 
fectly  reconciled  with  each  other ;  yet  both  absolutely  inherent 
in  the  nature  of  man  and  of  both  covenants.  That  is,  they  pro¬ 
posed  to  deal  with  men  considered  as  a  race — which  they  are  ; 
and  also  considered  as  individual  persons,  which  they  are.  Both 
of  them  in  the  development  of  this  double  aspect  of  humanity, 
and  of  the  divine  mode  of  dealing  with  it  by  covenant;  provided, 
as  has  been  shown,  a  common  head.  In  each  of  them  successively 
our  destiny  as  a  race  was  so  decided,  as  that  our  personal  respon¬ 
sibility  was  nevertheless  secured,  and  our  individual  freedom  pre- 


86 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


served.  If  we  were  to  conceive  of  either  covenant  as  annihilating 
the  total  influence  of  the  other,  in  that  case  the  reign  of  one — - 
either  one — would  he  absolute  and  universal :  all  saved — or  all 
lost.  Except  in  that  way,  we  cannot  conceive  of  any  other  re¬ 
sult,  than  a  mixed  one,  founded  upon  the  existence  of  both 
covenants,  and  upon  their  peculiar  and  identical  manner  of  con¬ 
templating  and  dealing  with  humanity. 

(/)  In  effect,  therefore,  both  covenants  agree  in  this  also, 
that  neither  of  them  had  an  absolute  and  universal  efficacy,  unto 
a  specific  result.  To  a  certain  intent  both  of  them  had  :  to  a 
certain  intent  neither  had.  They  limit  each  other — in  a  peculiar 
way,  difficult  to  express,  but  practically  perfectly  obvious. 
Through  Adam — ultimately — some  men — not  all  men — perish  : 
through  Christ — ultimately — some  men — not  all  men — are  saved. 
As  there  is  but  one  human  race,  and  that  determinate  before 
Gfod  in  the  total  number  of  its  individuals  :  the  saved  and  the 
lost  are  its  two  factors — each  diminishing  the  whole  by  its  own 
amount  ;  each  representing  the  finality  of  one  covenant  in  the 
respect  now  considered.  On  the  other  hand,  it  will  be  forever 
true  that  all  men  were  once  sinners,  and  the  whole  of  our  uni¬ 
verse  polluted  ;  and  it  will  be  equally  true  that  in  a  certain  sense 
the  whole  universe  will  be  retrieved  from  sin,  and  that  death 
itself  shall  die.  Still  the  universality  is  peculiar,  and  is  respon¬ 
sive  in  both  cases.  But  these  mysteries  are  very  high,  and  should 
be  handled  with  the  dread  of  God  upon  us. 

3.  The  most  fundamental  points  of  difference  between  the 
two  covenants,  may,  perhaps,  be  stated  as  follows  : 

(a)  As  the  conditions  of  humanity  to  which  the  two  cove¬ 
nants  were  respectively  addressed  were  wholly  different,  the  im¬ 
mediate  object  of  them,  respectively,  was  also  different.  The 
first  covenant  found  man  perfect,  but  fallible  ;  and  what  it  im¬ 
mediately  proposed  was  to  deliver  him  from  the  peril  of  that  fal¬ 
libility,  and  to  confirm  and  augment  forever  his  existing  perfec¬ 
tion.  The  second  covenant  found  man  fallen  and  depraved  ;  and 
its  immediate  object  was  to  extricate  him  from  his  condition  of 
ruin,  and  from  the  endless  perdition  to  which  he  was  hastening ; 
and  to  confer  on  him  endless  glory  and  felicity,  by  restoring  him 
in  this  life  to  the  lost  image  of  God  through  a  new  creation,  and 
by  bringing  him  through  death  and  the  resurrection  to  an  im¬ 
mortal  existence  with  God. 


CHAP.  V.]  (ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION.  87 

( b )  They  necessarily  differed  in  the  way  of  accomplishing  their 
object  respectively.  Though  it  was  unto  life,  and  through  divine 
goodness,  and  by  way  of  covenant,  in  both  instances  ;  in  the  first, 
it  was  from  God  to  his  creature  who  was  already  perfect,  in  the 
second  from  God  to  his  creature  fallen  from  his  perfection  and 
wholly  depraved.  The  whole  way  of  the  first  covenant,  there-, 
fore,  was  through  the  headship  of  a  mere  man  ;  while  the  whole 
way  of  the  second  was  through  the  headship  of  the  God-man. 
The  way  of  the  first  was  thoroughly  natural  ;  the  way  of  the 
second  was  thoroughly  supernatural.  And  this  is  a  difference 
stupendous  in  itself,  and  decisive  throughout. 

(c)  They  differed,  utterly,  in  the  inherent  force  of  each,  and 
thereby,  in  the  result  to  which  each  tended.  The  exact  execu¬ 
tion  of  each  would  produce  precisely  that  to  which  it  was  compe¬ 
tent — no  more,  no  less.  But  the  first  had  in  Adam  no  resources 
except  such  as  existed  in  human  nature,  perfect  but  fallible  ; 
while  the  second  had  in  Christ  all  the  resources  ever  possible  in 
human  nature — and  all  the  resources  of  the  divine  nature  be¬ 
sides.  To  say  the  very  least,  the  first  tended  to  failure  as 
strongly  as  to  success ;  for  it  actually  failed,  and  that,  as  far  as 
we  know,  under  the  first  temptation.  Nor,  according  to  any  mode 
of  judging,  competent  to  human  reason,  or  revealed  to  us  by 
God,  are  we  able  to  understand  how  such  a  covenant  could  have 
avoided  the  equal  hazard  of  failure  at  every  trial,  and  therefore, 
apparently,  failure  at  last.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  wholly  in¬ 
conceivable  how  the  second  could  fail :  and  the  Scriptures  plainly 
tell  us,  it  cannot. 

(d)  The  first  covenant  was  founded,  so  to  speak,  upon  what 
was  already  known  to  man,  either  as  written  on  his  heart  by  God, 
or  as  added  in  the  great  acts  of  God  toward  man  in  his  primeval 
state,  anterior  to  the  existence  of  this  covenant ;  to  which  its 
own  explicit  and  merciful,  but  brief  statements,  were  added. 
But  it  neither  promised,  nor  provided,  nor  gave  any  additional 
strength  to  any  who  might  seek  to  perform  its  conditions  and 
reap  its  reward.  The  second  covenant  in  its  whole  foundation 
and  compass  propounds  a  new  creation  for  man — an  additional 
revelation  to  man,  every  part  of  which  is  of  transcendent  import 
to  him,  and  for  the  boundless  glory  of  God.  And  this  covenant 
promises,  provides,  and  gives  to  every  one  who  seeks  to  perform 
its  conditions,  and  reap  its  rewards,  all  grace,  and  light,  and 


88 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


strength,  for  every  time  of  need.  And  the  divine  revelation 
which  discloses  it,  is  so  completely  the  power  of  God  unto  salva¬ 
tion  to  every  one  that  believeth,  that  the  very  sum  of  the  cove¬ 
nant  is,  that  God  will  be  their  God,  and  that  they  shall  be  his 
people.1 

(e)  The  first  covenant  secured  to  us  life,  upon  condition  that 
retaining  the  righteousness  we  had  already,  we  should  first  secure 
the  additional  righteousness  to  be  obtained  by  the  further  perfect 
obedience  required  in  it.  The  second  covenant  secures  to  us 
both  life  and  the  righteousness  required  in  order  thereto  ;  it  does 
this  while,  having  no  righteousness  of  our  own,  we  were  dead  in 
sin  ;  it  does  it  by  making  the  obedience  of  faith,  instead  of  any 
perfect  obedience  of  our  own,  the  method  of  the  righteousness 
which  God  accepts.2  United  in  a  Covenant  of  Works,  with 
our  covenanted  and  natural  head — -who  was  a  mere  man — we 
can  be  made  partakers  of  nothing  higher  than  his  estate,  and 
can  be  made  partakers  of  a  righteousness  like  his  only  in  our 
perfect  obedience.  United  in  a  Covenant  of  Grace  with  our 
covenanted  and  supernatural  head,  who  is  the  Lord  from  heaven, 
we  are  made  partakers  of  his  grace  and  his  glory,  through  no 
righteousness  at  all  of  our  own,  nor  through  any  obedience  of 
ours,  except  that  of  faith  ;3  but  through  the  righteousness  of 
God,  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all,  and  upon  all  them  that 
believe.4 

(/)  As  these  two  covenants  relate  to  sin  and  to  sinners,  the 
difference  between  them  is  absolute.  The  first  revealed  sin  and 
rebuked  it,  and  left  sinners  to  endure  its  fearful  penalty  ;  the 
second  reveals  the  pardon  of  sin  and  the  deliverance  of  sinners, 
through  the  Mediator,  whom  it  provides.  The  one  is  a  dispen¬ 
sation  of  wrath  and  death  to  fallen  men  ;  the  other  is  a  dispen¬ 
sation  of  grace,  mercy,  peace,  and  eternal  life  even  to  the  chief 
of  sinners.  The  one  has  no  remedy  for  any  sin — but  death  ; 
the  other  glories  most  of  all,  that  it  is  able  to  save  to  the  utter¬ 
most  all  who  come  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ.  The  one  grounds  all 
its  proceedings  against  every  one  who  underlies  its  terrible  pen¬ 
alty,  upon  the  personal  condition  of  the  culprit,  individually 
considered ;  the  other  grounds  every  thing  upon  Christ  alone,  and 
upon  the  personal  condition  of  each  individual  considered  merely 

i  Jer.,  xxxi.  33;  Rom.,  i.  16.  2  Rom.,  iii.  21,  22  ;  v.  1 ;  Eph.,  ii.  8. 

*  Rom.,  xvi.  26.  4  Rom.,  iii.  22. 


CHAP.  V.] 


(ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION. 


89 


with  reference  to  liis  relation  to  Christ.  As  so  profound  and  per¬ 
vading  in  the  Covenant  of  Grace  is  this  idea  of  Mediation  and 
Redemption,  of  which  the  Covenant  of  Works  knows  nothing, 
except  that  when  it  encounters  Christ  its  claims  are  ended  and 
its  power  broken  ;  that  the  whole  church  of  the  living  God,  the 
whole  Messianic  Kingdom,  the  entire  New  Creation,  will  be  de¬ 
livered  up  to  God  the  Father,  at  the  consummation  of  all  things, 
merely  upon  the  Lamb’s  Book  of  Life.1 

4.  This  survey,  imperfect  and  condensed  as  it  is,  exhibits  an 
outline  of  the  entire  dealings  of  God  with  man,  in  the  way  of 
covenant ;  and  except  in  the  work  of  creation,  and  in  those 
great  providential  acts  of  which  I  have  spoken  so  often,  which 
immediately  followed  it  and  preceded  the  Covenant  of  Works — 
God’s  entire  dealings  with  man  have  been  of  that  kind  most  dis¬ 
tinctly  set  forth  under  the  idea  of  a  covenant.  Moreover,  it  is 
by  comparing  the  two  covenants  through  which  God  has  disclosed 
his  purpose  in  the  creation  of  man,  with  each  other,  as  has  been 
done,  that  we  obtain  the  clearest  general  conception  of  both  of 
them  ;  just  as  it  is  by  following  the  gradual  and  steadfast  devel¬ 
opment  of  the  one  which  now  involves  all  the  hopes  of  the  human 
race,  which  I  am  about  to  attempt,  that  we  obtain  the  clear¬ 
est  general  conception  of  the  precise  point  in  its  sublime  pro¬ 
gress,  which  touches  our  actual  and  individual  position.  Such  a 
survey  as  I  shall  briefly  attempt,  would  be  at  once  useless  and 
impossible,  but  for  the  unity  of  this  second  covenant  thus  va¬ 
riously  administered,  and  but  for  the  divine  unity  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  which  disclose  it,  and  of  the  infinite  intellect  and  will  from 
which  those  Scriptures  proceed.  And  it  seems  impossible  to 
doubt,  after  any  serious  comparison  of  that  covenant  with  the 
one  which  preceded  it,  that  both  of  them  proceed  from  the  same 
divine  source,  and  have  reference  to  the  same  race  of  creatures. 
Contemplating  that  race  from  a  widely  different  point  of  view, 
but  directed  alike  to  the  securing  and  advancing  its  felicity  and 
glory,  they  necessarily  provide  a  way  peculiar  to  each.  Agreeing 
in  all  that  is  covered  by  its  being  the  same  God,  the  same  race, 
and  the  same  great  object ;  differing  in  all  that  is  covered  by 
one  of  them  being  a  Covenant  of  Works  for  the  advancement  of 
a  perfect  but  fallible  race,  while  the  other  is  a  Covenant  of  Grace 
for  the  recovery  of  the  same  race  fallen,  but  susceptible  of  resto- 

1  Phil.,  iv.  3;  Rev.,  xiii.  8;  xx.  12  •  xxi.  27. 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD 


90 


[book  I. 


ration,  and  for  its  advancement  beyond  what  was  possible  if  it 
bad  never  fallen. 

IV. — 1.  He  whom  God  distinguished  above  all  mortals  in  the 
gift  of  wisdom,  has  warned  us  with  great  emphasis  that  it  is  the 
glory  of  God  to  conceal  a  thing.1  Long  before  Solomon,  the 
greatest  of  all  the  men  of  the  East,  a  man  perfect  and  upright, 
as  we  are  divinely  told,  had  taught  that  God  holdeth  back  the 
face  of  his  throne,  and  spreadeth  his  cloud  upon  it.2  And  long 
after  Job,  he  who  was  not  a  whit  behind  the  chiefest  Apostle, 
exclaimed  in  the  wonder  of  his  marvellous  insight  of  divine 
things,  Oh  !  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and 
knowledge  of  God  !3  If  there  be  any  thing  which  can  be  sub¬ 
jected  to  human  scrutiny,  which  is  above  all  other  things  calcu¬ 
lated  to  beget  the  state  of  mind  thus  variously  expressed  by  men 
so  great,  so  illustrious,  and  so  taught  of  God  ;  it  is  undoubtedly, 
this  very  progress  of  the  saving  grace  of  God  in  its  amazing 
movement  along  the  course  of  time.  How  slight  and  indistinct 
are  the  first  obscure  promises  of  the  Saviour,  compared  with  the 
light  and  majesty  of  his  personal  ministry  !  Yet  how  indistinct 
was  his  veiled  glory  in  his  estate  of  humiliation,  compared  with 
the  unutterable  glory  in  which  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  all 
the  kindreds  of  the  earth  wail  because  of  him  !  W e  must  bear 
in  mind,  however,  that  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  God  which  is  in¬ 
distinct  ;  but  it  is  the  knowledge  of  it  by  man  which  from  ob¬ 
scure  beginnings,  is  increased  under  each  successive  dispensation, 
like  the  path  of  the  just,  a  shining  light  that  shineth  more  and 
more  unto  the  perfect  day.  And  the  greatness  of  that  glory 
which  God  conceals,  and  the  majesty  of  that  dominion  over 
whose  face  he  spreads  his  cloud,  and  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  his  divine  wisdom  and  knowledge,  are  in  nothing  more  dis¬ 
tinctly  proved,  than  in  the  vastness  of  the  force  which  is  seen  to 
reside  in  this  mighty  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  even  when 
it  is  most  indistinctly  proclaimed  to  man.  When  God  said  to 
Satan  that  the  seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  his  head — the 
simple  utterance  involved  a  total  change  in  the  posture  of  the 
human  race,  and  of  the  whole  universe.  Yet  how  have  sixty 
centuries  developed  that  utterance  ! 

2.  As  we  attempt  to  follow  this  great  (Economy  of  the  Cov¬ 
enant  of  Grace,  and  to  compare  its  several  aspects  at  its  several 

1  Prov.,  xxv.  2.  2  Job,  xxvi.  9.  3  Rom.,  xi.  33. 


CHAP.  V.]  (ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION.  91 

stages,  with  each  other ;  we  find  one  clear  and  universal  princi¬ 
ple  running  through  the  whole  process.  The  more  perfectly  this 
covenant  is  developed,  the  greater  is  the  distinctness  given  to 
the  points  in  which  it  differs  from  the  Covenant  of  Works.  The 
farther  hack  we  go,  concealing  as  we  go  back  the  knowledge  we  leave 
behind  us,  and  which  did  not  appertain  to  the  ages  we  pass  over, 
the  less  distinctly  do  we  see  the  Saviour  and  his  cross  :  while, 
contrariwise,  the  more  each  successive  dispensation  rises  in  the 
bosom  of  this  great  (Economy  of  salvation,  the  more  distinct  is 
the  vision  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  more  conspicuously  is  he  the 
centre  of  all  grace.  Everywhere,  as  I  have  already  shown,  the 
essence  of  the  covenant  is  present,  and  is  exhibited  more  or  less 
distinctly.  But  as  we  find  the  natural  life  of  men  gradually 
shortened  and  degraded,  we  find  the  reality  and  the  peculiar  na¬ 
ture  of  immortal  life  which  is  to  supplant  it,  more  clearly  dis¬ 
closed.  As  the  utter  inability  and  unwillingness  of  fallen  men 
to  know  God  by  their  own  wisdom,  or  to  retain  the  knowledge 
of  him  when  it  was  divinely  imparted  to  them,  became  more  des¬ 
perately  confirmed  ;  the  full  knowledge  of  that  Saviour  who  is 
the  true  God  and  eternal  life,  is  more  plainly  exhibited.  And 
as  the  total  inefficacy  of  any  law,  any  rite,  any  type,  any 
shadow,  to  supply  completely  the  place  of  grace  and  truth  in 
leading  fallen  men  to  believe  in  the  Saviour  unto  life  everlast¬ 
ing,  was  more  copiously  exhibited  ;  the  real  power  whereby  sin¬ 
ners  do  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  more  explicitly  held 
forth  in  the  demonstration  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  so  this 
greatest  work  of  God  exhibits  the  same  method  which  is  dis¬ 
closed  in  all  other  works  of  his  :  and  this  most  glorious  of  all 
the  parts  of  the  eternal  dispensation  of  the  Son  of  God,  is  char¬ 
acterized  by  the  same  sublime  progress,  after  the  same  divine 
method,  as  all  the  other  parts.  Cycle  after  cycle — ineffable  repose 
and  then  divine  work — the  omnific  Word  and  the  life-giving 
Spirit — exact  concatenation  of  every  part  and  majestic  assent  of 
the  whole  to  an  infinite  consummation  !  And  herein  is  that 
dispensation*  of  the  fulness  of  times  wherein  God  will  gather 
together  in  one,  all  things  in  Christ,  both  which  are  in  heaven 

O  7  0  7 

and  which  are  on  earth — even  in  him.1 

3.  Throughout  the  whole  (Economy  of  the  Covenant  of 
Grace,  in  all  its  dispensations,  there  is  present  every  mark  of 

1  Eph.,  i.  10. 


*  O LKovofua — (Economy. 


92  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

that  enduring  unity  which  distinguishes  every  part  of  the  deal¬ 
ings  of  God,  and  which  has  been  already  pointed  out  as  mani¬ 
fested  by  a  comparison  of  this  with  the  preceding  covenant.  At 
the  same  time  we  encounter  the  widest  variety  of  application  : 
a  variety  demanded,  as  between  the  covenants,  by  the  changed 
nature  of  the  creature  ;  and  as  between  the  various  dispensa¬ 
tions  of  the  latter  covenant,  by  the  constant  and  progressive 
changes  in  his  condition,  and  by  the  successive  manifestations 
of  divine  grace.  The  more  carefully  we  explore  all  these  dispen¬ 
sations — the  antediluvian — the  patriarchal — the  Jewish — the 
Christian  ;  the  more  deeply  we  consider  those  secondary  varia¬ 
tions  to  which  these  dispensations  are  subject  within  themselves, 
or  the  eternal  results  to  which  they  all  conduct;  the  more  do  we 
everywhere  behold  the  stedfast  and  unshaken  progress  of  God's 
eternal  counsel  for  the  manifestation  of  his  own  glory,  in  bring¬ 
ing  fallen  men  to  the  saving  knowledge  and  endless  fruition  of 
himself  All  the  glory  and  blessedness  reserved  in  heaven  for 
them  that  love  God,  is  more  than  can  be  fathomed  by  us  now — 
more  than  flesh  and  blood  can  comprehend,  much  less  inherit. 
But  as  we  behold  the  deep  foundations  which  God  has  laid,  and 
as  we  trace  them  back  into  eternity  ;  it  is  not  presumption,  it  is 
simple  faith,  which  prompts  and  sustains  the  profound  assurance, 
that  these  are  the  very  foundations  upon  which  our  souls  rest, 
and  that  we  may  safely  follow  them  into  the  world  to  come,  and 
rest  eternity  upon  them. 

V. — 1.  Adam — Noah — Abraham — Moses — Christ — the  Gos¬ 
pel  Church — the  Millennial  state — the  Glorified  state  ;  to  which 
add  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord — the  Kesurrection  of  the 
dead — and  the  eternal  Judgment — in  some  connection  with  the 
last  two  states  of  the  Church.  These  are  familiar  words  to  the 
children  of  God.  Do  they  not  know  that  he  who  understands 
all  they  imply,  understands  all  that  is  involved  in  creation, 
providence,  grace,  and  glory  ?  Let  us  pause  at  the  sixth  phrase 
— the  Gospel  Church  :  it  is  there,  now  eighteen  centuries  from 
its  origin,  that  we  stand  to-day.  Before  its  origin,  five  distinct 
epochs  covering  forty  centuries.  Until  our  period  shall  close — 
who  can  tell  how  long  P  The  five  phrases  which  follow  are  con¬ 
stantly  on  the  lips  of  Christian  people,  in  some  sense  or  other  : 
but  in  what  sense  exactly,  or  even  in  what  supposed  order  and 
connection  as  to  most  of  them  ?  Whatever  all  these  phrases 


CHAP.  V.] 


(ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION. 


93 


may  express,  when  fully  understood — this  much  is  certain,  that 
all  of  them  relate,  in  the  most  distinct  manner,  to  the  Covenant 
of  Redemption — that,  taken  together,  they  express  the  whole 
progress  and  result  of  it — and  that  separately,  or  variously  com¬ 
bined,  they  indicate  not  only  the  reality,  but  the  nature  of  all 
its  great  successive  dispensations.  It  is  not  to  ascertain  par¬ 
ticular  truths,  but  it  is  to  illustrate  the  great  career  of  truth, 
that  I  employ  them  here  :  that  immense  administration  which 
in  the  chapters  of  a  former  Treatise  specially  cited  in  an  earlier 
part  of  this  chapter,  I  have  already  briefly  exhibited  under  three 
distinct  aspects.  Once  in  treating  of  the  relations  of  divine 
providence  to  the  Messianic  Kingdom  ;  once  in  developing  the 
progress  of  divine  knowledge  through  the  Kew  Creation  ;  and 
once  in  treating  the  whole  career  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  con¬ 
templated  alike  in  its  head,  in  its  author,  and  in  its  members. 
In  the  present  chapter — as  in  this  First  Book  throughout — 
what  is  specially  important  is  the  clear  appreciation  of  the  inti¬ 
mate  and  necessary  connection  between  the  Objective  and  Sub¬ 
jective  Knowledge  of  God  ;  that  is,  between  the  inner  life  of 
men,  and  by  consequence  their  outward  condition,  whether  con¬ 
sidered  as  individuals  or  as  a  race,  and  the  knowledge  they  pos¬ 
sess  of  the  true  God  and  of  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  has  sent. 

2.  The  present  stand-point  of  the  human  race  with  reference 
to  this  glorious  administration  of  God,  is  capable  of  a  perfectly 
distinct  appreciation,  in  every  aspect  of  the  whole  subject,  and 
in  everv  relation  of  it  to  us.  Of  course,  it  is  not  meant  that  all 
men  can  know,  or  that  any  one  does  know,  all  the  present,  much 
less  all  the  past,  and  least  of  all  the  whole  future,  touching  any 
aspect  of  the  Covenant  of  Kedemption.  But  all  men  may  know 
with  infallible  certainty,  and  immense  multitudes  do  know,  that 
the  present  condition  of  the  human  race  is  neither  the  patri¬ 
archal,  nor  the  millennial  condition  of  man  ;  that  the  present 
posture  of  Redemption  is  not  the  one  it  occupied  before  the  Incar¬ 
nation,  nor  the  one  it  will  occupy  after  the  second  coming  of  the 
Lord  ;  that  from  the  remotest  past  the  causes  of  whatever  ex¬ 
ists  are  made  obvious  to  us  by  God,  together  with  their  constant 
working,  and  their  present  state  ;  that  all  that  is  actual  to  us 
now  is  manifestly  full  of  all  future  results  ;  and  that  multitudes 
of  those  results,  in  all  their  overwhelming  vastness,  aie  so  ic- 
vealecl  to  us  by  God  that  the  knowledge  of  them  and  the  effects 


94  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

of  them  are  really  and  effectually,  though  not  perfectly  and  com¬ 
pletely  appreciable  by  us.  The  very  thought  and  the  very  illus¬ 
tration  used  by  the  Apostle  Paul,  still  apply  as  distinctly  to  us 
as  to  those  he  personally  addressed  ;  for,  if  I  may  illustrate  the 
work  of  grace  by  the  work  of  creation,  the  evening  and  the 
divine  repose  of  the  Gospel  day,  which  we  call  long  and  God 
calls  short — still  continue,  and  the  millennial  morning  and  work 
which  may  complete  that  Gospel  day  are  not  yet  come.  There¬ 
fore  said  Paul,  and  we  may  repeat,  But  now  we  see  not  as  yet 
all  things  put  in  subjection  under  the  feet  of  the  Son  of  Man. 
What  we  have  seen  is,  that  Jesus  was  made  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels  for  the  suffering  of  death  ;  that  he  by  the  grace 
of  God  has  tasted  death  for  every  man  ;  and  that  he  has  been 
crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  And  we  have  seen,  and  still 
see,  many  sons  of  God  brought  to  glory ;  we  see  that  Christ  is 
not  ashamed  to  call  them  his  brethren;  and  we  see  how  infinitely 
it  became  God,  to  make  the  Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect 
through  suffering.  And  what  we  may  be  sure  of  is,  that  it  is 
wholly  impossible  for  us  to  escape  perdition,  if  we  neglect  this 
great  salvation,  which  has  been  spoken  by  the  Lord,  and  con¬ 
firmed  unto  us  by  those  who  heard  him  ;  God  himself  bearing 
witness  both  with  signs  and  wonders,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  with 
divers  miracles  and  gifts.1 

3.  From  this  point,  looking  back  to  the  fall  of  man,  we  hear 
the  promise  of  the  Seed  of  the  woman,  and  see  man  sentenced 
and  driven  from  Eden.  This  promise  ;  the  consecrated  rest  of 
the  Sabbath  day  ;  the  sacrificial  recognition  of  God,  of  a  Sa¬ 
viour,  of  sin,  and  of  deliverance  ;  the  knowledge  of  the  moral 
law  ;  and  the  miraculous  ministration  of  God  personally  and  by 
his  angels  ;  these  unitedly  exhibited  the  antediluvial  aspect  of 
the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  The  condition  of  human  society 
answerable  to  it  was  characterized  by  the  immense  length  of  hu¬ 
man  life — by  the  great  extent  of  families — by  the  total  absence 
of  any  organization  civil  or  sacred  except  that  of  the  household — 
and  by  the  universal  prevalence  of  a  single  language.  This  was 
the  antediluvian  condition  of  mankind,  secular  and  religious.  It 
survived  the  catastrophe  of  the  universal  deluge — and  received 
its  first  great  shock  at  Babel  in  the  land  of  Shinar,  by  an  imme¬ 
diate  act  of  God  confounding  the  language  of  all  the  earth,  and 

1  Heb.,  ii.  passim. 


CHAP.  V.]  (ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION.  95 

scattering  the  human  race  abroad  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth.1 
Nor  did  the  great  increase  of  divine  knowledge  vouchsafed  to 
Noah  and  to  Abraham  by  God,  concerning  which  I  have  treated 
in  another  place  ;  put  an  absolute  end  to  a  state  of  the  Church  so 
remarkable  ;  and  to  a  state  of  society  which  still  prevails  in  a 
form  somewhat  modified,  so  extensively  upon  earth  ;  embracing 
the  greater  part  of  the  descendants  of  Abraham  himself. 

4.  Nothing  can  be  more  distinctly  asserted  than  God  has  as¬ 
serted  in  his  blessed  word,  that  the  whole  human  family,  except 
the  eight  persons  who  composed  the  household  of  Noah,  were 
drowned  in  the  flood  ;  and  that  the  whole  human  race  afterwards 
existing,  is  descended  from  these  eight  persons  ;  that  is,  except 
his  own  wife  and  the  wives  of  his  three  sons,  from  Noah  himself, 
who  is  the  second  progenitor  of  the  race.2  It  is  in  the  covenant 
which  God  made  with  this  preacher  of  righteousness,  as  the 
Scriptures  call  Noah,3  that  the  nature  and  foundation  of  civil 
government,  more  extensive  than  that  of  the  household,  and  as 
a  divine  institution,  are  first  intimated,  and  in  connection  there¬ 
with  the  purpose  of  God  touching  the  destiny  of  the  earth  and 
of  the  human  race  considered  as  inhabitants  thereof,  and  concern¬ 
ing  the  stedfastness  of  nature  while  man  and  the  earth  shall 
exist  in  their  present  relations  to  each  other  ;  in  confirmation 
of  which  he  set  his  how  in  the  cloud,  that  man  might  see  it  and 
trust  God.  It  can  add  nothing  decisive  to  the  matter  imme¬ 
diately  before  us,  to  discuss  those  permanent  physical  changes, 
real  or  imaginary,  upon  the  earth  itself,  and  upon  its  relations  to 
our  solar  system,  over  which  the  learned  have  disputed  ;  which  I 
therefore  joass  in  silence.  But  it  is  important  to  observe  that  the 
second  great  shock  to  the  unity  of  mankind,  in  the  establishment 
of  distinct  varieties  of  the  race,  has,  even  to  the  present  mo¬ 
ment,  permanent  relations  to  the  family  of  Noah.  It  is  a  new 
world  of  which  he  is  the  head.  Its  life  is  shortened,  its  language 
is  confounded,  its  unity  is  disturbed,  a  new  condition  of  society 
is  divinely  provided  for,  and  initiated  under  Nimrod  in  Shinar, 
and  Asshur  at  Nineveh  :  and  all  these  things  are  before  our  eyes, 
after  so  many  centuries,  in  forms  unspeakably  aggravated.  The 
(Economy  of  Redemption  alone  advances.  The  lines  of  Shem,  and 
Ham,  and  Japhet,  and  even  Canaan  the  son  of  Ham,  are  traced 
far  enough  to  show  all  coming  ages  the  origin  of  all  nations  and 

1  Gen.,  xi.  1-9.  2  Gen.,  vL — xi.  3  2  Pet.,  ii.  6. 


96  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  I. 

peoples.1  Then,  dropping  all  the  rest,  the  line  of  Shem  is  traced 
to  Abraham,2  and  through  him  to  Christ ;  in  whom,  after  so  many 
ages,  those  omitted  Gentiles  are  to  be  restored  to  God  ;  in  whom, 
rejected  by  his  own  to  whom  he  came,  it  is  this  day  preeminently 
those  omitted  Gentiles  to  whom  God  has  granted  repentance  unto 
life,  and  out  of  whom  he  is  taking  a  people  for  his  name.3 

5.  The  patriarch  Abraham  was  the  lineal  descendant  of  Shem 
in  the  tenth  generation  ;  and  of  his  life  on  earth  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  years,  one  hundred  and  ten  years  coincided  with 
the  latter  part  of  the  life  of  his  great  ancestor.  Leaving  the 
ark  when  he  was  about  a  hundred  years  old,  Shem  lived  about 
five  hundred  years  in  the  post-diluvian  world — and  may  have 
been  for  more  than  a  century,  perfectly  familiar  with  the  father 
of  the  Faithful  ;  about  thirty-five  years  of  which  period  were 
after  the  divine  call,  of  which  I  have  now  to  speak.4  But  Shem 
had  passed  a  hundred  years  in  the  antediluvian  world,  the  whole 
of  which  he  may  have  passed  in  the  company  of  Methuselah  who 
wras  his  father’s  grandfather  ;  and  above  two  hundred  and  forty 
years  of  the  entire  life  of  Methuselah  coincided  with  the  later 
years  of  Adam,  his  sixth  lineal  ancestor.5  Two  persons,  one  of 
them  the  great  grandfather  of  the  other,  separate  between  Adam 
and  Abraham  ;  these  two  companions,  it  may  have  been,  for  a 
century  ;  the  first  a  companion  of  Adam  for  two  centuries  and  a 
half ;  the  second  a  companion  of  Abraham  for  more  than  a  cen¬ 
tury.  Moreover,  the  interval  between  Adam  and  Noah  was  but 
a  century  and  a  quarter,  and  that  between  Noah  and  Abraham 
was  less  than  half  a  century  :  the  two  lives  of  Adam  and  Noah 
covering  eighteen  hundred  and  eighty  years  of  the  whole  period 
from  the  creation  to  the  birth  of  Abraham — and  leaving  a  com¬ 
paratively  short  interval  before,  and  a  still  shorter  one  after  Noah. 
It  is  Noah,  therefore,  in  reality,  who  connects  Adam  with  Abra¬ 
ham — the  first  man  with  the  father  of  the  Faithful.  His  mar¬ 
vellous  life,  resting  for  five  centuries  on  the  world  before  the 
flood,  and  for  four  and  a  half  centuries  on  the  world  after  the 
flood  ;  constituted  an  astonishing  epoch  in  the  (Economy  of  Ke- 
demption,  and  at  the  same  time  afforded  the  means  of  transit 
between  the  Adamic  and  the  Abrahamic  epochs,  each  of  them 
as  illustrious  as  itself. 

6.  The  dispensation  which  extends  from  the  call  of  Abraham 

1  Gen.,  x.  2  Gen.,  xi.  3  Acts,  xi.  18 ;  xv.  14.  4  Gen.,  xi.  5  Gen.,  v. 


CHAP.  V.] 


(ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION. 


97 


and  God’s  covenant  with  him,  to  the  Exodus  from  Egypt  under 
Moses  and  the  giving  of  the  Law,  occupied  according  to  the  re¬ 
ceived  chronology,  for  which  we  have  the  authority  of  the  Apostle 
Paul,  a  period  of  four  hundred  and  thirty  years.1  The  greater  part 
of  the  Book  of  Genesis,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Book  of 
Exodus,  are  devoted  to  it ;  and  it  is  a  subject  of  continual  allu¬ 
sion  and  explanation  throughout  the  Scriptures.  The  distinct 
accounts  we  have  of  Melchizedeck,  who  was  cotemporary  with 
Abraham,2  of  Jethro,  who  was  cotemporary  with  the  earlier  min¬ 
istry  of  Moses,3  and  of  Balaam,  who  witnessed  almost  its  close  ;4 
give  us  clear  intimations  of  the  existing  state  of  divine  knowledge, 
and  of  human  affairs ;  and  these  are  confirmed  by  multitudes  of  al¬ 
lusions  and  incidents  found  in  the  sacred  narrative — and  rendered 
certain  by  the  Book  of  J oh,  who  was,  it  is  probable,  earlier  than 
Moses  and  later  than  Abraham.  The  call  of  Abraham,  was  in 
effect  the  rejection  of  the  whole  race  besides  ;  and  the  tendency 
of  the  whole  race,  as  such,  has  been  continual  and  decisive 
against  God.  The  sacrament  of  circumcision  given  to  Abraham, 
created  for  the  first  time  a  precise,  visible  separation  between 
those  in  covenant  with  God,  and  all  beside  ;  and  the  sacrament 
of  the  passover,  whose  institution  signalized  the  close  of  this  dis¬ 
pensation,  as  circumcision  did  its  commencement,  made  this  sep¬ 
aration  still  more  complete,  by  exhibiting  still  more  clearly,  the 
ground,  the  nature,  and  the  object  of  it.  These  sacraments  en¬ 
tered  in  a  fundamental  manner,  into  the  next  succeeding  dis¬ 
pensation  ;  and  passing  under  new  forms,  by  the  ordination  of 
Christ  himself,  into  the  bosom  of  the  Gospel  Church,  they  still 
survive  as  signs  and  seals  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  The 
covenant  which  God  made  with  Abraham,  to  whom  he  appeared 
seven  or  eight  times,5  was  manifold  in  its  aspect.  It  was  a  cove¬ 
nant  personally  between  God  and  the  patriarch,  embracing  him¬ 
self  and  all  his  posterity,  and  stipulating  for  great  blessings 
temporal  and  spiritual  to  him  and  to  them.  It  was  a  Covenant 
between  God  and  Abraham,  embracing  after  a  peculiar  manner, 
his  descendants  through  Isaac,  which  embraced  all  the  Jewish 
people,  and  the  land  of  Canaan  as  their  inheritance.  It  was  a 
covenant  between  God  and  Abraham,  wherein  the  patriarch  was 
accepted  as  the  father  of  all  believers,  and  all  of  them  received 

1  Gal.,  iii.  1Y.  2  Gen.,  xiv.;  Heb.,  vii.  3  Ex.,  xviii. 

4  Num.,  xxii. — xxiv.  5  Gen.  xii. — xxiii. 


VOL.  II. 


7 


98 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OE  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


unspeakable  promises  in  him.  And  above  all,  it  was  a  covenant 
between  God  and  Abraham  wherein  the  patriarch  was  accepted 
as  the  representative  of  humanity  itself ;  and  as  such  received 
promises  for  all  the  kindreds  of  the  earth,  and  above  all  promises, 
that  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  as  his  seed.1  In  all  these  as¬ 
pects,  this  amazing  covenant  has  accomplished  its  stipulations 
through  all  succeeding  time.  In  the  promised  line  of  the  family 
of  Abraham,  the  visible  church  of  God  became  immediately  con¬ 
spicuous.  In  the  form  of  a  great  people  it  came  in  contact  with 
all  the  great  world-powers  developing  themselves  in  the  post¬ 
diluvian  world,  according  to  the  purpose  of  God  revealed  to 
Noah.  And  their  deliverance  from  Egypt,  their  abode  in  the 
wilderness,  and  their  triumphant  settlement  in  the  promised 
land — all  miraculous  and  all  typical  of  things  far  greater  than 
themselves  ;  were  made  the  occasion  and  the  means  of  organizing 
that  theocratic  commonwealth  of  the  Jews,  which  constituted  so 
remarkable  an  epoch  in  the  (Economy  of  Grace. 

7.  The  institutions  of  Moses,  established  about  twenty-five 
centuries  after  the  creation,  continued  with  divine  authority  for 
about  fifteen  centuries.  They  are  capable  of  being  considered 
in  a  threefold  point  of  view  ;  once  in  their  purely  civil  aspect — 
once  as  a  system  of  actual  religion  and  positive  morality — and 
once  as  a  typical  system  involving  and  exhibiting  more  or  less 
distinctly,  a  spiritual  system  far  higher  than  itself.  These 
three  elements  are,  indeed,  combined  in  the  most  intimate  man¬ 
ner  :  for  the  system  they  jointly  composed  was  to  be  practically 
administered  over  the  most  enlightened  nation  in  the  world,  as 
at  once  their  only  temporal  government-,  and  their  only  way  of 
eternal  salvation.  Still,  from  the  point  of  view  we  occupy,  it  is 
not  difficult  to  separate  these  elements.  We  readily  understand 
that  as  a  system  of  positive  religion  and  morality,  these  institu¬ 
tions  would  combine  and  would  exhibit,  all  that  God  had  made 
known  until  then  of  the  way  of  salvation  ;  and  that  they  would 
be  fitted  to  receive  and  to  preserve  all  immediate  and  all  further 
communications  of  his  grace.  Thus  we  find  them  grounded  upon 
the  Moral  Law,  which  God  had  written  on  the  heart  of  man  when 
he  created  him,  and  which  he  now  wrote  on  tables  of  stone  ;  we 
find  the  revelation  of  divine  grace,  of  a  Saviour  from  sin,  and  of 
life  through  him,  the  burden  of  the  entire  system  ;  and  we  find 
1  Rom.,  iv.  passim  ;  Gal.,  iii.  passim  j  Rom.,  ix.  passim. 


CHAP.  V.]  (ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION.  99 

tlie  sum  of  all  the  past  history  of  Redemption  reduced  to  a 
written  form,  and  the  continuance  and  perpetuity  of  that  sacred 
record  made  one  of  the  chief  distinctions  of  a  dispensation,  at¬ 
tested  by  so  many  and  such  stupendous  miracles,  and  replen¬ 
ished  with  such  fulness  of  divine  inspiration.  Omitting  the  Book 
of  Job  which  is  probably  a  monument  of  the  Abrahamic  dispen¬ 
sation,  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  belong  to  this 
era.  In  like  manner,  we  easily  perceive,  that  all  that  was  purely 
typical  in  the  institutions  of  Moses,  was  exhausted  and  can¬ 
celled  when  that  became  actual  which  it  only  signified  ;  and  we 
perceive  as  well,  that  institutions  replenished  with  such  types 
of  better  things  to  come,  bear  in  their  own  bosom  at  once  the 
proof  and  the  cause  of  their  own  weakness  and  decay.  Touching 
the  Mosaic  institutions  considered  as  a  purely  civil  polity,  my 
impression  is  that  men  have  never  adequately  conceived  either 
their  nature  or  their  design.  Civil  institutions  higher  than  the 
household,  had  no  existence  amongst  men,  and  no  revealed  au¬ 
thority  from  God,  before  the  flood.  The  purpose  of  God  to 
organize  society,  and  to  organize  his  own  kingdom  in  the  world, 
both  more  completely  than  before — was  first  made  known  to 
Noah  and  to  Abraham  ;  and  both  parts  of  the  purpose  in  its 
earliest  development,  were  exhibited  in  this  theocratical  com¬ 
monwealth.  There  are  interests  of  mankind  absolutelv  tern- 

V 

poral,  and  there  are  evils  to  which  man  is  unavoidably  subject  in 
a  state  of  sin:  the  former  inseparably  incident  to  his  mortal  exist¬ 
ence,  the  latter  to  his  mortal  existence  as  a  sinner.  What  seems 
to  me  to  be  taught  by  the  civil  institutions  of  the  Jewish  people, 
and  that  upon  the  authority  of  God  himself — is  the  great  princi¬ 
ples  and  truths  which  underlie  the  most  successful  treatment 
of  all  such  interests,  and  all  such  evils.  Human  civilization, 
human  progress,  human  liberty  and  security  ;  property  in  its 
own  nature,  use,  and  liability  ;  rights  and  duties  of  the  citizen, 
whether  public,  social,  or  personal ;  misdemeanours,  crimes,  and 
punishments;  the  great  problems  which  connect  themselves  with 
national  independence,  and  with  the  public  force,  and  general 
prosperity  ;  those  vast  and  intricate  questions  connected  with 
trade,  money,  pauperism,  and  servitude.  These  are  the  topics 
to  which  Moses  addressed  himself :  and  while  I  am  obliged  to 
admit  that  no  competent  annotator  known  to  me,  has  expounded 
his  wonderful  conceptions ;  I  do  not  hesitate  to  assert  that  what 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


100 


[book  I. 


he  has  taught,  seems  to  me  to  be  replenished  with  divine 
wisdom. 

8.  This  Jewish  state  preceded  the  existence  of  all  those  uni¬ 
versal  world-powers  which  the  post-diluvian  principle  of  human 
society  developed.  In  its  career  it  came  in  contact  with  all  four 
of  them,  and  perished  finally  under  the  blows  of  the  last  and 
greatest  of  them  all — after  Messiah  had  come,  and  been  craci- 
tied.  Daniel,  its  great  apocaliptic  Prophet,  in  his  captivity  at 
Babylon  under  the  first  of  them,  revealed  the  career  and  fate  of 
them  all,  and  especially  of  the  first  three  :  and  J ohn,  the  great 
apocaliptic  Prophet  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  in  his  captivity 
at  Patmos  under  the  last  of  them,  took  up  the  sublime  vision 
where  Daniel  left  it,  and  made  it  complete.  Nothing  is  so  as¬ 
tonishing  as  the  catastrophe  of  the  Jewish  state,  the  Jewish 
institutions,  and  the  Jewish  people.  The  Messiah,  in  whose 
name  the  theocratic  commonwealth  had  been  founded  and 
always  administered,  to  whom  every  thing  tended,  and  of  whom 
every  thing  was  full,  came  at  last,  only  to  be  rejected  and  set  at 
nought.  They  said,  Let  his  blood  be  upon  us,  and  upon  our  chil¬ 
dren  !  Fearful  words — fearfully  accomplished  !  Their  divine 
commonwealth  utterly  subverted — their  divine  institutions  sup¬ 
planted  by  the  still  more  glorious  institutions  of  the  Saviour, 
whom  they  caused  to  be  crucified — and  themselves,  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  the  children  of  the  covenant,  and  the  chosen  people 
of  God,  wanderers  for  eighteen  centuries,  the  wonder  and  the  op¬ 
probrium  of  mankind.  Solemn  and  true  are  those  words — The 
wild  dove  has  her  nest,  and  the  fox  has  his  cave ;  mankind  have 
their  country  ;  what  has  Israel  but  the  grave  P 

9.  The  Word  was  made  flesh,  says  the  Apostle  John,  and 
dwelt  among  us,  and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only 
begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth.1  This  is  the 
great  parable  which,  from  the  beginning  of  time,  has  been  on  the 
lips  of  all  the  redeemed  :  the  Word  made  flesh — grace  and 
truth — the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father  !  This  is 
the  significance  of  the  incarnation,  the  crucifixion,  and  the  as¬ 
cension,  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord.  This  is  the  meaning 
of  that  great  day  of  Pentecost — this  is  the  sum  of  our  Christian 
Kevelation — this  explains  the  Gospel  Church  throughout  its 
whole  career — this  is  the  intent  of  this  dispensation  of  the  Holy 

1  John,  i.  14. 


101 


CHAP.  V.]  (ECONOMY  OF  REDEMPTION. 

Ghost  with  power.  The  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father — grace  and  truth— the  Word  made  flesh  !  This  is  the 
cry  with  which  the  tribes  and  kindreds  of  mankind  rise  from  the 
dust  and  look  abroad  upon  the  day,  and  return  to  the  brightness 
of  Zion  and  the  glory  of  her  rising.  This  is  the  burden  of  the 
hymn  of  every  soldier  of  the  cross,  whether  it  be  a  hymn  of  vic¬ 
tory,  or  of  martyrdom,  on  earth — or  of  hosannah  in  the  highest, 
in  the  realms  of  light.  This,  therefore,  is  our  posture  this  day  : 
the  Gospel  Church — the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost — the 
great  parable  of  the  Word  made  flesh — grace  and  truth — the 
glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father  ! 

10.  If  it  can  be  thought  sufficient,  after  all  that  has  been 
said,  to  pass  over,  with  a  brief  general  statement,  the  glorious 
epoch  of  the  personal  ministry  of  Christ,  and  that  of  the  out¬ 
pouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  founding  of  the  Gospel  Church, 
and  its  progress  until  now :  it  could  hardly  be  excused,  in  this 
connection,  and  considering  how  much  it  may  be  needful  to  say 
hereafter,  to  enter  particularly  upon  those  great  dispensations 
which  are  still  future.  It  is  not  indeed  the  particular  object  of 
this  Treatise,  to  trace  the  career  of  the  Church  of  God  ;  but  to 
exhibit  the  truth  of  God,  in  its  simplicity  and  power,  subjec¬ 
tively  in  its  effectual  working  upon  and  in  the  soul  of  man,  and 
the  effects  which  necessarily  result  therefrom.  To  a  certain  ex¬ 
tent,  as  has  been  shown,  the  whole  preceding  (Economy  of  Re¬ 
demption  is  involved  in  the  just  appreciation  of  what  is  now  actual, 
and  of  its  effects  :  to  a  certain  extent,  all  its  future  (Economy  is 
involved  in  like  manner' — but  is  involved  more  generally,  and 
more  distinctly  as  a  consequence  than  a  cause  of  our  union  with 
Christ — as  results  rather  than  means  of  salvation.  The  future 
of  that  great  (Economy,  therefore,  except  as  it  helps  to  deter¬ 
mine  our  actual  position,  falls  more  naturally  for  its  precise  con¬ 
sideration,  towards  the  close  than  towards  the  commencement 
of  an  inquiry  into  the  Knowledge  of  God  Subjectively  consid¬ 
ered.  For  the  present  it  may  be  sufficient,  in  addition  to  the 
general  statements  already  made,  to  say,  that  what  is  actual,  or 
what  is  past,  is  not  more  certain  nor  more  distinct  in  its  great 
outline,  than  is  all  the  future  of  this  vast  (Economy.  Nor  is 
that  which  exists  connected  with  what  has  gone  before  more 
strictly,  than  what  is  to  come  is  connected  with  both.  Nay,  it 
never  can  be  made  as  certain,  that  when  we  were  enemies,  we 


102 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  I. 


were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son  ;  as  it  is,  that 
being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life.1  And  so  of  all 
the  rest. 

11.  The  Scriptures  warn  us  with  great  emphasis,  that  divine 
truth  constitutes  a  sublime  system,  and  that  it  behooves  us  to 
comprehend  and  respect  its  divine  proportion — not  less  than  to 
possess  with  clearness  its  separate  parts.  In  like  manner,  as  I 
have  repeatedly  shown,  the  administration  of  this  system  of  truth 
unto  salvation — constitutes  a  sublime  (Economy,  whose  divine 
proportion  is  as  real  and  as  intelligible  as  any  particular  portion 
of  the  stupendous  scheme.  And  in  both  cases  that  which  is 
general  and  that  which  is  particular,  mutually  affect  each  other; 
and  the  two  divine  systems  mutually  influence  each  other ;  and 
there  results  from  their  union  a  third  and  more  exalted  general¬ 
ization,  which  is  the  highest  form  of  knowledge  ;  perhaps  too 
high  for  us  now,  but  which  we  perceive  to  be  real,  and  to  con¬ 
tain  solutions,  which  are,  as  yet,  beyond  our  reach.  How  con¬ 
tinually  are  we  obliged  to  reiterate  the  outlines  of  the  plan  of 
salvation,  in  order  that  we  may  feel  the  highest  foroe  of  each 
part  of  it?  In  the  same  way  the  parts  of  this  perpetual  admin¬ 
istration  of  salvation  enter  into  its  whole  (Econom}L  It  is  not 
merely  names,  and  dates,  and  epochs,  and  helps  to  the  memory: 
it  is  the  recognition  of  an  unbroken  concatenation  of  God's 
working,  the  appreciation  of  a  stedfast  progress  of  that  working 
in  the  development  of  his  eternal  counsel,  that  the  words  Adamic, 
Noacic,  Abrahamic,  Mosaic,  signify  when  applied  to  ancient  dis¬ 
pensations.  And  the  very  same  thing  is  intended  when  we  speak 
of  the  personal  ministry  of  Christ — of  the  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  Gospel  Church  state  ;  and  again  the  very  same 
touching  the  millennial  and  heavenly  states,  with  all  their  won¬ 
ders,  which  are  still  to  come.  What  I  urge  is  this  insuperable 
concatenation  between  all  the  parts  of  this  infinite  (Economy — 
this  sublime  progress  of  the  whole  ;  the  overwhelming  grandeur 
and  efficacy  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  attainable  in  this  manner: 
and  the  intense  relation  of  the  whole  aspect  of  divine  things, 
thus  exhibited,  to  the  Covenant  of  Kedemption  as  it  involves,  on 
one  side,  the  glory  of  God,  and  as  it  reveals  and  applies,  on  the 
other  side,  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 

1  Rom.,  y.  10. 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD, 

SUBJECTIVELY  CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  SECOND  BOOK. 

This  Second  Book  is  devoted  to  the  exposition  of  the  work  of  God,  the 
Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  personal  and  direct  application  of  the  Know¬ 
ledge  of  God  unto  the  Salvation  of  individual  men.  It  is  the  very  action  and 
crisis  of  the  subjective  consideration  of  the  saving  Knowledge  of  God.  Every 
thing  that  has  gone  before,  not  only  in  the  First  Book  of  this  Treatise,  but  in 
the  whole  of  the  preceding  Treatise,  is  unto  the  work  developed  in  this  Book. 
Every  thing  which  can  follow  is  essentially  determined  by  what  is  settled  in 
this  Book.  Errors,  even  grave  errors,  heretofore  or  hereafter,  might  not  be 
fatal :  but  any  fatal  error  here  is  wholly  destructive.  For  if  our  souls  can  but 
be  saved,  the  rest  is  only  secondary :  but  if  we  miss  the  way  in  the  actual  mat¬ 
ter  of  being  saved,  the  rest  is  utterly  worthless.  The  reader  can  desire  of  me 
no  better  token,  than  that  I  take  my  own  soul  in  one  hand,  and  the  light  of  life 
in  the  other — and  bid  him  if  he  will  bear  me  company,  watch  earnestly  for  the 
life  of  his  own  soul.  In  the  First  Chapter  of  this  Book,  which  is  the  Sixth  of 
this  Treatise — the  endeavour  is  to  point  out  the  exact  manner  in  which  we  be¬ 
come  personally  interested  in  the  salvation  covenanted  in  J esus  Christ,  and  indi¬ 
vidually  reap  the  benefit  thereof,  in  being  actually  saved.  Passing  over  much 
that  is  proved  in  this  Chapter,  the  main  thing  established  is,  that  a  real  and  spir¬ 
itual  union  is  indissolubly  established  between  the  human  soul  and  the  Person  of 
the  Son  of  God :  that,  on  our  part,  this  is  by  means  of  Faith  in  the  Divine  Re¬ 
deemer  crucified  for  us — which  Faith  is  the  product  of  the  work  of  God’s  Spirit 
in  our  soul — which  work  of  God’s  Spirit  is  the  result  of  our  personal  redemption 
by  Christ:  and  that  the  invariable  fruit  of  this  union  of  the  soul  with  Christ  is 
our  fellowship — communion — with  him  in  Grace  and  in  Glory — by  means 
whereof  we  participate  in  all  the  blessings  and  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption.  The  Seventh  Chapter,  which  is  the  Second  of  this  Book,  explains 
in  a  general  manner  the  nature  and  effect  of  that  great  and  decisive  work  of 
God  in  man,  which  is  commonly  expressed  by  the  terms — Effectual  Calling.  In 
doing  this,  various  incidental  questions  of  the  highest  importance  are  discussed , 
such  as  the  Natural  Ability  of  fallen  man  to  what  is  spiritually  good — the  nature 
of  Free  Will — the  Gospel  Call — what  is  required  of  man,  and  what  he  can  do — 
the  relation  of  certain  states  of  the  unrenewed  soul  to  certain  states  of  the  re¬ 
newed  soul — the  relevancy  of  the  work  of  God  and  the  nature  of  man  to  each 


104 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  SECOND  BOOK. 


other;  and  the  like.  The  main  object  being  to  demonstrate  the  reality,  the  na¬ 
ture,  the  manner,  and  the  effects  of  a  gracious,  and  effectual  vocation  by  God  of 
the  soul  of  man  unto  Jesus  Christ  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  through  the  divine  Word; 
wherein  our  mind  is  savingly  enlightened,  our  will  is  renewed,  our  conscience  is 
sanctified,  and  a  new  heart  is  given  to  us ;  the  result  being  our  present  reconcili¬ 
ation  to  God,  and  our  endless  salvation.  The  Eighth  Chapter,  being  the  Third  of 
this  Book,  is  devoted  to  the  exposition  of  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  man’s  Regen¬ 
eration  ;  wherein  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ  on  this  subject  is  carefully  consid¬ 
ered,  and  the  relation  of  the  doctrine  taught  by  him,  to  the  spiritual  system  of  the 
whole  Scriptures,  and  to  human  experience,  is  pointed  out;  and  various  incidental 
questions,  such  as  the  state  of  the  soul  in  Regeneration — the  instrumentality  of 
divine  Truth  therein,  and  the  applicability  of  this  way  of  salvation  to  infants,  are 
discussed.  The  chief  matters  established  being — that  fallen  men  must  perish  un¬ 
less  they  are  restored  to  the  image  of  God :  that  this  restoration  is  accomplished 
by  a  spiritual  and  personal  renovation  of ,  our  fallen  nature — by  the  Holy  Ghost 
through  divine  Truth,  in  and  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Mediator  of  the  Cov¬ 
enant  of  Redemption,  after  the  model  of  God  himself :  that  man  incurs  this  change, 
being  passive  in  it,  after  a  peculiar  manner:  the  whole  being  a  most  sovereign 
and  gracious  act  of  God  the  Creator  of  man,  and  Saviour  of  sinners,  the  most 
remote  known  reason  for  which  in  the  case  of  each  individual,  is  God’s  free,*- 
special,  and  eternal  love  for  his  elect.  In  the  Ninth  Chapter,  winch  is  the  Fourth 
of  this  Book,  the  doctrine  of  Pardon  and  Acceptance  of  Sinners  is  disclosed. 
Its  position  in  the  Plan  of  Salvation  is  settled — its  special  office  is  disclosed — 
the  relations  of  each  Person  of  the  Godhead  to  the  matter  are  explained — and  God 
shown  to  be  most  just  and  righteous  in  his  gracious,  complete,  and  gratuitous  jus¬ 
tification  of  regenerate  sinners,  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  whose  right¬ 
eousness  imputed  to  us  by  God,  is  shown  to  be  the  sole  meritorious  ground  of 
the  act  of  the  Father  setting  us  free :  and  Faith  in  Christ  crucified,  wrought  in  us 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  be  the  sole  channel  and  manner  of  our  receiving  that  im¬ 
puted  righteousness.  In  the  course  of  the  general  argument  all  the  main  ques¬ 
tions  of  an  incidental  kind  are  examined ;  and  at  the  close  of  it,  the  doctrines 
of  Covenant,  of  Headship,  and  of  Imputation,  are  discussed  in  their  mutual  rela¬ 
tions,  and  their  fundamental  relevancy  to  Salvation  by  Grace.  The  Tenth 
Chapter,  which  is  the  Fifth  of  this  Book,  is  employed  in  setting  forth  the  man¬ 
ner  in  which  all  regenerate  and  justified  sinners  become  by  Adoption,  sons  and 
heirs  of  God :  the  nature,  grounds,  and  effects  of  that  most  gracious  act  of  God  : 
and  the  relation  of  the  whole  matter  to  us — to  the  plan  of  Salvation — -to  the 
Persons  of  the  Godhead — and  to  the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  The  analogy 
between  the  treatment  of  the  divine  Attributes,  and  the  Graces  of  the  Spirit  in 
us,  is  disclosed :  the  method  of  explaining  our  salvation  pointed  out  by  the 
Apostle  Paul  in  Romans  viii.,  is  expounded  and  applied:  our  relations  to  sin,  to 
the  law,  to  God’s  providence,  and  to  God  himself,  are  shown  to  be  wholly 
changed  by  reason  of  his  adopting  us  as  his  sons :  our  inheritance  of  all  the 
promises  of  God  is  exhibited:  our  heirship  of  God,  and  our  joint  heirship  with 
Christ — are  proved  to  embrace  an  indefeasible  title,  and  a  present  partial  posses¬ 
sion  and  enjoyment  of  the  whole  work  and  glory  of  God  as  Creator,  and  as  Re¬ 
deemer — and  of  God  himself  as  our  crowning  inheritance.  And  the  great  sub- 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  SECOND  BOOK. 


105 


ject  is  concluded  with  some  brief  statements  concerning  the  principles  both  gen¬ 
eral  and  personal,  and  the  method  both  abstract  and  practical,  involved  in  it, 
and  settled  by  it.  The  Eleventh  Chapter,  which  is  the  Sixth  of  this  Book,  dis¬ 
cusses  the  whole  doctrine  of  Sanctification  under  four  general  divisions:  in  the 
first  of  which  the  relation  of  the  work  of  Sanctification  to  the  Plan  of  Salvation, 
and  that  of  this  grace  to  the  great  graces  before  explained,  is  disclosed :  in  the 
second,  the  nature  and  characteristics  of  this  crowning  grace,  and  the  progress 
of  it  in  the  human  soul,  with  the  general  exercises  of  the  soul  therein,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  with  reference  to  Faith,  to  Repentance,  and  to  our  Love  of  God — are 
traced :  in  the  third,  the  divinely  appointed  means  of  our  progressive  Sanctifica¬ 
tion  are  pointed  out,  and  the  manner  of  their  use  and  influence  explained :  and 
in  the  fourth,  the  power  of  God  in  this  dying  unto  sin,  and  renewing  more  and 
more  in  entire  conformity  to  Christ,  is  vindicated — the  relation  of  the  Godhead, 
and  each  Person  thereof  to  this  work  in  the  souls  of  the  children  of  God  is  set 
forth — and  the  special  relevancy  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ  to  the 
perfection  of  the  divine  life  in  man,  is  proved  and  illustrated :  the  whole  being 
an  attempt  to  state  and  sum  up  the  nature,  manner,  and  extent  of  that  complete 
conformity  to  God,  for  which  all  Christians  are  commanded  to  strive.  In  the 
Twelfth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Seventh  and  last  of  this  Book,  the  consummation 
of  our  communion  with  Christ  in  Grace,  and  the  consummation  of  our  commu¬ 
nion  with  him  in  Glory  in  this  life  are  explained,  and  the  crowning  benefits  of 
the  Covenant  of  Redemption  bestowed  on  the  children  of  God  in  this  life,  are 
set  forth  in  their  order,  and  in  their  connections.  The  attempt  is  made  to  trace 
the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man — wholly  through  the  domain  of  grace  into  the 
domain  of  glory;  and  to  demonstrate  the  nature,  reality,  progress,  and  eternal 
results  of  the  whole.  In  this  way  the  First  Fruits  of  Glory — the  Earnest  of 
the  Spirit — the  Sense  of  God’s  Love — Peace  of  Conscience — Joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost — Rejoicing  in  Hope  of  the  Glory  of  God :  also  the  nature  and  extent 
of  the  evidence  which  the  soul  may  obtain  and  rest  on:  Spiritual  Weakness — 
Distrust  — Doubt  — Indifference  — Backslidin  g  — Self-delusion  — Perseverance — 
Assurance ;  together  with  the  relation  of  death,  and  the  resurrection,  to  the 
saints,  and  to  the  final  triumph  of  the  Mediatorial  Kingdom — are  brought  suc¬ 
cessively  under  review.  In  this  Book,  therefore,  Union  and  Communion  with 
Christ — Effectual  Calling — -Regeneration — Justification — Adoption — Sanctifica¬ 
tion — and  the  consummation  of  Grace  in  the  First  Fruits  of  Glory,  are  dis¬ 
cussed  ;  and  the  Knowledge  of  God  Subjectively  Considered,  is  traced  in  its 
divine  effects  upon  and  in  the  human  soul,  from  its  first  awakening  to  the  con¬ 
summation  of  grace :  and  the  whole  progress  of  the  soul  itself  thus  exercised,  is 
disclosed,  according  to  the  measure  of  the  grace  given  to  me.  The  grand  truths 
supposed  to  be  established  in  this  Book,  stated  systematically  and  in  the  most 
summary  manner,  are  those  which  follow,  namely : — That  through  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  sin¬ 
ners  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  united  by  Faith  to  the 
divine  Saviour — and  being  so  united  to  Christ,  have  Communion  with  him  both 
in  Grace  and  in  Glory : — That  by  a  work  of  divine  grace,  executed  by  divine 
power  towards  us  and  in  us,  which  is  the  result  of  God’s  special  and  eternal 
love  for  us,  God  draws  us  by  his  Word  and  Spirit,  to  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  our 


106 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  SECOND  BOOK. 


Saviour,  thus  reconciling  unto  himself  by  him,  all  who  are  redeemed  by  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ : — That  by  a  saving  work  of  God’s  Spirit  in  the  soul,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  divine  Truth,  and  for  the  merits’  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  our 
fallen  and  depraved  nature  is  renewed  in  the  image  of  God,  and  the  elect  of 
God  are  thus  Born  Again  : — That  by  a  most  gracious  act  of  God,  he  sets  all  re¬ 
generate  sinners  free  from  sin  and  death,  accepts  their  persons  and  services  as 
righteous,  and  declares  their  full  right  to  eternal  life,  solely  on  account  of  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  them,  and  received  through  Faith  alone:  — 
That  all  sinners  thus  regenerated  and  justified,  are  by  a  most  gracious  act  of 
God  the  Father,  for  the  sake  and  on  the  designation  of  Jesus  Christ,  Adopted  as 
Sons  of  God,  made  heirs  of  all  the  promises  of  God,  heirs  of  God  himself,  and 
joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God: — That  all  these  Adopted  Sons 
and  heirs  of  God  are,  through  a  constant  and  increasing  Sanctification,  fitted  for 
the  use  and  enjoyment  of  their  boundless  inheritance:  which  ocours  through 
the  virtue  of  the  death  and  Resurrection  of  Christ,  by  the  indwelling  of  the 
Word  and  Spirit  of  God  in  their  hearts:  they  being  enabled  more  and  more 
through  Repentance  toward  God  and  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to 
die  unto  sin,  to  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  their  mind,  and  to  live  unto  right¬ 
eousness  : — That  the  children  of  God  saved  by  Grace,  led  and  taught  by  the 
Word  and  Spirit  of  God,  besides  enjoying  all  the  Benefits  of  the  Covenant  of 
Redemption,  which  are  bestowed  on  them  through  their  Communion  with  Christ 
in  Grace ;  may  also  enjoy,  in  this  life  the  First  Fruits  of  Communion  with  him 
in  Glory,  whereby  they  possess  the  earnest  of  their  boundless  and  eternal  in¬ 
heritance,  in  a  settled  sense  of  God’s  love,  in  peace  of  conscience,  in  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  rejoicing  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God. 


\ 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  APPLICATION  OF  THE  COVENANT  OF  REDEMPTION  TO  INDI¬ 
VIDUAL  MEN  :  UNION  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  THE  LORD  JESUS 
CHRIST. 

I.  1.  Man’s  Alienation  from  God,  and  Perpetual  Shortcoming. — 2.  Perpetual  Neces¬ 
sity  for  Special  Divine  Grace. — 3.  These  two  Facts  Combined  and  Applied :  the 
Result  — 4.  Special,  Determinate,  Effectual  Salvation. — IT.  1.  Prerogatives  of  the 
Regenerate :  Apostles’  Creed : — ( a )  Communion  of  Saints : — (5)  Forgiveness  of 
Sins: — (c)  Resurrection  of  the  Body: — ( d )  Life  Everlasting. — 2.  Divine  Sum¬ 
mary  concerning  these  Prerogatives: — (a)  We  are  in  Christ,  and  he  is  made  unto 
us  Wisdom,  Righteousness,  Sanctification,  and  Redemption: — (b)  This  is  o/God, 
and  by  God: — (c)  Thus  we  are  Divinely  United  to  Christ,  and  have  Communion 
with  him  : — ( d )  We  are  Specially  Called  and  Chosen  of  God  hereunto  : — (e)  And 
that  in  Special  Contemplation  of  our  own  Vileness: — (/)  And  to  put  an  End  to 
all  Glorying,  except  in  him. — III.  1.  Immediate  Effect  of  the  Application  to  us 
of  the  Benefits  of  Redemption  in  our  Union  and  Communion  with  Christ. — 2.  The 
Mystical  Body  thus  created. — 3.  Matters  involved  in  our  Union  with  Christ: — (a) 
God  gives  Christ  to  us,  to  be  our  Saviour : — (b)  He  gives  us  to  Christ,  to  be  his 
People: — (c)  Christ’s  Consent  to  this  Union: — ( d )  Our  Consent  thereto: — ( e )  Un¬ 
avoidable  Certainty  of  the  Result  of  this  Union. — 4.  The  Spiritual  Means  whereby 
this  Mystical  Union  is  effected : — (a)  On  the  part  of  Christ,  it  is  his  own  Spirit — 
the  Holy  Ghost : — (b)  On  our  part,  Saving  Faith  in  the  Divine  Redeemer  cruci¬ 
fied  for  us: — (c)  Infinite  Efficacy  of  these  Means. — IV.  1.  Fellowship  with  Christ. 
— 2.  Fruits  of  our  Communion  with  him. — 3.  Communion  with  him  in  Grace. — 
4.  Communion  with  him  in  Glory. — 5.  Clearness  and  Certainty  of  the  Results 
reached. 

I. — 1.  In  considering  the  results  of  God’s  dealings  with  the 
human  race,  nothing  is  more  obvious  than  the  utter  shortcoming 
of  man  in  every  condition  in  which  he  has  been  placed.  The 
original  fall  of  man  under  the  Covenant  of  Works  ;  the  apos- 
tacy  of  the  race  under  the  first  dispensation  of  the  Covenant  of 
Grace,  and  its  almost  total  destruction  by  the  flood  ;  the  new 
and  nearly  complete  rejection  of  God  by  the  whole  race  during 
the  Noacic  dispensation,  and  the  fearful  acquiescence  in  that 
result  manifested  by  God  in  the  call  of  Abraham  ;  \the  entire 
condition  of  the  race  thus  rejecting  God,  as  exhibited  to  us 
during  the  whole  period  covered  by  the  Abrahamic  and  Mosaic 


108  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

dispensations ;  the  whole  career  of  the  Old  Testament  Church 
itself,  terminating  with  the  rejection  and  crucifixion  of  the  Son 
of  God  ;  and  now  under  the  Gospel  Church  for  eighteen  centu¬ 
ries,  the  deplorable  persecutions  that  Church  has  endured,  the 
unspeakable  evils  of  which  its  own  corruptions  and  apostacies 
have  been  the  cause,  and  the  ceaseless  triumph  of  every  form  of 
wickedness,  in  one  immense  portion  after  another  of  the  whole 
race,  through  all  these  centuries  !  What  are  all  these  but  over¬ 
whelming  exhibitions  of  the  utter  shortcoming  of  man — the 
whole  constituting  one  boundless  proof  of  his  alienation  from 
God  ? 

2.  It  has  been  equally  manifest  throughout  the  whole  career 
of  the  human  race,  and  throughout  all  God's  dealings  with  it, 
that  there  has  been  a  perpetual  necessity  on  the  part  of  God,  to 
supplement  the  ordinary  divine  helps  bestowed  by  him  on  man, 
with  special  divine  aids,  in  order  to  secure  to  man  the  complete 
enjoyment  of  whatever  mercies  were  given  to  him,  or  to  obtain 
from  him  the  complete  discharge  of  whatever  duties  were  re¬ 
quired  of  him.  The  more  perfectly  we  understand  the  condition 
of  all  things  under  the  Covenant  of  Works,  the  more  wonderful 
it  is  that  man  fell  ;  and  in  like  degree  the  more  clear  it  is  that 
it  was  the  lack  of  special  divine  help — grace — which  it  was  im¬ 
possible  for  God  to  give  consistently  with  the  nature  of  the  trial 
through  which  man  was  passing,  which  made  that  trial  fatal.  And 
the  very  conception  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  its  promulgation 
after  the  Fall  of  man  ;  and  all  the  successive  dispensations  of  it 
from  Adam  to  Christ;  and  the  advent  and  whole  work  of  Christ; 
and  the  outpouring  and  whole  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  all 
the  dealings  of  God  with  men  under  the  New  Testament  Church: 
all  constitute  one  unbroken  series  of  the  most  illustrious  proofs 
that  special  divine  aid — grace — is  the  one  grand  and  unalterable 
condition  of  duty  completely  discharged,  and  of  mercy  completely 
enjoyed.  And  if  any  thing  could  make  the  shortcoming  of  man 
more  distinct,  and  the  need  of  special  grace  more  conspicuous  ; 
it  would  be  the  fact  that  this  being,  so  impotent  to  the  true  and 
the  good,  is  distinguished  most  of  all  by  his  ineffaceable  convic¬ 
tion  of  the  reality  of  truth  and  goodness  ;  that  this  being,  so 
averse  to  God,  the  only  object  of  all  true  religion,  has  no  impulse 
in  his  nature  so  deep  and  so  stedfast  as  his  religious  impulse, 

3.  That  all  men  do  not  participate  of  the  blessings  revealed 


CHAP.  VI.]  UNION  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST.  109 

in  Christ,  and  embrace  the  conditions  of  that  eternal  life  which 
is  brought  to  light  through  him  ;  is  therefore  no  more  than  a 
new  illustration  of  the  whole  career  of  a  race,  whose  evil  deeds 
show  that  they  love  what  God  calls  darkness  more  than  what 
God  calls  light.1  That  any  of  them  heartily  embrace  that  mercy 
and  completely  attain  that  life  ;  proves,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
special  divine  aid — grace — has  been  given  to  them  by  God.  And 
that  God  reveals  and  applies  his  merey,  not  to  reprobate  vessels 
of  wrath  fitted  for  destruction,  but  to  the  objects  of  his  free  and 
special  love,  making  them  possessors  of  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  his  grace  ;2  is  but  the  continued  manifestation  of  his  entire 
mode  of  dealing  with  man.  However  we  may  cavil  at  this, 
which  is  but  a  way  of  showing  our  terrible  alienation  from  God; 
or  however  we  may  justly  stand  in  awe  as  we  behold  it :  we 
ought  to  be  fully  aware  that  but  for  this  special  grace  of  God, 
it  is  infinitely  certain  that  not  a  single  sinner  ever  would  be 
saved.  At  any  rate,  we  cannot  deny  the  reality  of  this  divine 
way  of  dealing  through  special  grace,  without  at  the  same  time 
rejecting  the  Scriptures  as  the  word  of  God,  discrediting  the  whole 
course  of  divine  providence,  refusing  all  credence  to  the  total 
history  of  our  race,  denying  the  moral  government  of  God  which 
is  administered  before  our  face,  disbelieving  the  testimony  of 
every  renewed  soul,  and  silencing  alike  the  voice  of  conscience 
and  the  voice  of  God's  Spirit  within  us.  Tie  who  can  do  all  this, 
will  have  for  his  pains  only  this,  that  he  is  a  living  proof  of  the 
truth  which  he  denies  ;  for  if  grace  were  not  special,  he  might 
not  have  been  what  he  is. 

4.  The  Word  was  made  flesh  :  they  that  believe  on  his  name 
become  the  sons  of  God  :  for  they  are  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of 
the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.3  They 
are  born  again,  born  from  above,  born  of  the  Spirit.4  For  the 
sons  of  God  are  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God.5  By 
his  own  blood  Christ  has  obtained  eternal  redemption  for  us.6 
And  all  the  promises  of  God  in  him  are  yea,  and  in  him  are 
amen  unto  the  glory  of  God  by  us.7  God  according  to  his 
mercy  saves  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly  through  J esus 
Christ  our  Saviour  ;  that  being  justified  by  his  grace,  we  should 

1  John,  iii.  19.  2  Rom.,  ix.  22,  23;  1  Cor.,  ii.  8-16.  3  John,  i.  12,  13. 

4  John,  iii.  3 -7.  5  Rom.,  viii.  14.  6  Heb.,  ix.  12.  7  2  Cor.,  i.  20. 


110  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

be  made  heirs  according  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life.1  All  that 
the  Father  giveth  me,  saith  Christ,  shall  come  to  me ;  and  him 
that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.  And  this  is  the 
Father's  will  which  hath  sent  me,  that  of  all  which  he  hath 
given  me,  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it  up  again  at 
the  last  day.2  Such  statements  as  these — and  the  number  of 
them  throughout  the  Scriptures  is  past  computation — -cover  the 
case  in  all  its  possible  bearings,  and  hardly  admit  of  being  wrested 
out  of  their  clear  sense.  Touching  the  present  matter,  their 
simple  and  naked  declaration  is,  that  the  elect  of  God,  being 
redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  are  made  partakers  of  all  the 
benefits  of  that  redemption,  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Every  thing  is 
special,  every  thing  is  determinate,  every  thing  is  effectual.  Nor 
is  it  possible  for  us  to  conceive  how  it  could  be  otherwise,  viewed 
from  the  divine  side  of  such  questions  :  nor  viewed  from  the  hu¬ 
man  side  of  them,  how  it  could  be  possible  for  any  sinner  to  be 
saved,  if  it  were  otherwise.  If  we  could  prove  that  God  does 
not  choose  us- — what  we  would  gain  would  be  our  infallible  per¬ 
dition.  If  we  admit  that  he  does  choose  us,  then  he  must  have 
changed  his  mind  concerning  us,  or  his  purpose  to  choose  us  must 
be  eternal.  But  he  tells  us  plainly  not  only  that  his  choosing  us 
— our  election  by  him — is  of  grace,  and  according  to  his  own  pur¬ 
pose  ;  but  that  our  salvation  and  the  holy  calling  which  fits  us 
for  it,  are  not  according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own 
purpose  and  grace,  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the 
world  began.’"' 

II. — 1.  The  earliest,  the  most  comprehensive,  and  the  most 
universally  accepted  of  all  the  summaries  of  faith  which  have 
existed  among  Christians — that  which  is  commonly  called  the 
Apostles'  Creed — has  recapitulated  the  chief  prerogatives  of 
which  the  elect  of  God,  by  the  specific  application  to  them  of 
the  benefits  of  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  are  made  par¬ 
takers  through  the  Holy  Ghost.3  That  ancient  symbol  states 
first  the  faith  of  all  Christians  concerning  God  the  Father,  sec- 
ondly  concerning  the  Son  ;  thirdly  concerning  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
and  fourthly  concerning  the  Church.  In  this  last  division  the 
great  prerogatives  of  believers  are  stated  under  four  heads,  thus  : 

1  Titus,  iii.  4-7.  a  John,  vi.  37,  39. 

*  Kar’  iK?iOyrjv  Horn.,  XL  5. — Kar’  iK’Xoyrjv  tt podecug.  Rom.,  ix.  11. — Kar’ 

idiav  npoOeoiv  Kai  x^PLV  T*)v  ^ odeloav  ijp.lv  iv  XpLvru  'Irjcov  tt pb  XP°VU v  clluvluv.  2 
Tim.,  i.  9.  3  John,  L  12,  13. 


CHAP.  VI.]  UNION  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST.  Ill 

(a)  The  Communion  of  Saints.  For  we  are  no  more  strangers 
and  foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the 
household  of  God  ;  and  are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the 
apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  cor¬ 
ner  stone.1  And  we  are  come  unto  Mount  Zion,  and  unto  the 
city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innu¬ 
merable  company  of  angels,  to  the  general  assembly  and  church 
of  the  first  born,  which  are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the 
Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  to 
Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  and  to  the  blood  of 
sprinkling,  that  speaketh  better  things  than  the  blood  of  Abel.2 

( b )  The  Forgiveness  of  Sins.  For  there  is  therefore  now  no 
condemnation  to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not 
alter  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of 
life  in  Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and 
death.3  Moreover,  as  God  not  only  foreknows  and  predestinates 
his  children,  but  also  justifies  and  glorifies  them,  who  can  gainsay 
these  things  ?  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  P  If 
God  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how 
shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things  ?  Who  shall 
lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect,  when  God  himself 
justifies  them  ?4 

(c)  The  Kesurrection  of  the  Body.  For  the  declaration  of 
Christ  is  express  that  the  hour  is  coming  in  the  which  all  that 
are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and 
shall  come  forth  ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection 
of  damnation.6  For  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  if  he  be  our  Saviour, 
will  change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his 
glorious  body,  according  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  even 
to  subdue  all  things  to  himself.6  Children  of  the  first  Adam  who 
was  made  a  living  soul,  and  was  of  the  earth,  earthy,  we  have 
borne  the  image  of  the  earthy  :  children  of  the  second  Adam, 
who  was  a  quickening  spirit,  and  the  Lord  from  heaven,  we  shall 
also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly  :  and  thus  we  shall  possess 
the  kingdom  which  flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit — and  wherein 
death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.7 

(d)  Life  Everlasting.  For  God  will  give  eternal  life  to  them 

1  Eph.,  ii.  19,  20.  3  Heb.,  xii.  22-24.  3  Rom.,  viiu  1,  2.  4  Rom.,  viii.  29-33. 

s  John,  v.  28,  29.  6  PhiL,  iil  20,  21.  7  1  Cor.,  xv.  45-54. 


112 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


who  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seek  for  glory  and 
honour  and  immortality.1  And  though  sin  hath  reigned  unto 
death,  even  so  shall  grace  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eter¬ 
nal  life  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.2  For  while  the  wages  of  sin 
is  death,  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.3  Yea,  blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which  according  to  his  abundant  mercy  hath  begotten  us 
again  unto  a  lively  hope,  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from 
the  dead,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiled,  and  that 
fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  those  who  are  kept  by  the 
mighty  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation  ready  to  be 
revealed  in  the  last  time.4 

2.  A  summary,  still  more  thorough  and  complete,  of  the 
benefits  secured  to  us  in  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  together 
with  the  ground  of  their  bestowal  on  us,  and  the  manner  in 
which  they  are  effectually  applied  to  us,  is  furnished  in  a  single 
sentence  given  by  inspiration  of  God.  But  of  him — namely, 
God — are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  Wis¬ 
dom,  and  Righteousness,  and  Sanctification,  and  Kedemption.5 
That  is  to  say  : 

(a)  We  bear  to  Christ  Jesus  such  a  relation  as  God  expresses 
by  saying,  JVe  are  in  him  :  and  Christ  Jesus  bears  such  a  rela¬ 
tion  to  us  as  God  expresses  by  saying  that  he  is  made  unto  us 
Wisdom,  Kighteousness,  Sanctification,  and  Redemption. 

(h)  In  both  respects  this  relation  between  us  and  Christ 
Jesus  has  occurred  in  such  a  manner,  as  God  expresses  by  say¬ 
ing  that  we  are  in  him  of  God ,  and  that  he  is  made  unto  us 
by  God. 

(c)  We  being  so  in  Christ  Jesus  of  God,  as  to  possess  by 
him,  and  to  partake  through  and  in  him  of  Wisdom,  Righteous¬ 
ness,  Sanctification,  and  Redemption  :  and  Christ  Jesus  being 
so  made  by  God  unto  us,  Wisdom,  Righteousness,  Sanctification, 
and  Redemption  ;  we  are  actually  united  to  Christ  Jesus,  and 
that  by  a  divine  work  ;  and  actually  have  communion  with  him 
in  grace  and  in  glory. 

(A)  To  this,  let  it  be  added  as  distinctly  taught  in  immediate 
connection  with  the  summary  we  are  considering,  and  as  exple¬ 
tive  of  it,  that  we  were  called  of  God  unto  this  fellowship  of  his 

1  Rom.,  ii .  1.  2  Rom.,  v.  21. 

4  1  Peter,  L  3-5.  5  1  Cor.,  L  30. 


3  Rom.,  vi.  23. 


CHAP.  VI.]  UNION  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST.  113 

Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  r1  that  to  those  thus  called  of  God, 
Christ  crucified  is  the  power  of  God  ana  the  wisdom  :2  that  the 
grace  of  God  which  is  given  them  by  Jesus  Christ,  enriches  them 
in  every  thing  :3  and  that  waiting  for  the  coming  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  he  will  confirm  them  unto  the  end,  that  they  may 
be  blameless  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ/ 

(e)  That  God,  in  this  whole  procedure  of  his  grace,  chose  and 
called  his  saints  in  contemplation  of  their  being  foolish  things  of 
the  world,  chosen  to  confound  the  wise  :  weak  things  of  the 
world,  chosen  to  confound  the  mighty;  base  things  of  the  world, 
and  things  which  are  despised,  hath  God  chosen,  yea,  and  things 
which  are  not,  to  bring  to  nought  things  which  are.5 

(/)  And,  finally,  we  are  plainly  told,  that  it  was  in  the  wis¬ 
dom  of  God  that  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,  and  that 
it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that 
believe:6  that  this  very  preaching  of  the  cross  which  is  the  power 
of  God  to  them  which  are  saved,  is  to  them  that  perish  foolish¬ 
ness  :7  and  that  the  whole  procedure  of  God  in  the  choosing, 
calling,  and  saving  his  saints,  was  precisely  and  eternally  de¬ 
signed  to  stop  all  flesh  from  glorying  in  his  presence,  and  to 
cause  that  all  that  gloried  should  glory  in  the  Lord  :8  every  thing 
being  the  result  of  that  favour  which  God  shows  towards  us,  and 
of  those  gifts  which  he  bestows  upon  us,  which  are  the  two  chief 
senses  of  the  phrase,  The  Grace,  of  God. 

III. — 1.  The  immediate  effect  upon  us  of  the  application  to 
us  of  the  benefits  secured  for  us  by  the  Covenant  of  Kedemption, 
and  of  the  bestowment  upon  us  of  the  first  fruits  thereof ;  is,  as 
has  been  already  intimated,  our  Union  and  Communion  with  the 
Mediator  of  that  Covenant,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  what 
immediately  results  from  that,  is  our  Communion  with  all  saints 
— which  is  the  first  benefit  stated  in  the  Apostles’  Creed  ;  the 
truth  of  which  I  have  before  shown,  and  the  full  exposition  of 
which  will  occupy  us  hereafter.  United  to  our  covenant  Head  by 
faith,  our  persons  are  beloved,  and  our  services  are  accepted  in 
him,  and  we  receive  all  grace  and  all  good  from  him.9  And 
united  to  all  saints  by  love,  we  have  a  participation  in  all  that 
distinguishes  them  and  us,  as  partakers  of  one  common  sal¬ 
vation. 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  8.  3  1  Cor.,  i.  24.  3  1  Cor.,  i.  4.  4  1  Cor.,  i.  I,  8. 

6  1  Cor.,  L  21,  28.  6  1  Cor.,  i.  21.  7  1  Cor.,  i.  18.  8  1  Cor.,  i.  29-31. 

9  John,  i.  16,  17 ;  Eph.,  ii.  4-13. 

VOL.  II.  8 


114  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

2.  In  the  contemplation  of  God,  as  I  have  shown  fully  in  a 
previous  chapter,  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  in  its  most  funda¬ 
mental  sense,  had  relation  to  the  elect  of  God  ;  and  each  person 
of  the  Godhead  stood  related  therein  to  the  special  work  he  would 
perform — the  special  part  he  would  take  in  their  salvation.  This 
is  so  emphatic  concerning  the  Son,  who,  besides  being  a  party  to 
that  covenant,  became  the  Mediator  of  it  between  God  and  men; 
that  all  the  redeemed  became  parties  in  interest  to  it  as  repre¬ 
sented  by  him,  who  as  their  covenant  head  engaged  for  their  re¬ 
demption  and  received  them  as  his  :  and  they  became  actually 
his  in  their  regeneration  in  a  personal  covenant  with  him.  That 
body  of  which  Christ  is  the  head  is  mystical,  that  is  it  is  both 
real  and  spiritual,  and  is  made  up  of  elect  sinners,  redeemed 
by  him,  and  all  united  to  him  by  faith,  and  to  each  other  by 
love  ;  as  I  have  before  said.  Innumerable  statements  of  the 
Scriptures  relate  to  this  universal  and  invisible  Church  of  Christ, 
and  to  his  relation  to  it  as  Lord,  and  Ruler,  and  Redeemer,  and 
Head,  and  Husband,  and  all  in  all :  and  one  whole  Book  (Can¬ 
ticles)  is  devoted  to  the  elucidation,  by  means  of  the  most  sacred 
and  intimate  of  all  human  relations,  of  the  ties  between  the  Sa¬ 
viour  and  his  elect  Bride.  The  union  of  this  whole  bod}^,  and 
of  every  member  of  it,  with  the  person  of  Christ,  is  a  mystical 
union,  that  is  a  real  and  spiritual  one  ;  and  the  manner  of  its  oc¬ 
currence  is  also  mystical,  but  yet  real  and  spiritual  ;  so  that  the 
body  itself,  and  its  union  with  Christ,  and  the  manner  in  which 
that  union  is  effected,  are  all  of  one  and  the  same  nature.  There 
is  nothing  metaphorical  in  the  case,  much  less  any  thing  imagi¬ 
nary:  neither  is  there  any  thing  physical  or  corporal.  But  never¬ 
theless  it  is  real,  regard  being  had  to  the  things  united:  for  while 
the  Apostle  admits  it  to  be  a  great  mystery,  he  asserts  the  fact 
that  our  nature,  soul,  and  body,  are  united  to  the  soul  and  body 
of  Christ,  for  we  are  declared  to  be  members  of  his  body,  of  his 
flesh,  and  of  his  bones  2  nay,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  church  is  the 
very  body  of  Christ,  and  each  saint  a  particular  member  of  that 
body  2  and  they  are  all  made  partakers  of  the  divine  nature.3 
When  we  have  regard,  on  the  other  hand,  to  the  means  whereby 
the  mystery  of  this  union  is  wrought,  they  are  all  spiritual  means, 
and  will  be  pointed  out  directly.  And  so  the  union  between 
Christ  and  the  believer,  which  immediately  results  from  the  ap- 

i  Eph.,  v.  29-32.  2  1  Cor.,  xii.  21.  3  2  Peter,  i.  4. 


CHAP.  VI.]  UNION  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST.  115 

plication  to  us  of  the  benefits  of  Kedemption,  is  a  union  at 
once  real  and  spiritual  ;  and  is,  therefore,  properly  called 
mystical. 

3.  This  union  with  Christ  involves  immediate  and  boundless 
results  ;  and  that  so  fundamentally,  that  we  cannot  conceive 
properly  of  its  occurrence,  without  conceiving  of  those  matters 
thus  indispensably  connected  with  it.  For  examjfle, 

(a)  In  this  act,  God  gives  Christ  to  us  to  be  our  Saviour  ; 
thus  accomplishing  the  very  purpose  of  his  free  and  special  love. 
For,  said  Christ,  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life.1  And  so  Christ  said  again,  I  have  man¬ 
ifested  thy  name  to  the  men  which  thou  gavest  me  out  of  the 
world  :  thine  they  were,  and  thou  gavest  them  me  ;  and  they 
have  kept  thy  word.2 

(< b )  In  this  act,  also,  God  gives  us  to  Christ,  to  be  his  peo¬ 
ple,  and  to  be  saved  by  him  ;  thus  accomplishing  the  most  fun¬ 
damental  stipulation  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  the  unal¬ 
terable  purpose  of  God  to  have  a  seed  to  serve  him.  For  it  is 
written,  that  both  he  that  sanctifieth  and  they  who  are  sancti¬ 
fied  are  all  of  one  :  for  which  cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call 
them  brethren,  saying,  I  will  declare  thy  name  unto  my  breth¬ 
ren.  And  again,  Behold  I  and  the  children  which  God  hath 
given  me.3  And  Christ  has  explicitly  told  us,  that  he  is  entirely 
and  exclusively  the  Master  of  all  who  are  united  to  him.4 

(c)  It  was  in  contemplation  of  this  very  union  between  Christ 
and  all  believers  that  the  method  of  the  grace  of  God  by  way 
of  the  Incarnation  of  the  Son,  became  the  way  of  salvation  for 
fallen  men  :  and  in  full  view  thereof,  that  the  Son  covenanted  to 
redeem  us,  and  to  receive  us  as  his,  thus  united  to  him.  For  in 
all  things  it  behooved  him  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren.3 
And  forasmuch  as  the  children  which  God  had  given  him,  are 
partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  likewise  took  part 
of  the  same;  that  through  death  he  might  destroy  him  that  had 
the  power  of  death,  that  is  the  devil ;  and  deliver  them  who 
through  fear  of  death  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage.6 
And  so  he  consented  to  become  Immanuel,  which  is,  God  with 
us,  and  to  be  called  Jesus,  which  is,  Saviour.7 

1  John,  iii.  16.  2  John,  xvii.  6.  3  Heb.,  i.  11-13.  i  Matt,  xxiii.  8-10. 

s  Heb.,  i.  17.  6  Heb.,  ii.  14,  15.  '  Isa.,  vii.  14;  Matt.,  i.  21-23. 


116 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


(c£)  Our  consent  to  this  union  with  Christ,  is  the  very  foun¬ 
dation  of  our  taking  him  to  he  our  Lord — the  very  essence  of  our 
professing  his  name — the  very  expression  of  our  taking  his  yoke 
upon  us — the  very  proof  of  our  divine  call.  For,  said  Christ,  no 
man  can  come  unto  me,  except  it  were  given  unto  him  of  my 
Father.1  And  the  burden  of  the  song  of  the  Bride  is,  I  am  my 
beloved’s,  and  my  beloved  is  mine.3  And  his  children  express 
their  delight  in  him  by  saying,  I  am  the  Lord’s  ;  and  by  calling 
themselves  after  his  name.3  And  the  rest  thev  find  unto  their 
souls,  is  by  taking  his  yoke  upon  them,  and  learning  of  him.4 

(e)  It  may  be  readily  conceded — -and  is  theoretically  unques¬ 
tionable,  that  even  after  all  this,  the  sinner  if  left  to  himself 
would  certainly  apostatize  from  Christ,  and  perish  :  the  grounds 
of  which  statement  being  numerous,  and  chiefly  very  obvious, 
need  not  be  recapitulated  here,  out  of  their  place — farther  than 
to  note  the  general  fact,  that  however  far  the  restoration  of  fallen 
man  may  proceed  in  this  life,  it  is  not  perfected  here.  But  we 
are  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  union  with  Christ  is  an  inseparable 
union  ;  that  the  act  of  God  giving  Christ  to  us,  and  the  act  giv¬ 
ing  us  to  Christ,  are  irrevocable,  covenant  acts  ;  that  Christ  has 
actually  performed  his  part  of  the  covenant,  and  the  Father,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  have  commenced  the  performance  of  theirs,  and 
gone  a  great  length  therein — all  which  has  been  proved  :  and 
then,  it  appears  to  me,  that  the  whole  grounds  of  the  theoretical 
possibility,  much  less  certainty  of  the  perdition  of  a  soul  once 
united  to  Christ,  vanish  at  once.  Now  let  us  add,  point  by  point, 
that  the  love  of  God  is  everlasting,  and  the  love  of  Christ  un¬ 
changeable  :5  that  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  is  an  everlasting 
covenant  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure  :6  that  Christ’s  interces¬ 
sion  for  his  people  is  continual  and  effectual  :7  that  the  divine 
seed  and  Spirit  of  God  abide  in  every  one  that  is  born  of  God  :8 
that  they  have  the  explicit  promise  that  they  shall  not  depart 
from  him,  and  the  distinct  assurance  of  Christ  that  they  shall 
never  perish  :9  and  finally  that  there  is  an  inheritance,  incorrupt¬ 
ible,  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for 
those  whom  God  hath  begotten  again  unto  a  lively  hope,  by  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  unto  which  they  are 

1  John,  yi.  65.  2  Song  of  Sol.,  ii.  16;  vi.  3;  vii.  10.  3  Isa.,  xliv.  5. 

4  Matt.,  xi.  20.  5  jer.,  xxxi.  3 ;  John,  xiii.  1. 

6<Heb.,  xiii.  20,  21;  Isa.,  liv.  10.  i  Heb.,  vii.  25. 

'  8,1  John,  iii.  9 — ii.  27.  9  Jer.,  xxxii.  40;  John,  x.  28. 


CHAP.  VI.]  UNION  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST.  117 

kept  by  the  mighty  power  through  faith  unto  salvation,  ready  to 
be  revealed  in  the  last  time.1  If  any  one  of  these  numerous  and 
conclusive  truths  is  worthy  of  human  acceptation,  then  there 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  destiny  of  those  whom  the  Apostle 
Peter  characterizes  as  elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of 
God  the  Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obe¬ 
dience  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.2  But  seeing 
that  every  one  of  these  truths  is  distinctly  revealed  by  God,  and 
that  their  reiteration  is  incessant  throughout  the  Scriptures  ;  I 
can  no  more  conceive  how  we  are  to  discredit  the  sublime  result 
which  they  all  establish,  than  I  can  conceive  how  man  could  ob¬ 
tain  any  advantage,  or  God  gain  any  glory,  by  discrediting  that 
result.  Why  should  not  God  save  his  elect  ? 

4.  I  have  already  said  that  all  the  means  whereby  our  union 
with  Christ  is  wrought,  are  spiritual  means  :  and  I  had  before 
shown  that  the  union  itself  was  the  immediate  result  of  the  ap¬ 
plication  to  us  of  the  benefits  secured  to  us  by  the  Covenant  of 
Redemption  :  from  whence  it  follows,  as  has  already  been  shown 
in  another  way,  that  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption 
are  applied  to  us  by  spiritual  means.  Proceeding  now  to  point 
out  those  means,  it  is  striking  to  observe  how,  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  case,  as  well  as  in  the  very  nature  of  man,  there  lies  an 
absolute  impossibility  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  sacramental 
grace,  ex  opere  operate ),  upon  which  every  system  of  will-worship, 
and  formalism,  from  the  highest  Romanism  downward,  funda¬ 
mentally  rests. 

(a)  The  spiritual  means  whereby  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant 
of  Redemption  are  applied  to  us,  and  from  whose  application  to 
us,  the  effect  is  our  union  with  Christ ;  may  be  contemplated  in 
a  twofold  aspect.  On  the  part  of  Christ,  it  is  his  Spirit  which 
makes  the  oracles,  the  ordinances,  and  the  ministry  which  God 
has  established,  effectual  in  gathering  and  perfecting  his  saints.3 
This  is  the  especial  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.4  And  this  union  of 
the  believer  with  Christ  is  the  work  of  God's  special  grace,  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  wrought  in  our  effectual  calling.5  It  is  by  the 
Spirit  given  to  us,  and  abiding  in  us,  that  we  dwell  in  Christ, 
and  Christ  in  us.6  If  the  Spirit  of  God  dwell  in  us,  we  are  not 
in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  Spirit :  but  if  any  man  have  not  the 

1  1  Pet.  i.  1-5.  2  1  Pet.,  i.  2.  3  Eph,  iv.  11-13;  Isa.,  lix.  21. 

4  Titus,  iii.  5,  6.  5  Eph.,  L  18-20 ;  ii.  6-8  ;  1  Cor.,  vi.  17.  6 1  John,  iii.  24— iv.  13. 


118 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.1  This  Spirit  is  bestowed  on 
every  believer,  and  resides  and  powerfully  works  in  all  of  them, 
shedding  abroad  the  love  of  God  in  their  hearts.3  It  is  in  Christ, 
that  he  is  the  Spirit  of  life  unto  them  :3  and  it  is  by  him  that 
they  are  inseparably  united  to  Christ.4 

(b)  On  our  part,  the  sole  means  of  union  with  Christ,  is 
Faith  in  him  :  for  by  grace  are  we  saved  through  faith  :  and  that 
not  of  ourselves  ;  it  is  the  gift  of  God.6  It  is  at  once  the  first 
saving  effect,  and  the  most  general  instrument  within  the  soul, 
of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  disposing  and  enabling  us  to  embrace  him 
and  cleave  to  him.6  It  is  by  faith  in  Christ,  that  we  receive  from 
God  through  Christ,  every  covenant  blessing  and  benefit  :7  and 
it  is  by  faith  in  Christ,  that  we  render  back  to  God  through 
Christ,  all  holy  and  thankful  obedience.8 

(c)  Well  may  we  say,  therefore,  that  Faith  is  a  saving  grace 
whereby  we  receive  and  rest  upon  Jesus  Christ  alone  for  salvation, 
as  he  is  offered  to  us  in  the  Gospel.  Nor  does  it  seem  to  be  pos¬ 
sible  for  a  candid  mind  to  avoid  perceiving,  that  by  such  means 
as  these,  supposing  them  to  be  real,  a  perfectly  simple,  spiritual, 
and  efficacious  way  is  pointed  out  to  us  by  God,  whereby  a  mys¬ 
tical  and  inseparable  union  is  established  between  the  person  of 
Christ  and  the  soul  of  the  believer.  Nor  to  avoid  seeing  that 
this  is  accomplished  by  the  Holy  Ghost  applying  to  the  soul  of 
the  believer,  the  benefits  secured  to  him  by  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption.  It  remains  to  point  out,  very  briefly,  the  nature  and 
effects  of  that  communion  with  Christ,  which  results  from  our 
union  with  him. 

IV. — 1.  The  infinite  goodness  of  God's  nature,  is  the  farthest 
point  to  which  we  can  penetrate  in  such  enquiries  as  these.  One 
form  in  which  divine  goodness  finds  expression,  is  in  the  free  and 
eternal  Love  of  God  ;  and  that  Love  is  made  effectual,  towards 
its  objects,  in  the  special  and  efficacious  grace  of  God.  That 
grace  expresses  itself  in  the  whole  work  of  the  Mediator  of  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption  :  and  it  expresses  itself  again  in  the 
whole  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  founded  upon  that  whole  work 
of  the  Saviour.  The  general  manner  of  this  work  of  the  Spirit 
is  to  apply  to  the  objects  of  God's  Love,  the  benefits  of  Christ's 


i  Rom.,  viii.  9. 

3  Rom.,  viii.  2. 

5  Eph.,  ii.  8. 

7  Rom.,  v.  1,  2. 


2  1  Cor.,  iii.  16;  Rom.,  v.  5. 

4  1  Cor.,  xii.  13 ;  Eph.,  ii.  18-20;  iv.  4. 

6  2  Cor.,  iv.  13  ;  Gal.,  v.  5  ;  Eph.,  iii.  16-21. 
8  Col.,  ii.  1 ;  Gal.,  v.  6. 


CHAP.  VI.]  UNION  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST.  119 

Redemption  ;  the  effect  of  that  is  our  union  and  communion 
with  Christ ;  and  the  effect  of  our  union  with  Christ,  and  the 
manner  of  its  production,  have  just  been  explicated  in  a  general 
way.  Thus  united  to  Christ,  through  his  Spirit,  by  a  living 
Faith,  as  new  creatures,  we  have  that  Fellowship  with  him,  of 
which  the  Scriptures  speak  so  decisively,  and  to  which  they  con¬ 
stantly  allude.  It  is  God  who  is  infinitely  faithful,  by  whom  we 
are  called  unto  the  fellowship  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.1 
It  is  declared  to  he  that  fellowship  of  the  mystery,  which  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world  hath  been  hid  in  God  ;  but  which  it 
is  one  special  object  of  preaching  among  the  Gentiles  the  un¬ 
searchable  riches  of  Christ,  to  make  all  men  see  ;  to  the  intent 
that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places 
might  be  known  by  the  Church  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  eternal  purpose  which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord.2  And  so  it  is  set  before  us  as  the  fellowship  of  the 
Spirit  ;3  the  fellowship  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  ;4  the  fellow¬ 
ship  of  the  saints  with  the  Father  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.5 

2.  This  divine  fellowship,  therefore,  is  that  communion  with 
Christ,  whereby  we  participate  with  him  in  all  the  benefits 
flowing  from  the  execution  of  all  his  offices  of  Prophet,  Priest, 
and  King,  as  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace.  Being  one 
with  him,  we  are  invested  with  the  right  to  all  that  is  his ;  are 
put  in  partial  possession  of  it  in  this  life — and  will  receive  the 
full  fruition  of  it  in  a  higher  state  of  existence.8  The  Lord  Christ 
being  made  unto  us  of  God,  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification, 
and  redemption  ;  we  are  so  in  him  that  we  participate  of  his 
wisdom,  his  righteousness,  his  sanctification,  and  his  redemption.7 
So  that  we  can  assert  no  less,  than  that  we  have  communion  with 
Christ  in  Grace,  and  in  Glory.8 

3.  United  to  Christ  in  our  Effectual  Calling,  and  therein 
born  again  of  the  Spirit  and  from  above  ;  our  communion  with 
Christ  in  Grace,  therefore,  is  the  participation  with  him  in  all 
the  benefits  of  his  Redemption,  which  specially  appertain  to  this 
life.  The  chief  of  these,  besides  our  Effectual  Calling,  and  our 
Regeneration,  just  alluded  to,  are  our  Justification,  Adoption, 
and  Sanctification  ;  together  with  all  the  benefits  which,  in  this 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  9.  3  Eph.,  iii.  8-11.  3  Phil.,  ii.  1. 

4  Phil.,  iii.  10.  s  i  John,  i.  3.  6  Col.,  ii.  10;  Rev.,  it  28. 

7  1  Cor.,  i.  30.  8  John,  xvii.  21-24. 


120  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

life,  accompany  or  flow  from  them  ;  the  whole  of  which  have  a 
peculiar  relation  to  saving  Faith  and  Repentance  unto  life,  as  I 
have  explained  in  part  in  another  place,  and  will  explain  further 
hereafter. 

4.  But  there  is  also  communion  with  Christ  in  Glory,  as  well 
as  in  Grace.  In  this  life  they  who  are  united  to  Christ  may 
participate  with  him  in  the  first  fruits  of  his  glory.  At  the  sep¬ 
aration  of  their  souls  from  their  sinful  bodies,  at  dearth,  they 
will  have  complete  participation  in  glory  with  Christ.  At  the 
Resurrection  and  final  Judgment,  their  reunited  souls  and  bodies 
will  advance  in  an  inscrutable  participation  in  glory  with  Christ. 
And,  it  may  be  permitted  to  add,  somewhat  further  above  all 
comprehension  now,  is  intimated  as  their  final  portion  and  estate, 
when  the  Mediatorial  Kingdom,  in  its  perfect  glory,  shall  be 
delivered  to  the  Father  on  the  Lamb’s  Book  of  Life. 

5.  It  is  to  the  particular  matters  which  have  now  been  stated 
very  generally  in  their  great  relations  to  each  other,  to  Christ, 
and  to  us  ;  that  our  attention  is  to  be  directed  in  a  special  man¬ 
ner.  What  we  ought  to  desire  above  all,  is  to  understand  with 
perfect  clearness  this  mighty  working  of  God  within  us  ;  to  re¬ 
alize  in  our  own  souls  every  step  of  this  progress  as  it  is  devel¬ 
oped,  from  our  utter  impotence  in  sin  and  misery,  through  divine 
grace,  to  glory  beyond  utterance.  At  every  step,  every  error  is 
capable  of  immediate  detection  ;  for  I  appeal  exclusively  to  the 
word  of  God,  and  confess  my  ignorance  as  soon  as  that  is  silent. 
It  is  to  the  conscious  experience  of  each  particular  soul,  that  I 
continually  address  myself,  from  the  depths  of  a  soul  that  has 
passed  along  all  the  way  it  attempts  to  disclose  ;  except  that  it 
perceives  there  is  a  height  it  has  not  reached,  and  sighs  for  the 
sublime  fruition  of  it.  There  are  millions  which  cannot  be  num¬ 
bered,  who  have  found  victory  and  peace,  through  union  and 
communion  with  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  Ho  one  ever  found  vic¬ 
tory  or  peace  by  rejecting  him.  How  that  mystical  union  and 
communion  are  to  be  established  between  that  Saviour  and  our 
souls,  is  more  distinctly  explained  to  us  by  God,  than  any  truth 
relatively  a  thousandth  part  as  important  to  any  other  science, 
ever  was  explained.  And  the  power  through  which  we  realize 
these  things,  even  the  power  of  God,  does  not  admit  of  being  re¬ 
duced  to  a  comparison  with  all  other  powers  combined.  How 
then  are  we  to  account  for  its  apparent  inefficacy  P  Therein  lies 


CHAP.  VI.]  UNION  AND  COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST.  121 

one  of  those  overwhelming  demonstrations,  which  are  so  deeply 
imbedded  in  the  very  structure  of  the  Gospel.  The  very  first 
articulate  utterance  of  salvation  was  coupled  with  the  dreadful 
sentence — I  will  put  enmity  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed  :  and 
the  very  last  closed  with  the  not  less  dreadful  sentence — God 
shall  take  away  his  part  out  of  the  Book  of  Life,  and  out  of  the 
Holy  City,  and  from  the  things  which  are  written  in  this  book.1 
The  shortcoming  of  man  and  the  special  grace  of  God  united — 
mean  life  :  severed — the  result  is  death.  We  forget  that  we  are 
condemned  already — and  that  the  whole  question  is,  of  the  pos¬ 
sibility  of  deliverance,  while  we  await  the  final  sentence. 

1  Gen.,  iii.  15 ;  Rev.,  xxii.  19. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


EFFECTUAL  CALLING:  WITH  THE  MANNER  OF  ITS  OCCURRENCE. 

I.  1.  Effectual  Calling:  its  Significance,  and  Relations. — 2.  Nature  of  the  Difficulties 
which  embarrass  its  Treatment. — 3.  Our  Natural  Ability  to  Good :  wholly  nuga¬ 
tory  for  Salvation. — 4.  Free  "Will :  its  Nature  and  Limitation  in  all  Beings. — 5. 
The  Free  Will  of  Adam,  before  his  Fall :  of  all  men  since  the  Fall :  utterly  impo¬ 
tent  to  our  Recovery. — II.  1.  The  Gfospel  Call,  and  its  Result,  with  Natural  Ability 
and  Free  Will  to  help. — 2.  The  Work  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  in  our  Effectual  Calling. 
— 3.  Its  Recognition,  in  its  Divine  Work,  of  Man’s  actual  Condition:  Terms  of  the 
Problem. — 4.  Detailed  Statement: — (a)  A  Work  of  Infinite  Grace  and  Almighty 
Power : — (b)  Caused  by  God’s  free  and  special  Love : — (c)  Relation  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  to  the  Method  of  our  Effectual  Calling: — (d)  Agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost: 
— (e)  Means  used  by  him: — (/)  Effects  upon  our  Understanding: — (<j)  Upon  our 
Will : — ( h )  Upon  our  Heart : — (i)  Upon  our  Conscience : — (f)  Result  upon  our  pres¬ 
ent,  and  endless  State : — (Jc)  Effectual  Calling  thus  considered. — III.  1.  A  second 
Analysis  from  the  point  of  view  thus  reached. — 2.  Demonstration  that  the  Root 
and  Substance  of  our  Effectual  Calling  are  Divine  and  Gracious. — 3.  Detailed 
Statement  of  what  is  required  of  us. — 4.  Relations  of  Natural  and  Regenerate 
States  of  the  Soul  to  each  other :  Obligations  resulting  therefrom. — 5.  Inefficac}r 
of  our  Endeavours :  Detail  of  the  Spirit’s  Work  within  us. — 6.  Efficacy  of  this 
Divine  Work — without  Violence  to  our  Nature. 

I. — 1.  Man,  in  tlie  state  in  which  he  was  created,  a  personal 
spirit  in  the  image  of  God,  bore  the  divine  likeness  both  in  that 
the  faculties  of  the  soul  were  shadows  of  divine  attributes,  and 
in  that  the  tendencies  of  his  soul  were  towards  all  that  God  ap¬ 
proved.  The  one  God  manifests  himself  to  us  in  as  many  as¬ 
pects  and  ways  as  our  limited  nature  can  comprehend  ;  and  we 
express  our  sense  of  God  himself  considered  in  these  ways  and 
aspects,  by  ascribing  such  and  such  Attributes  to  him  ;  as,  in¬ 
tellect,  will,  power,  and  the  like.  And  to  aid  our  weakness  still 
further,  we  put  into  classes  such  of  these  Attributes  as  appear 
to  us  to  he  analogous  to  each  other,  or  to  be  founded  on  some 
clear  distinction  ;  as  Primary,  Essential,  and  the  like.  In  like 
manner,  if  we  would  consider  this  finite  image  of  God,  our  own 
spirit,  in  its  absolute  oneness  and  simplicity;  and  consider  all  its 
faculties  as  only  so  many  manifestations  of  its  own  essence  ;  and 


EFFECTUAL  CALLING. 


123 


CHAP.  VII.] 

then  classify  those  faculties  according  to  the  analogies  and  dis¬ 
tinctions  which  we  observe  amongst  them  :  we  would  have  the 
word  of  God  on  one  side,  and  our  own  consciousness  on  the  other, 
and  the  divine  nature  before  our  face,  in  building  up  to  perfec¬ 
tion  the  true  science  of  our  own  being.  At  the  first  step  we  ob¬ 
serve  how  such  a  being  must  perceive  in  God  the  sum  of  all  truth 
and  all  goodness,  and  must  cleave  to  him  with  all  the  fervour  of 
its  pure  nature.  At  the  next  step  we  perceive  the  peril  of  such 
a  being  from  the  fallibility  which  is  inherent  in  its  very  nature  as 
created — as  dependent,  and  as  finite.  And  at  the  third  step  we 
perceive,  that  having  fallen,  its  posture  with  reference  to  God  is 
wholly  changed  ;  and  that  in  proportion  as  it  has,  by  that  fall, 
lost  the  image  of  God,  so  will  it  cease  to  cleave  unto  God,  or  be¬ 
come  indifferent  to  God,  or  become  wholly  averse  to  God.  And 
at  the  fourth  step  we  perceive  that  the  divine  restoration,  through 
grace,  of  this  fallen  creature  now  wholly  averse  to  God,  must 
needs  be  the  result,  not  of  its  spontaneous  endeavours  after  God, 
but  of  God's  supernatural  working  upon  it.  It  is  this  wonderful 
working  whereby  men  are  called  from  a  state  of  sin  to  a  gracious 
and  glorious  communion  with  God,  which  I  intend  by  the  phrase, 
Effectual  Calling.  For  above  all  other  distinctions  in  the  human 
race,  the  most  effectual  one  is  that  which  separates  it  into  those 
who  love  God,  and  those  who  do  not :  and  of  the  former  we  are 
plainly  told  that  all  things  work  together  for  their  good.  And 
then  it  is  added,  that  their  love  for  God  is  the  result  of  their 
having  been  called  according  to  his  purpose  ;  a  calling  directly 
connected,  on  one  hand,  with  their  predestination  to  be  con¬ 
formed  to  the  image  of  his  Son,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  with 
their  own  justification  and  glorification.  Results — like  all  others 
involved  in  divine  grace — which  flow  from  the  utter  impossibility 
of  separating  the  elect  of  God,  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is 
in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.1 

2.  If  every  member  of  the  human  family  was  to  be  restored 
to  God  and  saved,  the  treatment  of  a  question  of  this  sort  would 
be  extremely  brief  and  simple  ;  if  indeed,  in  that  case,  all  treat¬ 
ment  of  it  was  not  useless.  Or  if  those  who  will  be  saved  and 
those  who  will  be  lost,  were  totally  separated  from  each  other 
here  on  earth,  or  were  capable  of  being  unmistakeably  distin¬ 
guished  from  each  other  while  all  are  living  together  in  sin;  such 

1  Rom.,  viii.  28-39. 


124  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IT. 

an  aspect  might  easily  be  given  to  the  subject,  as  would  silence 
the  ordinary  cavils  of  impenitent  men.  Whatever  real  difficul¬ 
ties  embarrass  the  subject,  arise  not  from  the  nature  of  this,  or 
any  other  special  truth;  but  from  the  absolute  nature  of  the  case, 
in  applying  the  saving  grace  of  God  to  the  mixed  and  proba¬ 
tionary  condition  of  fallen  men,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent 
that  grace  from  being  absolutely  fruitless  on  one  side,  and  from 
seeming  to  our  weak  faculties  to  be  merely  capricious  on  the 
other.  And  these  difficulties  are  augmented  by  our  proneness  to 
treat  with  tenderness,  if  not  with  a  kind  of  reverence,  cavils 
which  we  accept  as  honest  doubts  of  sincere  enquirers,  for  whose 
satisfaction  we  would  allay  the  mystery  of  godliness  ;  while  God 
in  his  blessed  word  constantly  repels  them  as  mere  refuges  of  lies, 
fatal  to  the  souls  of  men,  and  insulting  to  the  majesty  of  God. 
God  never  permits  us  to  forget  that  the  real  posture  of  the  ques¬ 
tion  is  such,  that  nothing  but  sovereign  and  special  grace  can  do 
us  any  good.  Nay,  if  we  were  to  judge  of  ourselves  merely  by 
the  manner  in  which  we  have  treated  this  very  aspect  of  it, 
namely,  God’s  calls  to  us  to  repent  and  believe  the  Gospel ;  we 
could  say  no  less  than  that  we  must  be  lost,  without  some  most 
effectual  interposition  of  God.  And  this  is  merely  admitting 
that  to  be  true  of  our  own  soul,  which  the  Scriptures  teach  us  is 
true  of  every  soul  ;  a  truth  without  which  no  soul  can  be  saved 
at  all.  It  is  the  efficacy  of  that  truth  which  I  desire  to  ex¬ 
hibit  now. 

3.  We  possess,  even  in  our  fallen  state,  ability  to  perceive 
and  to  conform  to  those  natural  and  temporal  obligations,  which 
we  owe  as  natural  and  moral  creatures  to  ourselves  and  others 
and  the  right  discharge  of  duties  of  that  description,  draws  after 
it  the  greatest  natural  and  temporal  blessings — as  the  right  un¬ 
derstanding  of  them  involves  some  of  the  most  important  parts 
of  human  knowledge.  I  have  constantly  asserted  the  enduring 
force  of  that  natural  morality  which  appertains  to  our  very  nature 
as  moral  beings,  until  we  are  finally  sentenced  and  shut  up  in 
hell ;  and  to  the  irrevocable  permanence  of  all  those  great  prin¬ 
ciples  and  truths,  which  belonged  to  our  primeval  condition  as 
really  as  our  very  essence  did.  It  is  the  culture,  the  love,  and 
the  practice  of  these  things,  which  are  the  chief  ornament  and 
glory  of  man  considered  merely  as  a  creature  of  God  :  and  the 

1  Rom.,  ii.  13-15. 


CHAP.  VII.]  EFFECTUAL  CALLING.  125 

height  to  which  he  can  still  rise  thereby,  is  the  noblest  monument 
and  proof  of  the  sublime  estate  he  once  enjoyed.  But  the  mo¬ 
ment  we  pass  out  of  natural  and  temporal  things — the  moment 
we  enter  the  domain  of  unseen,  spiritual,  and  eternal  things — 
then  such  knowledge  as  nature  and  reason  afford  us  as  the 
ground  of  religious  duty,  is  wholly  insufficient ;  and  all  the  re¬ 
sources  of  nature  and  reason  are  wholly  nugatory.  We  have 
passed  into  a  region  above  our  strength  as  depraved  creatures  : 
we  are  seeking,  as  sinners,  to  know  and  to  do,  what  was  once 
possible  to  us  as  creatures  in  a  higher  estate — hut  never  was  pos¬ 
sible  to  us  as  sinful  creatures  in  any  estate  at  all.  If  we  never 
come  to  the  knowlege  of  the  Saviour  of  sinners  and  the  obliga¬ 
tions  of  Revealed  Religion,  we  never  come  to  the  bare  possibility 
of  being  saved  :  because  as  mere  creatures  there  is  no  longer  a 
conceivable  way  of  being  saved,  for  us  ;  and  the  only  way  possi¬ 
ble  for  us  as  sinful  creatures,  is  unknown  to  us.  And  a  step  far¬ 
ther,  after  we  have  come  to  the  mere  knowledge  of  the  Saviour,  and 
of  the  obligations  of  RevealedReligion,  and  the  conditions  of  salva¬ 
tion  for  us  as  sinners;  we  find  at  every  endeavour  that  something 
far  beyond  this  is  needful;  for  our  carnal  mind  is  not  only  enmity 
against  God,  but  it  is  not  subject  to  his  law,  neither  indeed  can  be.1 
These  are  not  conjectures:  they  are  ultimate  truths.  We  speak  of 
a  divine  and  effectual  call  to  salvation  ;  and  we  begin  by  render¬ 
ing  salvation  impossible  without  the  revealed  knowledge  of  Jesus 
Christ :  and  impossible  with  that  knowledge,  merely  of  itself. 
Ultimate  truths,  I  repeat :  asserted  ten  thousand  times  in  the 
word  of  God,  attested  by  the  universal  experience  of  the  human 
race,  and  perfectly  explicable  at  the  bar  of  reason  and  con¬ 
science. 

4.  In  such  a  case  as  this,  it  is  idle  to  talk  about  free  will. 
The  free  will  of  the  fallen  angels  did  not  keep  them  in  heaven  ; 
nor  has  it  ever  brought  one  of  them  out  of  hell.  The  free  will 
of  Adam  did  not  prevent  him  from  losing  his  estate  of  perfec¬ 
tion — nor  has  a  single  one  of  his  countless  descendants  gained  a 
solitary  point  towards  the  recovery  of  that  estate,  by  means  of 
his  free  will.  Nor  is  there  a  being  in  the  universe  who — if  he 
knew  what  was  meant — would  believe  a  devil  or  a  sinner,  if  he 
should  say  he  had  changed  his  nature  by  an  act  of  his  will ;  any 
more  than  he  would  believe  an  Ethiopian  who  should  say  he  had 

1  Rom.,  viii.  L 


126  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

made  himself  white  by  an  act  of  his  will.  Now  if  any  one  sees 
fit  to  assert  that  if  this  be  so,  moral  freedom  is  at  an  end,  and 
sin  and  holiness,  and  reward  and  punishment  are  idle  words  ; 
which  in  effect  is  continually  asserted  ;  the  answer  is  precise  and 
decisive.  First,  as  to  the  fact — the  cavil  is  merely  absurd.  For 
every  human  being  has  in  his  own  consciousness,  the  proof  and 
conviction  of  both  facts  which  are  alleged  to  be  contradictory, 
namely,  his  moral  freedom  and  his  moral  impotence  :  and  the 
universe  is  full  of  one  overwhelming  demonstration,  that  its  moral 
ruler  is  the  author  of  both  these  convictions  and  facts  in  the  soul 
of  every  sinner  of  the  human  race.  And  secondly,  as  to  the 
theory — the  cavil  is  purely  idle  and  self-contradictory.  For  no 
being  exists,  or  can  be  conceived  to  exist,  with  any  such  free  will 
as  the  theory  supposes.  It  is  impious  to  imagine  that  God's 
Free  Will  is  competent  to  counsel,  or  determine,  or  decree,  or 
execute,  or  design,  any  thing  contrary  to  the  sum  of  his  own  per¬ 
fections.  It  is  absurd  to  say  that  Satan  has  any  freedom  of  will 
to  any  thing  good.  It  is  inconceivable  that  any  will  in  any  being, 
any  more  than  any  other  faculty,  or  attribute,  or  power,  should 
be  of  that  kind,  that  it  will  not  enter  into  the  sum  of  all  the 
forces  which  make  up  the  particular  nature,  of  which  it  is  a  por¬ 
tion  ;  and  that  it  refuses  to  incur  whatever  is  inherent  in  the 
essence  of  the  nature,  of  which  it  is  one  element. 

5.  Man,  therefore,  when  he  was  perfect  but  fallible,  possessed 
a  form  of  free  will  answerable  to  that  peculiar  form  of  moral  ex¬ 
istence  ;  and  was  competent,  it  may  be  possible  and  is  commonly 
alleged,  to  direct  spontaneously  his  free  actions,  to  good  or  evil  ; 
subject,  however,  if  strictly  tried,  to  the  certainty  of  final  lapse  ; 
and  subject,  moreover,  to  the  perpetual  necessity  of  special  divine 
aid,  founded  in  the  intimate  nature  of  every  dependent  exist¬ 
ence  ;  both  of  which  conditions  I  have  discussed  elsewhere.  But 
the  will  of  the  unfallen  man,  like  every  other  will,  in  every  being, 
was  one  of  the  attributes,  faculties,  powers  of  the  essence  ;  and 
as  such,  was  necessarily  affected  by  them,  and  in  turn  necessarily 
affected  them.  There  was  but  one  Adam,  and  he  had  but  one 
nature,  but  one  person,  no  matter  in  how  many  aspects  he  may 
present  himself.  His  will,  therefore,  was  subject  to  the  control 
of  his  intellect  and  reason,  enlightened  by  knowledge,  guided  by 
conscience,  agitated  by  passions,  determined  by  motives  ;  its 
very  freedom,  perfect  of  its  kind,  but  yet  restricted  and  limited 


EFFECTUAL  CALLING. 


127 


CIIAP.  VII.] 

after  its  kind,  that  is  by  the  essence  of  the  nature  to  which  it 
appertained.  Now  if  this  essence  changes,  the  will  must  change 
too  ;  because,  otherwise,  the  will  is  not  of  the  essence,  and  in 
that  case  man  would  have  no  will ;  and,  therefore,  to  say  that 
the  will  of  man  is  not  depraved  by  the  fall,  as  is  constantly  said, 
is  the  same  as  saying,  either  that  man  has  no  nature  indepen¬ 
dent  of  mere  acts,  or  that  his  nature  is  not  depraved.  But  if  we 
have  no  nature  independently  of  our  acts,  it  is  more  silly  to  talk 
about  saving  a  soul,  than  to  talk  about  saving  an  idea  ;  and  if 
our  nature  is  not  depraved,  salvation  from  sin  is  mere  folly  when 
proposed  to  such  as  have  no  sin.  In  his  fallen  state,  therefore, 
man  possesses  his  original  nature,  but  in  a  form  fatally  changed  : 
for  its  essence  is  depraved,  and  by  consequence,  all  its  attributes, 
powers,  and  faculties  are  depraved.  He  still  has  a  will,  and  that 
will  still  has  freedom  :  but  it  is  a  will  utterly  depraved — and  a 
freedom  which  attaches  to  and  is  limited  by  the  will  thus  de¬ 
praved.  His  free  will  is  subject  to  the  conditions  belonging  to 
all  the  other  powers  of  his  nature  ;  subject  to  the  influence  of 
all  those  powers  upon  it ;  and  subject  to  the  absolute  condition 
of  the  essence  of  the  nature.  Every  thing  is  depraved  together 
— essence,  nature,  faculties,  will,  freedom,  all  are  depraved  :  for 
all  make  up  one  personal  spirit,  and  he  is  depraved  :  or  if  he  is 
not,  he  certainly  has  no  need  of  a  Saviour,  and  such  enquiries  as 
these  are  frivolous.  But  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  any  such 
free  will  as  any  sinner  can  possess,  is  utterly  incompetent  to  that 
evangelical  obedience  which  the  Gospel  demands  ;  utterly  in¬ 
competent  to  the  working  of  any  such  change  in  our  nature  as 
the  Gospel  exacts.  Nor  does  the  Gospel  hesitate  to  assert,  and 
urge  upon  us  as  one  of  the  most  fundamental  truths  involved  in 
the  very  obedience  which  it  demands,  and  the  very  change  of 
nature  which  it  exacts  ;  our  utter  depravity,  and  by  consequence, 
our  utter  natural  impotence  to  all  that  is  evangelically  good. 
The  virtue  and  the  vice  which  philosophy  contemplates,  are  in 
their  nature,  their  motive,  their  sanction,  and  their  result,  im¬ 
measurably  lower  than  the  virtue  and  the  vice  which  Revealed 
Religion  contemplates.  And  Philosophy  herself  can  plainly  see, 
that  supernatural  knowledge,  directed  to  supernatural  results, 
must  provide  a  supernatural  agency  and  supernatural  means,  to 
work  in  as  well  as  to  work  for  a  fallen  nature,  of  which  the  fun¬ 
damental  necessity  is  its  own  new  creation.1 

1  John,  iii.  1-21. 


128  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

IT. — 1.  The  word  of  God,  in  perfect  recognition  of  the  original 
adaptedness  of  human  nature  to  the  service  and  enjoyment  of 
God,  and  of  its  present  susceptibility  in  its  fallen  condition,  to 
be  restored  to  the  lost  image  of  God  ;  furnishes  in  the  divine 
Revelation  it  contains,  the  perfect  knowledge  of  the  divine 
method  of  the  restoration  of  man.  This  knowledge  comes  to  us 
in  such  a  manner,  namely,  by  the  word  of  God,  as  to  give  to  its 
absolute  truth  the  highest  certainty  of  which  truth  is  capable  : 
and  it  comes  to  us  with  that  infinite  authority  of  God,  which  in¬ 
vests  it  with  an  uncontrollable  majesty  and  efficacy.  The  will 
of  God  is  made  known  to  us  :  that  will  which — whether  as  crea¬ 
tures  dependent  on  the  Creator,  or  as  sinners  dependent  on  the 
Saviour,  it  is  the  first  necessity,  the  first  interest,  the  first  duty 
of  man  to  obey.  In  the  whole  revealed  will  of  God,  nothing  is 
more  distinctly  stated,  than  that  God  is  not  willing  that  any 
should  perish,  but  is  willing  that  all  should  come  to  repentance  ; 
and  he  appeals  to  his  own  long-suffering  for  proof  of  what  he 
says.1  Nay,  seeing  that  he  hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which 
he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness,  by  that  man  whom  he 
hath  ordained  ;  whereof  he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men, 
in  that  he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead  :  he  has  added  the 
weight  of  his  infinite  authority  to  the  plea  of  his  boundless 
mercy,  and  now  commandeth  all  men  everywhere  to  repent.2  He 
assures  us  that  these  holy  Scriptures  are  able  to  make  us  wise 
unto  salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.3  He  de¬ 
clares  to  us,  that  this  Gospel  of  Christ  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  that  believetb.4  By  prophets  and  by 
apostles  alike,  he  has  proclaimed  to  every  generation  of  men, 
Behold  now  is  the  accepted  time:  Behold  now  is  the  day  of  salva¬ 
tion.5  And  by  Prophets  and  by  Apostles  alike,  the  fundamental 
principle  of  the  divine  administration  of  grace,  has  been  loudly 
and  continually  asserted  to  be,  that  whosoever  shall  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.6  And  now  what  is  the  re¬ 
sult  of  all  this  proclamation  of  divine  mercy — all  this  gospel  call 
to  men,  through  all  ages  P  Let  us  trace  the  whole  career  of 
grace  from  Adam’s  day  to  our  own — and  see  if  we  can  discern 
one  single  clear  instance  in  which,  throughout  all  generations, 
one  single  sinner  embraced  this  gospel  call,  in  his  own  strength, 

1  2  Pet.,  iii.  9.  2  Acts,  xvii.  30,  31.  3  2  Tim.,  iii.  15.  4  R0m.,  i.  16. 

5  Isa.,  xlix.  8;  2  Cor.,  vi.  2.  6  Joel,  ii.  32 ;  Acts,  ii.  21 ;  Rom.,  x.  13. 


CHAP.  VTI.J 


EFFECTUAL  CALLING. 


129 


and  without  God’s  special  grace  added  to  the  gospel  call.  Alas  ! 
no.  All  our  natural  ability,  upon  which  we  are  so  prone  to  rely; 
all  our  boasted  free  will,  about  which  we  are  so  sensitive  ;  yea, 
all  divine  knowledge  merely  as  such  :  however  real  may  be  our 
possession  of  these  inestimable  gifts  of  God — however  great  may 
be  the  obligation  resting  on  us  to  bless  God  for  them,  and  to  use 
them  all  aright — however  they  may  all  enter  and  be  taken  for 
granted  in  our  Effectual  Calling :  beyond  a  doubt  neither  of 
them,  nor  yet  all  of  them,  can  deliver  us  from  the  bondage  of 
corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 
Shall  God,  then,  be  robbed  of  the  glory  of  his  grace  P  Shall  his 
elect  be  left  to  perish  P  Or  will  our  stupid  and  perverse  hearts 
consent  that  God  may  make  one  more  effort  ? 

2.  I  have  stated  that  Philosophy  herself  could  plainly  see, 
that  in  a  case  like  this,  supernatural  agency  and  means  w7ere 
as  necessary  to  be  added  to  natural  knowledge,  as  that  was  to  be 
added  to  our  natural  ability.  And  it  has  been  clearly  and  re¬ 
peatedly  shown  that  the  Scriptures  revealed  to  us  an  Infinite 
Agent  as  the  author  of  the  whole  work  of  restoration  in  us  ;  and 
that  they  disclose  both  the  means  and  the  manner  of  their  use 
by  this  divine  Agent,  and  the  nature  of  their  effects  on  us,  when 
so  used  by  him.  This  Infinite  Agent,  as  has  been  repeatedly 
shown,  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  third  Person  in  the  adorable 
Trinity  ;  whose  special  work  it  is  to  apply  to  us  the  benefits  of 
the  Redemption  purchased  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  In  a  previous 
chapter  I  have  endeavoured  to  explain  what  is  meant  by  the 
common  operations  of  the  Spirit.  Besides  those  there  are  other 
operations  of  a  peculiar  kind  which  the  Scriptures  ascribe  to  the 
Spirit.  He  is  represented  to  be  author  of  much  that  we  habitu¬ 
ally  ascribe  to  the  natural  endowments  of  men.  A  few  out  of 
innumerable  examples  are,  the  inconceivable  strength  and  daunt¬ 
less  courage  bestowed  on  Samson  i1  the  exceeding  skill  in  the 
arts  given  to  Bezaleel  :2  and  the  high  capacity  for  government 
with  which  Saul  was  temporarily  replenished.3  Moreover,  he  is 
the  author  of  those  wonderful  gifts  which  the  Scriptures  call 
spiritual ,  alike  from  their  own  nature,  and  from  their  peculiar 
susceptibility  of  being  made  means  of  edification  in  divine  things; 
but  which,  though  ordinarily  bestowed  only  on  saints,  seem 
nevertheless  to  have  been  bestowed  even  on  reprobates.  Amongst 

1  Judges,  xiv.  6.  2  Exod.,  xxxi.  3.  3  1  Sam.,  xi.  6. 

VOL.  II.  9 


130  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

these  the  power  of  healing,  of  tongues,  of  prophesying,  and  of 
miracles,  are  to  be  classed  ;  concerning  which,  let  them  exist 
where  they  may,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  their  being  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.1  But  the  saving  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  differ¬ 
ent  from  all  the  foregoing  operations  ;  and  is  that  true,  holy, 
quickening,  and  by  consequence  perpetual  and  effectual  opera¬ 
tion  of  his,  whereby  the  vital  influence  of  saving  grace,  from 
Christ  the  head,  is  communicated  to  every  member  of  Christ's 
mystical  body.2  In  this  sense  the  world  neither  knows  nor  re¬ 
ceives  the  Spirit  of  truth  :  but  the  children  of  God  know  him, 
for  he  dwells  with  and  in  them.3  For  grace  and  peace  are  mul¬ 
tiplied  unto  all  who  are  elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of 
God  the  Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obe¬ 
dience  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.4  And  now, 
as  in  the  preceding  instance,  let  us  search  diligently  and  see  if 
we  can  find,  from  the  beginning  of  time  until  now,  a  solitary 
case  of  clear  restoration  to  God,  produced  otherwise  than  by  the 
Effectual  Call  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  or  a  solitary  case  of  contin¬ 
ued  alienation  from  God,  under  that  divine  and  life-giving  call. 
We  may  indeed  pronounce  the  whole  matter  absurd  ;  declare  it 
to  be  impossible  in  itself  and  dishonouring  to  God  ;  and  revile 
all  earnest  Christians  as  hypocritical,  self-deceived,  or  fanatical. 
This  is  done  continually,  and  has  been  done  always  :  nor  will  I 
stop  to  urge  how  remarkable  a  confirmation  of  this  glorious  part 
of  God's  dealings  with  men,  is  afforded  by  this  fatal  judgment 
of  them  that  are  lost,  that  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  is 
foolishness,  or  worse.5  What  I  urge  is,  that  according  to  all  the 
knowledge  in  possession  of  the  human  race,  the  soul  of  every 
human  being  is  risked  for  eternity,  upon  the  reality  or  the 
fallacy  of  the  matter  here  put  in  issue  :  and  therefore  it 
surely  becomes  every  one  to  be  thoroughly  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind. 

3.  Our  nature,  though  depraved,  is  still  the  same  nature  that 
was  originally  bestowed  on  man — the  same  that  in  its  renewed 
state  is  united  to  Christ— the  same  that  in  its  glorified  estate 
will  be  perfectly  blessed  in  the  full  fruition  of  God  forever.  Duty, 
and  the  inward  sense  of  it,  as  really  appertain  to  man  in  his 
fallen,  and  in  his  renewed,  as  in  his  primeval  state  ;  and  every 

3  1  Cor.,  xii.  1,  4,  31;  xiv.  1,  37.  2  John,  vi.  51,  57,  63. 

4  1  Pet.,  L  2.  5i  Cor.,  i.  18. 


3  John,  xiv.  17. 


EFFECTUAL  CALLING. 


131 


CHAP.  VII.] 

attribute,  power,  and  faculty  which  must  exist  before  we  can 
predicate  those  things  of  man,  also  still  appertain  to  his  nature. 
In  passing  from  an  estate  of  sin  and  misery  into  an  estate  of 
union  and  communion  with  Christ,  and  thereby  of  salvation  ;  the 
actual  condition  of  the  nature  thus  changed  must  be  taken  fully 
into  account,  in  whatever  special  and  supernatural  aid  may  be 
bestowed  on  man,  and  in  whatever  supernatural  work  may  be 
wrought  in  him.  His  conscience,  his  understanding,  and  his 
will,  are  absolutely  such  in  his  fallen  state,  as  his  fallen  nature 
is  ;  and  the  divine  grace  which  would  deal  with  that  fallen  na¬ 
ture,  must  deal  with  these  fundamental  elements  of  it,  in  com¬ 
plete  recognition  of  their  own  depraved  condition.  And  thus  in 
all  the  process  of  our  restoration  to  God  through  our  Effectual 
Calling  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  these  two  things  are  to  be  perpetually 
considered  ;  namely,  the  effectual  work  of  divine  grace,  and  the 
peculiar  condition  of  our  fallen  nature.  The  Holy  Ghost,  and 
fallen  man,  and  the  divine  vocation  which  one  gives  and  the  other 
receives  :  a  state  of  sin  and  misery,  and  a  state  of  restoration  to 
God  through  Christ,  and  the  transition  from  the  former  to  the 
latter  state  :  these  are  the  elements  of  this  great  problem.  To 
a  true  spiritual  insight,  long  familiar  with  divine  things,  and  long 
observant  of  the  movement  of  our  inner  life,  these  are  simple, 
elemental  truths.  As  such,  our  divine  Redeemer  taught  them 
to  Nicodemus.1  Yet  that  simple-hearted  enquirer  after  truth, 
though  he  was  a  ruler  amongst  God’s  ancient  people,  and  after 
the  straitest  sect  of  their  religion  ;  marvelled  as  he  heard  them. 
And  we,  in  estimating  so  great  a  matter  in  the  double  aspect 
which  it  constantly  presents,  ought  to  remember  that  it  is  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus  that  all  satisfying  knowledge  is  to  be  obtained.  For 
the  main  embarrassments  arise,  not  merely  from  any  separate 
view  either  of  God  or  of  ourself,  but  from  the  relation  between 
the  two.  So  if  we  virtually  exclude  J esus,  the  chief  term  in  any 
possible  solution,  how  are  we  to  obtain  satisfying  knowledge  of 
the  way  of  life,  and  how  are  we  to  walk  in  it  ;  when  he  is  omitted 
who  is  himself,  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  ?2 

4.  Whoever  will  attentively  consider  what  has  been  advanced, 
and  the  grounds  upon  which  the  conclusions  reached  are  based, 
will  probably  agree  that  the  whole  subject  is  capable  of  being 
stated  in  a  simple,  precise,  and  perfectly  intelligible  way.  If  so, 

1  John,  iii.  12.  3  John,  xiv.  6. 


132  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

tlien  we  can  see  clearly,  and  certainly,  what  this  great  and  effec¬ 
tual  call  of  God  is ;  what  are  the  effects  which  it  produces,  the 
means  by  which  those  effects  are  brought  about,  and  the  manner 
in  which  they  occur  and  are  manifested.  It  is  this  which  I  will 
now  attempt. 

(a)  Effectual  Calling  is  a  work  of  God's  infinite  grace,  execu¬ 
ted  by  his  Almighty  power.  It  is  more  than  a  divine  act ;  it  is 
a  continued  series  of  divine  operations,  and  therefore  may  well 
be  called  a  divine  work.  We  are  wholly  unable  to  imagine  any 
reason  for  its  performance,  which  does  not  involve  the  grace  of 
God  as  its  chief  element  :  nor  is  there  known  to  man  any  power 
competent  to  its  execution  but  the  Almighty  power  of  God.  And 
all  this,  which  seems  to  human  reason  to  be  inevitable,  is  pre¬ 
cisely  asserted  in  the  word  of  God.1 

( b )  The  moving  and  original  cause  of  our  personal  salvation, 
and  so  of  our  effectual  calling  of  God,  is  not  at  all  nor  in  any  de¬ 
gree,  any  thing  in  us  :2  but  is  the  free  and  especial  love  of  God 
for  his  elect  :3  according  to  his  eternal  purpose  and  grace  in 
Jesus  Christ.4 

(c)  The  method  of  doing  this  is,  that  we  are  divinely  brought 
to  the  Father  through  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  alone  is  there 
any  access  to  the  Father  :5  and  learning  of  the  Father,  we  come 
to  Christ,  effectually  drawn  unto  him  by  the  Father  :6  and  so  we 
are  reconciled  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ.7 

( d )  In  all  this,  the  sole  efficient  Agent  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  the 
third  Person  in  the  adorable  Trinity  ;  by  whom  we  come  to  the 
Father  through  the  Son,  and  by  whom  we  are  drawn  to  the  Son 
by  the  Father  :  the  salvation  to  which  God  has  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  chosen  us,  being  made  ours  through  the  sanctification  of  the 
Spirit,  and  the  belief  of  the  truth — of  which  truth  the  Spirit  is 
the  author.8 

(e)  The  means  used  by  the  Spirit,  are  all  such  as  man  is  ca¬ 
pable  of  being  influenced  by,  for  good  :  but  especially  the  provi¬ 
dence  of  God,  the  ordinances  of  God,  and  very  particularly  the 
word  of  God,  whereby  we  are  called  to  the  obtaining  of  the 
glory  of  our  Lord  J esus  Christ.9 

(/)  In  this  divine  work  of  our  Effectual  Calling,  our  mind  is 

1  Eph.,  i.  18-20  ;  1  Thess.,  i.  8,  9.  2  Titus,  iii.  3-6.  3  Eph.,  ii.  4-10. 

*  2  Tim.,  ii.  9,  10 ;  Acts,  xiii.  48.  5  John,  xiv.  6.  e  j0hn,  vi.  44,  45. 

7  2  Cor.,  v.  20.  8  2  Thess.,  ii.  13 ;  2  Cor.,  iii.  3,  6.  9  2  Thess.,  ii.  14 ;  John,  vi.  63. 


EFFECTUAL  CALLING. 


133 


CHAP.  VII.] 

spiritually  and  savingly  enlightened  ;  our  eyes  being  opened,  and 
we  being  turned  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  Satan  unto 
God,  receiving  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance  among 
them  which  are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  Christ.1 

((/)  In  like  manner  our  will  is  renewed,  and  determined  by 
God's  Almighty  power  to  that  which  is  good  ;  so  that  we  most 
freely  and  joyfully  embrace  Christ  as  he  is  offered  to  us  in  the 
Gospel  ;  God  working  in  us,  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good 
pleasure.2 

(h)  A  new  heart  is  given  to  us  and  a  new  spirit  is  put  within 
us  by  God  :  and  he  takes  away  the  stony  heart  out  of  our  flesh, 
and  gives  us  a  heart  of  flesh  :3  for  it  is  with  the  heart  that  man 
believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is 
made  unto  salvation.4 

(i)  The  conscience  is  awakened,  quickened,  enlightened,  and 
sanctified  ;  and  we  are  made  able  and  willing  to  answer  the 
divine  call,  and  to  accept  and  embrace  the  grace  offered  and  con¬ 
veyed  through  Jesus  Christ.5 

(/)  As  the  result,  fallen  men  are  completely  extricated  from 
their  natural  estate  of  sin  and  misery,  are  translated  into  an  es¬ 
tate  of  grace  and  salvation,  are  led  on  from  one  degree  of  grace 
and  strength  to  another,  are  kept  by  the  mighty  power  of  God 
through  faith  unto  salvation,  and  finally  receive  the  end  of  their 
faith  in  the  salvation  of  their  souls.6 

(/r)  Contemplating  our  Effectual  Calling  in  this  manner,  we 
behold  its  nature  and  its  progress,  as  an  infinite  reality  divinely 
and  graciously  wrought  out  upon  and  within  our  fallen  nature, 
according  to  its  actual  condition,  powers  and  susceptibility.  In 
this  general  survey  is  involved  implicitly  or  explicitly  the  greater 
part,  perhaps  the  whole  of  the  knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation. 
Amongst  other  things  directly  involved,  and  not  sufficiently  de¬ 
veloped  in  a  mere  outline,  are  those  immense  topics  commonly 
expressed  by  the  words,  Regeneration,  Justification,  Adoption, 
and  Sanctification  ;  the  discussion  of  which  will  follow  in  their 
order. 

III. — 1.  If  we  will  reflect  on  the  successive  propositions 
which  have  just  been  stated — every  one  of  which  seem  to  be 

1  Acts,  xxvi.  18  ;  1  Cor.,  ii.  10,  11.  2  Phil.,  ii.  13;  Deut.,  xxx.  6. 

3  Ezekiel,  xxxvi.  26.  <  Rom.,  x.  10. 

5  Rom.,  viii.  2 ;  Eph.,  ii.  1-7.  s  1  Peter,  i.  1-9  ;  Eph.,  ii.  passim. 


134  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

sustained  by  the  express  testimony  of  God,  and  the  whole  united 
to  form  a  perfectly  coherent  system  ;  we  shall  perceive  not  only, 
that  the  whole  way  of  our  salvation  subjectively  considered,  is 
set  before  us,  as  I  have  already  intimated  ;  but  that  various  acts 
on  the  part  of  man,  many  others  on  the  part  of  God,  and  not  a 
few  which  imply  both  the  efficiency  of  God  and  the  concurrence 
of  man,  are  plainly  stated  or  necessarily  suggested  to  us.  Con¬ 
sidered  under  this  point  of  view,  let  us  attempt  another  analysis 
of  the  immense  subject. 

2.  Man  in  his  fallen  state  could  not  possibly  know,  except  by 
a  divine  Revelation,  that  God  was  willing  to  restore  him  to  his 
favour.  So  far  as  he  retained  the  knowledge,  or  the  sense  of  his 
original  estate,  and  so  far  as  he  had  proofs  of  the  goodness  and 
mercy  of  God  to  him  in  his  fallen  estate  ;  he  had  grounds  of 
hope,  possibly  of  expectation,  that  God  would  pity  and  help  him. 
But  how  it  could  be  done — and  what  it  would  result  in — if  God 
had  remained  silent,  far  exceeded  man's  capacity  even  to  con¬ 
jecture.  That  it  would  occur  by  means  of  the  incarnation  and 
sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  that  its  result  would  be  the  per¬ 
fect  blessedness  of  man,  in  the  complete  enjoyment  of  God  to  all 
eternity  ;  is  incapable  of  belief  except  upon  the  authority  of 
God  himself — and  even  then  only  as  the  most  stupendous  miracle 
of  divine  love.  And  so  deeply  seated  is  all  this,  that  even  after 
all  has  been  divinely  exhibited  to  man,  unbelief  is  the  special 
form  of  his  most  complete  rejection  of  God  ;  and  at  its  founda¬ 
tion,  that  unbelief  rests  on  our  inward  denial  either  of  the  ability 
or  the  willingness  of  Christ  to  save  us.  Lying  thus  in  total  dark¬ 
ness  concerning  divine  grace,  God  is  pleased  to  reveal  his  pur¬ 
poses  of  infinite  mercy  to  us  :  lying  in  total  helplessness,  he  is 
pleased  to  make  those  purposes  efficacious  towards  us.  What 
can  we  know  or  do,  with  our  will,  our  understanding,  our  con¬ 
science  all  depraved — our  whole  nature  in  a  condition  at  once 
sinful  and  miserable — alike  ignorant  and  impotent  concerning 
any  restoration  to  God  P  Most  clearly,  the  whole  foundation  of 
every  thing  we  can  mean  by  a  divine  call  to  eternal  life,  lies 
wholly  out  of  our  reach  ;  completely  beyond  any  control  of  ours. 
It  rests  merely  and  absolutely  in  the  disposal  of  God.  In  its 
very  root,  it  is  divine  and  gracious  :  nor  is  there  so  much  as  a 
conceivable  possibility  that  it  could  be  otherwise. 

3.  Whatever  may  be  the  condition  of  fallen  men  considered 


CHAP.  VII.]  EFFECTUAL  CALLING.  135 

merely  as  creatures  of  God,  it  is  manifest  that  it  becomes  their 
immediate  duty  to  give  diligent  heed  to  the  Saviour  of  sinners 
as  soon  as  God  is  pleased  to  reveal  him  unto  them.  To  this  in¬ 
tent  is  that  warning  so  often  repeated  in  the  Scriptures,  He  that 
hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear ;  and  that  promise  made  in  so 
many  forms — Incline  your  ear,  and  come  unto  me  ;  hear,  and 
your  soul  shall  live  ;  and  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant 
with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of  David.1  And  if  the  mercies 
thus  pressed  on  us  are  withheld  from  others,  this  only  increases 
our  obligations  to  him  who  bestows  them,  and  our  guilt  if  we 
reject  them.  All  our  faculties  ought  to  be  devoted  to  whatever 
part  of  the  call  of  God  unto  our  souls,  he  is  pleased  to  vouchsafe 
unto  us  ;  and  our  attention — which  we  are  prone  to  avert  from 
such  subjects — ought  to  be  fixed  upon  them  with  the  deepest  en¬ 
gagedness.  And  this  conduct  on  our  part,  so  clearly  obligatory 
upon  us,  God  has  been  pleased  to  intimate  is  a  way  whereby  we 
may  hope  to  excite  right  desires  within  us,  and  to  preserve  and 
augment  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.2  And  thus  there  may 
arise  within  us,  a  conviction  of  the  greatness  of  our  sin  and  mis¬ 
ery,  and  of  the  truth  of  all  God's  testimony :  and  the  contem¬ 
plation  of  all  his  works  and  dealings,  of  all  his  infinite  goodness 
to  us,  and,  above  all,  of  his  unspeakable  grace  and  mercy  in  the 
salvation  provided  for  us — may  lead  us  to  repentance.3  More¬ 
over,  the  earnest  consideration  of  the  judgments  of  God  may 
serve  to  convict  us,  and  fill  us  with  anxiety  concerning  our  state 
here,  our  latter  end,  and  our  everlasting  condition.4 

4.  We  can  hardly  fail  to  observe  that,  although  no  state  of 
the  unrenewed  heart  can  be  any  inducement  to  God,  in  any 
proper  sense,  to  do  our  souls  good  ;  yet,  undoubtedly,  there  are 
certain  states  of  heart  which,  in  point  of  time,  are  proximate  to 
conversion;  and  there  are  other  states  which,  apparently,  are 
never  immediately  followed  by  conversion.  This  is  the  lowest 
statement  of  these  phenomena  which  can  be  made  ;  and  if  the 
immediate  object  now  was  to  discuss  them,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  make  a  much  higher  statement  of  them.  Because  there  is  a 
resemblance  which  may  become  extremely  close,  betweep  certain 
states  of  the  unrenewed  heart,  and  certain  analogous  states  of 
the  renewed  heart :  and  there  are  other  states  of  the  unrenewed 

1  Luke,  viii.  8  ;  Isa.,  lv.  3.  2  Acts,  xvi.  14 ;  Luke,  xxiv.  45. 

3  Ps.  xix.  2-5 ;  Acts,  xxiv.  II ;  Rom.,  ii.  4.  4  Acts,  xxiv.  25. 


186  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

heart,  utterly  remote  from  every  thing  found  in  the  renewed 
heart.  And  theoretically,  as  well  as  practically,  those  states  of 
the  unrenewed  heart  which  are  proximate  to  conversion,  are 
matters  of  the  very  highest  interest.  Considering  man  to  have 
been  created  in  the  image  of  God — to  he  still  susceptible  of 
restoration  to  that  lost  image — to  be  actually  restored  to  it  in 
his  Effectual  Calling— and  to  be  thus  restored  in  a  manner  which 
recognizes  and  respects  the  actual  condition  of  his  nature  ;  it  is 
not  easy  to  see  how  the  phenomena  to  which  I  have  alluded 
could  be  otherwise,  while  it  is  easy  to  see  in  them,  one  of  those 
immense  confirmations  of  the  way  of  life,  which  are  scattered  so 
thickly  along  its  divine  course.  Beyond  question,  the  efficacy  of 
any  outward  means  of  grace  addressed  to  a  free,  rational,  and 
moral  agent — must  have  relation  to  these  very  phenomena,  and 
to  their  bearing  upon  our  salvation;  and  so  it  is  one  of  the  three 
frreat  Offices  of  Christ  to  be  the  Teacher  of  men.  How  dili- 

O 

gently,  then,  ought  all  men  endeavour  to  cultivate  these  states 
of  soul  which  appear  to  have  any  tendency  towards  the  greatest 
of  all  good  ;  and,  in  like  manner,  strive  against  those  of  an  op¬ 
posite  character.  How  carefully  should  we  avoid  all  that  God 
has  forbidden,  and  perform  whatever  he  has  required  ;  which,  as 
to  outward  conduct  and  common  duties,  we  have  natural  ability 
to  do,  under  the  dilgent  use  of  the  means  of  grace,  especially 
when  helped  by  the  common  operations  of  the  divine  Spirit. 
Confessing  at  every  step  the  actual  condition  of  our  hearts,  and 
the  real  state  of  our  progress  ;  we  should  be  above  all  careful 
that  we  do  not  harden  our  hearts,  or  resist  or  grieve  the  Holy 
Ghost  ;  above  all,  diligent  in  the  use  of  the  word  of  God  which 
is  the  great  means  of  our  recovery.1  To  crown  all,  we  should  be 
instant  and  importunate  in  prayer  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
for  all  that  we  need  and  desire — and  especially  for  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  for  salvation  is  impossible  except  by  the  agency  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  prayer  is  at  once  the  very  breath  of  the  peni¬ 
tent  soul,  and  the  very  means  by  which  it  is  carried  towards 
its  new  birth,  and  sustained  in  its  new  life.  Six  times  has 
the  Saviour  asserted,  in  a  few  connected  sentences,  that  our 
heavenly  Father  will  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that 
ask  him.2 

5.  How  little  is  there  which  man  can  do,  that  is  not  embraced 

1  Jer.,  xxiii.  29.  2  Luke,  xi.  9-13 ;  Matt.,  vii.  7-12. 


CHAP.  VII.]  EFFECTUAL  CALLING.  137 

in  the  foregoing  summary  ?  Alas  !  how  few  are  there  who  at¬ 
tempt  so  much  !  Yet  how  plain  is  it,  that  until  the  Spirit 
actually  enters  our  hearts  with  his  saving  power,  all  that  I  have 
recounted,  comes  far  short  of  our  Effectual  Calling.  There  is 
that  which  God  alone  can  do  :  and  he  does  it.  His  Spirit  stands 
and  knocks  at  the  door  of  our  heart  :  he  arouses  our  conscience 
whose  sanctification  is  the  main  remedial  end  of  our  calling:  and 
begins  in  us,  effectually,  that  great  work  whose  fundamental  ex¬ 
pression  is,  that  we  do  not  choose  God,  but  he  chooses  us.1  And 
then  we  must  have  a  divine  illumination,  whereby  a  supernatural 
conviction  of  the  truth  revealed  by  God  is  produced  in  the  mind, 
and  a  spiritual  insight  and  understanding  of  it  is  shed  abroad  in 
the  soul.2  Moreover,  we  must  receive  this  truth  in  the  love  of  it 
and  in  the  power  of  it,  with  a  living  knowledge  adequate,  through 
the  motives  which  attend  it,  to  direct  our  actions  according  to 
the  commandments  of  God.  And,  to  crown  all,  we  must  have 
that  inward  desire  and  purpose  to  conform  all  our  thoughts  and 
actions  to  the  truth  of  God,  and  to  have  our  will  swallowed  up 
in  the  will  of  God,  in  the  power  of  which  we  freely  and  joyfully 
come  to  Christ  as  our  Saviour,  and  are  united  to  him  in  our 
Effectual  Calling.  That  all  this,  from  beginning  to  end,  is  based 
on  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  accompanied  by 
Repentance  toward  God — both  of  which  are  fruits  of  the  Spirit; 
need  not  he  insisted  on  here,  after  what  I  said  in  a  preceding 
chapter. 

6.  Impenitent  men  are  apt  to  profess  a  total  inability  to 
understand  how  these  operations  of  the  Holy  Ghost  can  occur, 
without  doing  practical  violence  to  our  nature  and  faculties  ; 
while  the  children  of  God  who  have  actually  incurred  these 
divine  operations,  are  apt  to  be  insensible  to  purely  theoretical 
difficulties,  which  they  know  to  be  illusive.  And  beyond  a  doubt, 
the  case  is  wholly  with  God  and  his  children.  For  arguing  d 
priori ,  what  can  be  theoretically  more  absurd,  than  to  question 
the  ability  of  God,  who  is  the  author  of  our  nature  and  its  facul¬ 
ties,  to  deal  with  us  according  to  that  nature  and  those  faculties, 
by  any  means,  to  any  end — the  sole  limitation  being  that  a  direct 
contradiction  shall  not  be  involved  in  the  terms  :  since  every 
thing  else  is  within  the  competence  of  God,  and  is  seen  to  be  so 
by  human  reason  P  And  arguing  d  posteriori ,  what  can  be 

1  Rom.,  iii.  20.  2  2  Cor.,  iv.  6. 


138  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

practically  more  absurd,  than  to  deny  on  theoretical  grounds  the 
possibility  of  actual  occurrences,  which  take  place  by  the  thou¬ 
sand,  in  the  form  denied  to  be  possible,  before  our  faces,  and 
which  have  existed  by  the  million  as  far  back  as  history  extends? 
And  yet  the  children  of  God  should  not  allow  themselves  for  a 
moment  to  forget,  that  by  nature  they  are  children  of  wrath  like 
all  others  ;  nor  will  any  renewed  soul  ever  utter  any  thing  in¬ 
consistent  with  that  ancient  exclamation  of  God's  servant,  0 
Lord,  thou  art  stronger  than  I,  and  hast  prevailed  !' 

1  Jer.,  xx.  7. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


REGENERATION :  ITS  NATURE,  AND  THE  MODE  OF  ITS  OCCURRENCE. 

I.  1.  Relation  of  the  New  Birth  to  our  Effectual  Calliug. — 2.  The  Posture  of  this 
great  doctrine  in  the  Jewish  mind,  during  the  Ministry  of  Christ :  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea — Nicodemus. — 3.  Explanation  of  it  by  Jesus  to  Nicodemus. — 4.  His 
statement  of  the  ground  and  manner  of  it. — 5.  Relation  of  the  Doctrine  of  this 
Statement  of  Jesus  to  the  Spiritual  System  of  the  Scriptures,  and  of  the  Plan  of 
Salvation. — IT.  1.  Regeneration  defined. — 2.  It  is  one  of  the  Benefits  of  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption. — 3.  It  is  wrought  in  Man  by  the  Holy  Ghost. — 4.  The 
Elect  of  God,  and  they  only,  are  Born  Again. — 5.  Divine  Truth  the  Efficient  In¬ 
strument  in  our  Regeneration. — G.  The  Satisfaction  made  by  Christ,  is  the  Meri¬ 
torious  Cause  of  our  Regeneration. — 7.  In  Regeneration  our  Nature  is  Renewed 
in  the  Image  of  God. — III.  1.  Force  of  the  Truths  stated,  in  their  bearing  on 
questions  passed  over. — 2.  The  State  of  the  Human  Soul  in  its  Regeneration. — 3. 
Concerning  the  Salvation  of  Infant  Souls. — 4.  Restatement  of  the  sum  of  Saving 
Knowledge,  touching  our  Divine  Regeneration :  (a)  W e  must  perish  unless  we 
are  restored  to  the  Image  of  God :  (b)  We  are  restored  by  the  Divine  Renovation 
of  our  Nature :  (c)  The  Nature  thus  Renovated  is  the  same  Nature  that  Pell:  ( d ) 
The  Holy  Ghost  is  the  Efficient  Agent :  (e)  Divine  Truth  the  Efficient  Instru¬ 
ment:  (/)  It  is  in,  and  for  the  sake  of,  Jesus  Christ:  ( g )  God  is  the  Model  after 
which  it  is  wrought :  ( h )  Man  is  wholly  Passive  in  this  new-creating  act  of  God : 
(t)  It  is  a  sovereign  and  gracious  act  of  God  the  Creator  and  Saviour. — 5.  Tho 
Certainty,  the  Necessity,  and  the  Efficacy  of  this  great  Spiritual  Change  in  Man. 

I. — 1.  We  are  to  bear  in  mind  continually  that  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  God  unto  salvation  is  that  which  is  made  subjectively 
effectual  in  the  soul :  and  that  there  is  no  other  knowledge  which 
is  capable  of  being  made  effectual  unto  salvation  :  nor  is  this 
knowledge  capable  of  producing  that  result,  except  as  it  is  made 
effectual  by  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  man.  The  benefits 
secured  for  us  in  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  and  bestowed 
upon  us  through  the  Mediator  of  that  covenant,  are  applied  to 
us  by  the  Holy  Ghost  working  faith  in  us,  and  thereby  uniting 
us  to  Christ  as  our  Saviour.  Thus  mystically  united  to  Christ, 
we  have  communion  with  him  in  grace  and  in  glory  :  and  by  the 
term  Effectual  Calling,  we  give  expression  to  that  great  work  of 
God  by  bis  word  and  Spirit,  wherein  his  elect  are  united  to 


140  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

Christ,  and  wherein  they  incur  those  changes  and  receive  those 
benefits,  which  appertain  to  those  who  pass  over  from  a  condition 
of  sin  and  misery,  into  a  condition  of  grace  and  salvation.  The 
great  change  is  their  Regeneration  ;  to  the  explanation  of  which 
this  chapter  is  devoted. 

2.  The  Apostle  John  in  his  brief  narrative  of  the  triumphant 
entrance  of  Jesus  into  Jerusalem,  and  of  the  outburst  of  popular 
enthusiasm  with  which  he  was  hailed  with  blessings  as  the  King 
of  Israel,  come  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  makes  two  remarks 
explanatory  of  the  real  state  of  the  public  mind,  thus  carried 
suddenly  away  by  an  impulse  which  they  who  felt  it  did  not, 
probably,  fully  understand.  His  first  remark  is,  that  though 
Jesus  had  done  so  many  miracles  before  them,  yet  they  believed 
not  on  him  :  and  his  second  is,  that  nevertheless  among  the 
chief  rulers  many  believed  on  him,  but  because  of  the  Pharisees 
they  did  not  confess  him,  lest  they  should  be  put  out  of  the  syn¬ 
agogue.1  Of  those  chief  rulers,  thus  acting  that  they  might  re¬ 
tain  their  distinguished  position  in  that  great  synagogue  which 
constituted  so  remarkable  a  feature  of  the  policy  of  the  Jewish 
people  in  the  age  of  Christ — impelled  by  a  love  for  the  praise  of 
men  greater  than  their  love  for  the  praise  of  God,  as  the  Apostle 
expresses  it  ;  two  have  connected  themselves  in  the  most  remark¬ 
able  and  affecting  manner,  with  the  personal  history  of  the  Sa¬ 
viour,  and  their  names  have  come  to  us  surrounded  with  touching 
proofs  of  their  first  weakness,  and  their  after  courageous  love. 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  an  honourable  counsellor,  a  rich  man,  a 
good  man  and  a  just,  who  also  himself  waited  for  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  was  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  but  secretly,  for  fear  of  the  Jews. 
Yet  he  refused  to  consent  to  the  counsel  and  deed  of  the  mur¬ 
derers  of  the  Lord  of  life.  And  when  all  was  over,  he  went  in 
boldly  unto  Pilate,  and  begged  the  body  of  Jesus,  and  bought 
fine  linen,  and  took  the  body  down  and  wrapped  it  in  the  linen 
and  laid  it  till  the  Jewish  Sabbath  should  pass  over,  in  his  own 
new  sepulchre  which  he  had  hewed  in  a  rock,  and  wherein  never 
man  before  was  laid  ;  and  then  he  rolled  a  great  stone  unto  the 
door  of  the  sepulchre,  for  the  day  was  the  preparation,  and  the 
Sabbath  drew  on,  and  the  sepulchre  was  nigh  at  hand.2  Nico- 
demus  was  a  man  of  the  Pharisees,  and  a  ruler  of  the  Jews. 

1  John,  xii.  37-42. 

2  Matt.,  xvii.  57-60;  Mark,  xv.  43-46 ;  Luke,  xxiii.  50-56;  John.  xix.  38-42. 


REGENERATION. 


141 


CHAP.  VIII.] 

Every  time  liis  name  is  mentioned  he  is  described,  as  that  Nico- 
demus  who  came  to  Jesus  by  night  :  so  characteristic  did  that 
manner  of  approach  seem,  and  so  remarkable,  as  we  will  soon 
see,  was  the  interview  that  night.  Yet  on  a  memorable  occasion 
when  the  great  body  of  which  he  was  a  member,  had  sent  offi¬ 
cers  to  arrest  Jesus  and  bring  him  to  their  bar,  and  they  had  re¬ 
turned  and  confessed  that  they  had  been  awed  by  him  ;  the  firm 
rebuke  of  Nicodemus  arrested,  for  the  time,  the  proceedings 
against  the  Saviour.  And  after  they  had  crucified  him,  it  was 
Nicodemus  who  acted  in  concert  with  Joseph  of  Arimathea  in 
taking  the  body  of  their  Lord  from  the  cross,  and  giving  to  it 
temporary  sepulture.  He  met  Joseph  at  the  cross,  having 
brought  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes,  about  a  hundred  pounds, 
and  took  the  body  and  wound  it  in  the  linen  clothes  with  the 
spices,  as  the  manner  of  the  Jews  was  to  bury,  and  put  it  in  the 
sepulchre  which  was  hard  by  in  Joseph’s  garden,  waiting  till  the 
Sabbath  day  should  pass.1  These  two  illustrious  Jews  alone,  of 
all  the  human  race,  appear  to  have  participated  in  this  unpar- 
alelled  event.  The  glory  is  all  theirs.  Even  the  women  which 
came  with  Jesus  from  Galilee — only  followed  after,  and  beheld 
the  sepulchre  and  how  his  body  was  laid  ;  and  then  they  re¬ 
turned  and  prepared  spices  and  ointments  ;  and  rested  the  Sab¬ 
bath  day  according  to  the  commandment.2  In  the  meantime  the 
chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  with  the  consent  of  Pilate,  had  made 
the  sepulchre  sure,  sealing  the  stone,  and  setting  a  watch.3  We 
know,  therefore,  what  took  those  devoted  women  back  to  the 
sepulchre,  very  early  in  the  morning  of  the  first  day  in  the  week. 
Their  purposes  of  reverence  and  love  were  defeated  by  the  resur¬ 
rection  of  the  Lord  of  glory. 

3.  It  is  to  Nicodemus  that  Jesus,  in  that  interview  at  night, 
has  explained  with  the  greatest  distinctness  the  great  doctrine 
of  the  New  Birth.  Rabbi,  said  the  Jewish  ruler,  we  know  that 
thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God  ;  for  no  man  can  do  these 
miracles  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be  with  him.  Jesus,  ac¬ 
cording  to  that  constant  habit  founded  upon  his  divine  insight, 
responded  not  to  the  words  but  to  the  deep  thought  and  inward 
difficulty  of  the  anxious  spirit :  the  great  doctrine  of  a  spiritual 
kingdom,  and  of  the  way  of  entrance  into  it,  which  constituted 

1  John,  iii.  1  ;  vii.  45-53 ;  xix.  38-42.  2  Luke,  xxiii.  55,  56. 

3  Matt.,  xxvii.  62-66. 


142 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


the  marked  feature  of  all  his  teachings,  and  which  found  a  re¬ 
sponse  more  or  less  vague,  hut  always  deep,  in  the  heart  of  every 
devout  Jew  that  was  waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Israel.  His 
answer  was,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  except  a  man  be  born 
again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  Apostle  John  has 
recorded  the  conversation,  in  a  few  sentences — the  difficulties  of 
Nicodemus,  the  explanations  of  Jesus  :  nothing  more  striking, 
nothing  more  important,  nothing  more  explicit,  was  ever  given 
to  man.1  Except  a  man  he  horn  again — except  he  he  born  from 
above — except  he  be  born  of  the  Spirit :  he  cannot  see — he  can¬ 
not  know — the  kingdom  of  God.  For  that  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh  is  flesh  :  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit. 
Moreover,  that  kingdom  which  no  man  can  see,  understand, 
know,  except  he  be  thus  born  again;  neither  can  he  enter,  except 
he  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit.  That  real  spiritual  kingdom 
of  God  is  to  be  known  and  to  be  entered  only  by  means  of  a  new 
spiritual  creation.  Thus  spiritually  known  and  entered — water 
is  at  once  the  sign  of  the  purification  of  ail  who  truly  enter  that 
kingdom,  and  the  seal  of  all  the  blessings  of  that  kingdom  unto 
them  :  and  thus  can  no  man,  except  as  born  of  water,  enter  the 
visible  kingdom  of  God  ;  any  more  than  he  can,  except  as  born 
of  the  Spirit,  either  know  or  enter  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  God.* 
There  need  be  no  marvel  at  these  things,  the  Saviour  intimates, 
because  they  seem  to  us  mysterious;  for  there  are  no  occurrences 
around  us,  not  even  the  most  common — whose  first  cause  and 
essence  are  not  inscrutable  to  us.2  Above  all,  they  who  are  anx¬ 
ious  and  thoughtful  about  spiritual  things,  and  to  some  extent 
enlightened  concerning  them — need  not  marvel  at  that  which 
is  perfectly  elemental  and  ultimate  truth.  But  however  that 
may  be,  this  much  the  Saviour  told  Nicodemus,  that  this  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  necessity  and  reality  of  a  new,  spiritual,  and  divine 
birth,  is  not  only  wholly  fundamental  in  his  system  of  truth  unto 
salvation;  but  so  thoroughly  does  that  system  rest  on  it,  that  no 
man  can  receive  any  truth  beyond  this,  until  this  one  is  received ; 

i  John,  iii.  1-21. 

*  Tevv7]dT]  avuOev — yevv^Oi]  n vEv/narog — uhiv — elgeIOelv :  born  from  above,  born 
of  the  Spirit — we  know  and  enter  the  kingdom.  But  jevvtjO/]  e^  vdaror — e'lgeIQeIv  :  born 
of  water,  we  enter  it.  The  spiritual  kingdom  universal :  and  the  visible  form  of  it ; 
knowing  and  entering  the  former  by  a  new  creation  ;  entering  the  latter  by  a  sacra¬ 
ment  a  John,  iii.  3-8. 


REGENERATION. 


143 


CHAP.  VIII.] 

and  that  no  visible  kingdom  of  God  can  be  justly  conceived  of, 
except  as  it  stands  related  to  the  universal  kingdom  of  the  re¬ 
generate.1 

4.  And  then  the  Saviour  explained  in  the  clearest  manner, 
both  the  ground  and  the  manner  of  this  new  and  heavenly  birth. 
The  Son  of  Man, -says  he,  must  be  lifted  up  ;  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  him,  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life  :  as 
God  had  taught  his  people  even  by  Moses,  when  he  bade  him  lift- 
up  a  serpent  of  brass  upon  a  pole,  that  they  who  had  murmured 
against  God  and  been  bitten  unto  death  by  fiery  serpents,  might 
turn  to  God  and  live  as  they  beheld  the  sign  of  his  mercy  in  this 
type  of  Christ.  It  is  on  account  of  this  sacrifice  of  Christ,  and 
in  virtue  of  it,  that  men  mortally  diseased  of  sin,  may  be  healed 
as  they  look  to  him,  may  be  snatched  from  the  destruction  to 
which  they  hasten — may  be  restored  to  God  by  a  new  and  spirit¬ 
ual  creation,  and  may  live  forever.  Moreover,  this  sacrifice  of 
Christ  is  the  result  of  God’s  sovereign  Grace  ;  for  Christ  repeats 
under  the  form  of  divine  love,  what  he  had  just  said  under  the 
form  of  human  necessity  ;  for  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  The  two  phrases — 
“  Even  so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up,”  and  “  God  so 
loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son;”  are,  there¬ 
fore,  precisely  equivalent  to  each  other,  so  far  as  the  third  phrase 
which  responds  to  both  of  them  equally,  is  concerned  :  that  is, 
so  far  as  relates  to  the  infinite  reality  and  certainty  of  salvation 
by  Faith  in  the  crucified  God-man.  And  thus  our  believing  in 
Jesus  Christ  is  most  clearly  declared  by  him  to  be  the  method 
of  our  knowing  and  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  God;  the 
proof  that  we  are  born  again  spiritually  and  divinely,  that  we  are 
the  objects  of  God’s  love,  and  that  we  shall  live  forever.  And 
just  as  clearly,  our  not  believing  in  him  is  declared  to  exclude  us 
from  the  possibility  of  knowing  or  entering  the  kingdom  of  God; 
to  prove  that  we  are  not  born  again,  but  are  left  under  condem¬ 
nation  ;  and  to  aggravate  that  condemnation,  while  it  aug¬ 
ments  both  the  grounds  and  evidences  upon  which  we  shall 
perish.2 

5.  If  the  sacred  Scriptures,  instead  of  being  so  replenished 
w7ith  the  doctrine  of  the  supernatural  restoration  of  man  to  the 

1  John,  iii.  11-13.  2  John,  iii.  14-21. 


144  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

lost  image  of  God,  that  they  are  wholly  inexplicable  as  soon  as 
that  idea  is  lost  sight  of ;  had  contained  nothing  decisive  on  the 
subject  before  this  explanation  of  it  specially  given  by  Christ 
himself  to  Nicodemus  ;  we  should  have  been  obliged  to  engraft 
that  transcendent  truth  upon  all  the  other  teachings  of  Christ, 
as  the  complement  of  all — or  to  disallow  Christ  himself,  as  a 
teacher  come  from  God.  But,  in  effect,  Christ  has  only  made 
perfectly  distinct  the  exact  form  of  the  grand  truth  concerning 
our  recovery,  with  which  the  whole  Scriptures  were  pregnant,  and 
to  which  the  Covenant  of  Grace  was  directly  pointed.  And  if 
any  thing  could  increase  our  sense  of  its  truth  established  by  so 
many  divine  statements,  and  of  its  fitness  demonstrated  by  its 
own  nature  and  effects  ;  it  would  be  the  systematic  completeness 
which  it  gives  to  the  vast  and  wonderful  spiritual  system  of 
which  it  is  the  centre,  sustaining,  like  the  keystone  of  a  mighty 
arch,  one  half  on  either  side.  The  original  perfection  of  man, 
his  fall,  and  his  subsequent  state  of  sin  and  misery  ;  his  extrica¬ 
tion  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  that  grace  exhibited  in  the  sacri¬ 
fice  of  the  Son  of  God  :  here  is  one  limb  of  the  stupendous  arch. 
For  the  other  limb,  the  favour  and  protection  of  God  in  this 
present  life,  and  endless  glory  and  felicity  in  a  higher  and  better 
life  to  come.  Now  fill  the  gap  between  them.  Man  united  to 
this  divine  Redeemer,  who  was  crucified  in  his  stead,  by  a  divine 
and  spiritual  work  wrought  within  him  ;  which  work  is  a  new 
creation,  wherein  he  recovers  the  lost  image  of  God — and  which 
manifests  itself  by  Faith  in  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  And  now 
the  heavenly  fabric  is  complete  ! 

II. — 1.  Taking  our  start  now  from  this  clear  and  broad  de¬ 
velopment  of  the  subject  made  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  not  only  in 
its  own  nature,  but  also  in  its  relation  to  the  plan  of  salvation, 
and  to  the  whole  proportion  of  faith  ;  we  have  before  us  an  open 
way  through  the  innumerable  illustrations,  arguments,  and  de¬ 
clarations  relating  to  it,  which  we  find  scattered  over  the  whole 
volume  of  inspiration.  If  we  are  humble  and  diligent,  we  need 
not,  therefore,  have  any  fear  of  going  astray.  And  in  the  light  of 
this  whole  testimony  of  God,  I  venture  to  define,  that  Regenera¬ 
tion  is  one  of  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  being 
a.  saving  work  of  God's  Spirit  in  the  elect,  whereby,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  divine  truth,  and  for  the  merit's  sake  of 
Jesus  Christ,  their  whole  nature  is  renewed  in  the  image  of 


REGENERATION. 


145 


CHAP.  VIII.] 

God.  And  I  will  endeavour  to  establish  and  explain  the  chief 
points  of  this  definition. 

2.  Our  natural  condition  is  described  to  be  such,  that  we  have 
our  understanding  darkened- — -that  we  are  alienated  from  the  life 
of  God — that  we  are  ignorant  of  him — that  our  hearts  are  blinded 
and  unfeeling — and  that  the  common  result  is,  that,  left  to  our¬ 
selves,  we  give  ourselves  over  to  lasciviousness,  to  work  all  unclean  - 
ness  with  greediness.1  In  a  condition  so  terrible,  it  is  not  strange 
that  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ; 
nor  that  they  are  foolishness  unto  him  ;  neither  that  he  cannot 
know  things  which  can  be  discerned  only  spiritually.2  The  con¬ 
stant  declaration  of  the  Scriptures  is,  that  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption  provides  a  complete  remedy  for  this  deplorable  con¬ 
dition  ;  and  that  besides  this,  there  is  no  other  remedy  actual,  or 
possible  ;  and  I  have  ventured  constantly  to  assert,  that  if  the 
Scriptures  are  divinely  inspired,  or  if  man  can  trust  either  his 
own  experience  or  consciousness,  none  other  is  even  conceivable. 
If,  therefore,  a  spiritual  Regeneration  occurs  to  fallen  man  :  if  it 
is  a  means,  nay,  the  very  chief  inward  means  of  his  deliverance  : 
and  if  it  occurs  through  that  which  the  Mediator  of  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Redemption  has  done  and  suffered — all  of  which  has 
been  proved  :  it  follows,  of  necessity,  that  this  spiritual  Regen¬ 
eration  is  one  of  the  benefits  which  that  Covenant  has  secured 
for  fallen  man. 

3.  That  this  spiritual  Regeneration  is  a  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  whole  statement  of  Jesus  to  Nicodemus  explicitly  de¬ 
clares,  and  the  whole  Scriptures  testify,  times  and  ways  beyond 
computation.  Since  every  good  and  every  perfect  gift  is  from 
above,  and  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights,  with  whom  is 
no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turning  ;  it  would  indeed  be 
wonderful,  when  of  his  own  will  he  begets  us  with  the  word  of 
tiuth,  that  we  should  be  a  kind  of  first  fruits  of  his  creatures  ; 
if  it  could  be  supposed  that  this  best  and  most  perfect  gift  our 
souls  can  receive — -though  made  ours  through  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  and  by  divine  light,  and  divine  truth,  and  a  divine  be¬ 
getting  of  us,  should  be  the  solitary  example  of  variableness  in 
the  unchangeable  God.3  There  are  three  conceivable  human 
ways  in  which  it  might  be  supposed  to  be  possible  for  us  to  re¬ 
ceive  and  believe  on  Jesus — which  the  Apostle  John  calls*, 

1  Eph.,  iv.  18,  19.  3  l  Cor.,  ii.  14.  8  James,  i.  17,  18. 

VOL.  II.  10 


146  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

respectively,  of  blood,  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  and  of  the  will  of 
man.  That  is,  it  is  conceivable  that  such  a  result  might  be 
hereditary — or  it  might  conceivably  be  self-produced — or  it  might 
conceivably  be  produced  by  some  influence  of  our  fellow-men 
upon  us  ;  besides  which  there  is  no  other  conceivable  human  way. 
But  he  repeats  and  rejects  as  impossible,  all  three  of  these  ways  ; 
and  asserts  in  the  most  precise  manner,  that  all  who  become  sons 
of  God  by  receiving  and  believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  do  so  as  the 
result  of  a  superhuman  change  which  has  passed  upon  them  : 
namely,  they  are  born  of  God.1  Even  from  of  old,  God's  pro¬ 
phets  had  plainly  taught  that  all  spiritual  effects  are  produced, 
not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts.2  For  God's  saints  are  God's  workmanship,  created  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works  :  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  for 
his  great  love  wherewith  he  loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  in 
sins,  hath  quickened  us  together  with  Christ,  and  hath  raised  us 
up  together  and  made  us  sit  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ 
Jesus  :  nay,  hath  saved  us  by  grace,  through  faith  ;  and  that 
not  of  ourselves  :  it  is  the  gift  of  God  :  not  of  works,  lest  any 
man  should  boast.3  And  six  or  seven  centuries  before  the  Apos¬ 
tle  Paul  gave  the  emphatic  testimony  I  have  just  repeated,  the 
prophet  Ezekiel,  in  explaining  the  significance  of  the  valley  of 
dry  bones,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  hand  of  the  Lord  had  car¬ 
ried  him  out,  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  and  set  him  down  ;  had 
set  forth  the  very  process  by  which,  under  the  means  of  grace, 
bone  comes  to  bone,  and  sinews  and  flesh  and  skin  are  laid  upon 
them.  For  as  he  proclaimed  the  word  of  the  Lord,  there  was  a 
noise  and  a  shaking  ;  and  when  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  upon 
them  the  bones  stood  up  upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding  great 
army.  And  the  Lord  said  to  the  prophet,  Son  of  man,  these 
bones  are  the  whole  house  of  Israel."1  It  is  not,  therefore,  a 
figure  of  speech,  when  it  is  said  that  Christ  lives  in  those  who  are 
crucified  with  him  ;  and  that  the  life  which  they  live  in  the  flesh, 
they  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  them  and 
gave  himself  for  them.6  For  all  our  hope  that  we  shall  appear 
in  glory  with  Christ,  when  he  shall  appear,  is  founded  on  the 
certainty  that  Christ  is  our  life.6  And  nothing  can  be  more  idle 
than  to  call  that  a  mere  persuasion,  which  God  calls  an  irresist- 

1  John,  i.  12,  13.  3  Zech.,  iv.  6. 

4  Ezek.,  xxxvii.  1-11.  5  Gal.,  ii.  20. 


3  Eph.,  ii.  4-10. 
c  Coloss.,  iii.  4. 


REGENERATION. 


147 


CHAP.  VIII.] 

ible  and  saving  power  ;  working  in  us  to  the  production  of  a 
saving  Faith  in  us,  by  the  new  creation  of  the  soul  itself ;  the 
very  same  power,  namely,  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  which  he 
wrought  in  Christ  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set 
him  at  his  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places.1 

4.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  good  men  should  allow 
themselves  to  reject,  and  to  foment  prejudice  against  terms 
which  God  himself  uses  with  great  emphasis  in  his  blessed  word. 
The  word  elect  and  its  kindred  words  are  used  many  times  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures  ;  and  the  word  'predestinate  and  its  kindred 
words  are  occasionally  used  in  them  ;  and  the  ideas  they  express 
and  the  truths  they  convey,  and  which  are  expressed  and  con¬ 
veyed  in  many  other  ways,  are  precise  in  themselves,  fundamen¬ 
tal  in  the  salvation  of  man,  and  embedded  not  only  in  the  very 
structure  of  the  Gospel  and  of  divine  grace,  but  in  the  very  na¬ 
ture  of  God.  Moreover,  human  experience  and  observation 
establish  nothing  more  palpably,  than  that  the  course  of  divine 
providence  is  directed  under  truths  and  ideas,  precisely  analogous 
to  those  we  express  by  the  words  divine  predestination  and  elec¬ 
tion  :  nor  is  the  course  of  human  affairs,  or  the  career  of  a  single 
human  being,  capable  of  being  explained  in  any  other  way.  In 
like  manner  no  soul  was  ever  brought  to  a  saving  knowledge  of 
God,  which  did  not  willingly  and  joyfully  admit  that  God,  who 
commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  in 
our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.2  Grace  unto  you,  and  peace,  be 
multiplied,  says  the  Apostle  Peter,  elect  according  to  the  fore- 
knowdedge  of  God  the  Father,  through  sanctification  of  the 
Spirit,  unto  obedience  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Blessed,  he  adds,  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  which  according  to  his  abundant  mercy  hath  begot¬ 
ten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope,  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  unde¬ 
filed,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you,  who 
are  kept  by  the  mighty  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salva¬ 
tion  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time.3  And  to  this  effect  is 
the  whole  testimony  of  God  concerning  that  chosen  generation, 
that  royal  priesthood,  that  holy  nation,  that  peculiar  people,  as 
the  same  Apostle  calls  the  elect,  whose  very  calling  he  declares 

1  Eph.  i.  passim;  Coloss.,  i .passim.  2  2  Cor.,  iv.  6.  3  1  Peter,  i.  2-5. 


148  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

to  be,  that  they  should  show  forth  the  praises  of  him  who  hath 
called  them  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light.1  Nor,  if  we 
will  consider,  is  there  any  alternative  which  does  not  subvert  the 
Gospel,  and  destroy  its  conception  of  salvation.  It  is  conceivable 
that  all  men  perish  :  it  is  conceivable  that  none  perish  :  it  is 
conceivable  that  the  idea  of  the  new  birth  is  a  mere  delusion  :  it 
is  conceivable,  as  I  have  before  shown,  that  Regeneration  might 
occur  in  either  one  of  three  human  ways,  namely,  of  blood,  of 
the  will  of  the  flesh,  or  of  the  will  of  man.  But  the  Scriptures 
assert  in  the  most  positive  manner,  that  all  these  conceptions  are 
utterly  false.  Yet  these  conceptions  exhaust  the  possibilities  of 
the  case,  except  that  the  elect  of  God,  and  they  only,  are  born 
of  the  Spirit,  and  are  saved.  Of  necessity,  therefore,  if  man  can 
believe  God,  or  if  he  can  believe  his  own  consciousness,  this  is 
irue.  But  to  disbelieve  our  consciousness  is  impossible  ;  and  to 
disbelieve  God  is  both  impious  and  absurd  ;  and  is,  besides,  the 
highest  proof  that  we  shall  perish,  unless  we  be  born  again, 

5.  The  instrumentality  of  the  word  of  God  in  Regeneration 
seems  to  be  clearly  asserted  in  the  Scriptures,  and  to  be  involved 
in  the  very  nature  of  the  case.  As  the  divine  Spirit  is  the  only 
efficient  agent,  so  divine  truth  is  the  only  efficient  instrument, 
in  the  spiritual  renovation  of  man.  The  Apostle  James,  con¬ 
trasting  our  natural  with  our  renewed  state,  declares  concerning 
God,  that  of  his  own  will  begat  he  us  with  the  word  of  truth.2 
The  Apostle  Peter,  explaining  the  manner  of  purifyiog  our  souls 
in  obeying  the  truth  through  the  Spirit,  says,  we  are  born  again, 
not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the  word  of  God, 
which  liveth  and  abideth  forever.3  The  Apostle  John  declares 
that  the  reason  why  whoever  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin, 
is  that  his  seed  remaineth  in  him.4  Which  answers  to  the  dec¬ 
larations  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  that  God  hath  from  the  beginning 
chosen  us  to  salvation,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and 
belief  of  the  truth:5  that  Faith  can  exist  only  by  knowledge  of 
the  word  of  God  ;0  and  that  those  whose  spiritual  father  he  him¬ 
self  was,  were  begotten  in  Christ  through  the  Gospel.7  And  to 
crown  the  whole,  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  that  wonderful  discourse  ir 
which  he  declares  that  his  flesh  and  his  blood  are  the  life  of  hi 
disciples,  and  explains  in  what  manner  and  in  what  sense  this  i* 

i  1  Peter,  ii.  9.  2  James,  i.  18.  3  1  Peter,  i.  22,  23.  4  1  John,  iii.  9. 

6  2  Thees.,  ii.  13.  6  Rom.,  x.  17.  7  1  Cor.,  iv.  15. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  REGENERATION.  149 

so  ;  closes  his  exposition  with  these  decisive  words,  It  is  the 
Spirit  which  quickeneth  ;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing  ;  the  words 
that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life.1  The 
great  doctrine  thus  taught,  seems  to  be  inevitable,  in  every  as¬ 
pect  of  the  subject  cognizable  by  human  reason.  Although  we 
cannot  fully  understand  why  the  Second  Person  of  the  Trinity 
should  be  called,  by  emphasis,  The  Word  ;  yet  we  cannot  avoid 
seeing  that  under  that  appellation  both  the  old  creation  and  the 
new  are  so  immediately  appurtenant  to  him,  that  the  former  is 
by  the  Word  of  Power,  and  the  latter  by  the  Word  of  Grace. 
When  he  said,  Let  there  he  light ,  the  result  was  not  more  instan¬ 
taneous,  nor  the  force  more  irresistible,  than  when  he  said,  Fol¬ 
low  me!  And  when  we  reflect  on  the  indissoluble  connection 
between  the  work  of  Christ  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  in  all 
things  pertaining  to  salvation  ;  it  seems  to  me  that  we  would  be 
forced  by  the  urgency  of  theoretical  truth,  to  infer  and  assert  the 
connection  in  the  Regeneration  of  the  soul,  even  if  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  had  left  the  }3oint  obscure.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  con¬ 
sider  our  own  nature,  which  incurs  this  superhuman  change  ;  we 
know  indeed  too  little  of  the  essence  of  our  spiritual  being,  to 
speak  with  great  confidence  of  the  relative  fitness  of  a  work  of 
infinite  grace  and  almighty  power  on  it,  considered  as  performed 
by  the  divine  agent,  namely,  the  Holy  Ghost,  with  or  without  a 
divine  instrument,  namely,  the  word  of  God.  But  as  soon  as  we 
come  to  consider  the  attributes,  faculties,  powers  of  this  spiritual 
essence  of  ours  ;  the  case  is  very  different.  For  we  do  know 
very  much  concerning  these — and  all  of  them  incur,  along  with 
the  essence  to  which  they  appertain,  that  change  which  is  the 
product  of  infinite  grace  and  almighty  power.  And  manifestly, 
the  Intellect,  the  Conscience,  the  Will,  the  Mind,  the  Heart,  the 
Soul  of  Man,  are  incapable,  as  far  as  we  can  comprehend,  of 
being  morally  and  spiritually  renovated,  except  through  some  in¬ 
strumentality  of  moral  and  spiritual  truth.  And  so  the  emphatic 
response  of  all  things,  human  and  divine,  confirms  the  constant 
and  explicit  statement  of  the  Scriptures,  that  while  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  the  divine  and  efficient  agent  in  our  Regeneration — and 
the  true  author  of  it  ;  the  truth  of  God  is  used  by  him  instru- 
mentally  therein  ;  of  itself,  like  every  other  mere  instrument, 
incompetent  ;  and  effectual  only  as  used  by  him.  I  venture  to 

1  John,  vi.  63. 


150  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

make,  not  without  diffidence,  a  statement  founded  upon  a  very 
large  experience  in  dealing  with  the  souls  of  men,  which  seems 
to  me  to  be  a  simple  but  momentous  practical  illustration  of  the 
transcendent  psychological  truths  I  am  attempting  to  explain. 
I  have  never  known  a  single  human  soul  deeply  awakened,  that 
was  not  specially  aroused  to  the  importance  of  some  particular 
aspect  of  divine  truth,  or  of  some  special  truth  :  and  I  have  never 
known  the  same  soul  to  be  twice  awakened  by  the  same  truth  : 
and  I  have  never  known  a  single  soul  that  embraced  the  Saviour 
at  its  first  awakening. 

6.  I  have  said  that  this,  like  every  other  blessing  and  benefit 
secured  to  fallen  man  by  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  is  be¬ 
stowed  on  us  for  the  sake  of  the  Mediator  of  that  covenant,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  every  case,  such  general  expressions,  as 
the  merit's  sake  of  Christ ,  involve,  more  or  less  fully,  the  whole 
doctrine  of  Christ  and  Salvation.  When  it  is  demanded,  why 
it  is  that  fallen  man  must  be  regenerated  at  all  P  the  answer  is 
very  obvious,  that  in  their  natural  state  they  are  neither  able  nor 
inclined  to  serve  or  enjoy  God:  while,  on  the  other  hand,  God  is 
so  far  from  considering  them  either  fit  or  worthy  to  serve  and 
enjoy  him,  that  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  proofs  of  his  just  dis¬ 
pleasure,  and  his  blessed  word  abounds  with  declarations,  that  if 
we  remain  as  we  are,  so  far  from  ever  seeing  his  face  in  peace, 
we  shall  all  surely  perish.  God,  in  his  infinite  beneficence,  does 
not  desire  that  any  should  perish,  but  would  rather  all  should 
turn  and  live:  and  in  the  manifestation  of  this  infinite  grace,  the 
whole  work  of  Redemption  by  Christ,  and  the  whole  work  of  the 
Spirit  applying  the  benefits  of  that  Redemption,  occur.  I  have 
just  been  pointing  out  how  it  is  that  Regeneration  is  one  of  the 
chief  works  of  the  Spirit,  as  I  had  immediately  before  pointed 
out  how  it  is  one  of  the  chief  benefits  of  Christ’s  Mediation.  The 
immediate  question  is,  how  does  it  stand  so  closely  connected 
with  the  merits  of  Christ’s  mediatorial  work,  as  to  oblige  us  to 
locate  the  meritorious  cause  of  this,  along  with  every  other  ben¬ 
efit  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  in  Christ  himself?  And 
the  explanation  is  both  simple  and  complete.  For  the  nature  of 
God,  the  nature  of  transgression,  and  the  nature  of  the  case  is 
such,  that  every  transgression  and  disobedience  must  receive  a 
just  recompense  of  reward  :  and  this  necessity  is  so  profound 
and  universal,  that  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  order 


CHAP.  VIII.] 


REGENERATION. 


151 


that  he  might  be  the  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  and  then 
his  perfect  obedience  and  his  infinite  sacrifice,  as  God-man  thus 
mediating,  constitute  the  only  alternative  to  the  absolute  perdi¬ 
tion  of  the  whole  race  of  sinners.  In  the  satisfaction  which 
Christ  has  rendered,  lies  the  possibility  of  any  escape  for  us;  the 
meritorious  cause,  so  far  as'  sinners  are  concerned,  of  all  that 
divine  grace  ever  proposed  in  their  behalf — and  manifestly,  there¬ 
fore,  of  that  without  which  all  else  is  nugatory,  namely,  their 
new  creation.  The  grand  truth  of  Revelation  considered  as  gra¬ 
cious,  is  a  Saviour  for  sinners  :  the  grand  duty  of  sinners  is  to 
embrace  this  Saviour — their  grand  necessity  to  partake  of  the 
merits,  and  so  of  the  benefits  of  his  Redemption.  As  for  the 
elect,  they  do  thus  embrace  him,  and  do  thus  partake  of  his 
merits  and  of  his  benefits.  All  the  results  both  ways,  are 
summed  up  in  a  single  divine  statement  :  The  first  man  Adam 
was  made  a  living  soul :  the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening 
spirit.  The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy ;  the  second  man 
is  the  Lord  from  heaven.  As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also 
that  are  earthy  :  and  as  is  the  heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that 
are  heavenly.  And  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy, 
we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly.  Flesh  and  blood 
cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  neither  doth  corruption  in¬ 
herit  incorruption.  It  is  the  life  of  Christ — and  it  is  for  the  sake 
of  Christ.1 

7.  The  last  point  stated  is,  that  in  Regeneration  the  whole 
nature  of  the  elect  is  renewed  in  the  image  of  Gad.  God  recon¬ 
ciles  us  to  himself  by  J esus  Christ :  therefore,  if  any  man  be  in 
Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature.2  This  new  creation  is  the  workman¬ 
ship  of  God,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works.8  Crucified 
with  Christ,  it  is  Christ  that  lives  in  us;  and  the  life  that  we 
live  in  the  flesh,  we  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who 
loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us.4  For  being  dead,  and  our  life 
hid  with  Christ  in  God,  and  Christ  himself  being  our  life ;  when 
he  shall  appear,  then  we  also  shall  appear  with  him  in  glory.5 
Assuredly,  this  new  life  must  manifest  itself  by  such  vital  opera¬ 
tions  as  are  appropriate  to  its  own  renewed  nature.  But  these 
manifestations  are  fruits  of  that  life — not  the  very  life  itself ; 
graces  following  Regeneration — not  Regeneration  itself.  It  is  not 

1  1  Cor.,  XV.  45-50.  2  2  Cor.,  v.  17,  18.  3  Eph.,  ii.  10. 

*  GaL,  ii.  20.  5  CoL,  iii.  3,  4. 


152  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II, 

the  operations  of  our  nature — it  is  our  nature  itself,  in  its  essence, 
and  of  necessity  in  every  element  of  that  essence,  and  in  every 
power,  faculty,  quality,  attribute,  force  of  that  nature,  which  has 
incurred  this  new  creation.  And  it  is  expressly  declared,  that 
when  we  put  off  the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt ;  and  are  renewed 
in  the  spirit  of  our  mind  ;  and  put  on  the  new  man  ;  we  put  on 
that  which,  after  God,  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holi¬ 
ness.1  Renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  renewed  in  Christ  Jesus,  it 
is  God  himself  after  whose  image  we  are  thus  renewed.  And 
thus  of  all  spiritual  mysteries,  this  greatest  is  amongst  the  plain¬ 
est  ;  it  is  our  restoration  to  the  image  of  God  !  How  it  is  con¬ 
ceivable  that  such  a  renovation  could  occur,  except  in  the  manner 
pointed  out  in  the  Scriptures,  I  can  no  more  understand,  than 
I  can  understand  how  any  one  can  study  the  Scriptures  and  not 
see  that  they  clearly  teach  the  reality. and  the  nature  of  this 
renovation  ;  or  how  any  one  can  reflect  on  the  whole  case  as 
made  out  concerning  it  in  the  Scriptures,  and  not  perceive  that 
under  that  precise  state  of  case,  this  renovation  is  not  only  ab¬ 
solutely  indispensable  in  itself,  but  inevitably  certain  to  occur. 

III. — 1.  It  does  not  appear  to  me  to  be  necessary  to  repeat 
here  what  I  have  carefully  taught  in  other  places,  concerning 
various  matters  connected,  more  or  less  closely,  with  the  grand 
truth  I  have  been  considering  :  much  less  to  enter  upon  other 
questions  which,  however  important  they  may  be  supposed  to  be, 
are  either  necessarily  resolved  by  what  I  have  endeavoured  to 
settle  herein  ;  or  are  in  their  own  nature  not  capable  of  a  precise 
and  decisive  settlement.  Two  topics,  perhaps,  from  the  immense 
extent  to  which  they  operate,  and  from  the  deep  interest  which 
attaches  to  them,  ought  not  to  be  wholly  overlooked.  The  first 
relates  to  the  actual  state  of  the  human  soul,  at  the  instant 
and  in  the  act  of  its  new  creation  :  the  second  to  the  applica¬ 
bility  of  the  method  of  salvation  herein  disclosed  to  the  souls 
of  infants. 

2.  Touching  the  former  topic,  having  discussed  it  fully  as  a 
point  of  objective  Knowledge,*  little  beyond  its  subjective  appli¬ 
cation  need  be  said  here.  The  New  Birth,  of  which  I  have  been 
treating,  is  the  fourth  method  by  which  life  is  declared  to  be  im¬ 
parted  to  man  :  the  other  three  are,  creation,  natural  birth,  and 
the  resurrection  of  the  body.  This  method  is  illustrated  through- 

1  Eph.,  iv.  22-24.  *  See  chapter  xxix.,  First  Part  of  Theology. 


REGENERATION. 


153 


CHAP.  VIII.] 

out  the  Scriptures,  by  each  of  the  other  three  ;  and  is  repeatedly 
explained  as  a  New  Creation,  a  New  Birth,  and  a  Quickening 
from  Death.  Nothing  known  to  us  can  be  more  certain  than  our 
total  passivity  in  our  original  creation,  in  our  being  naturally 
begotten  and  born,  and  in  our  resurrection  from  the  dead.  If, 
therefore,  our  new  creation,  birth,  quickening, — is  appropriately 
represented  by  the  old,  in  the  Scriptures  ;  nothing  can  be  more 
idle  than  to  assert  that  in  the  new,  any  active,  much  less  any 
efficient  part  is  taken  by  the  soul.  Nevertheless,  as  I  have  stated 
in  another  place,  our  passivity  in  Degeneration  is  every  way 
peculiar  :  not  that  of  the  dust  of  which  we  were  originally  made, 
nor  that  of  the  foetus  to  be  born,  nor  that  of  the  dust  which  is  to 
rise  from  the  dead:  but  the  passivity  in  the  New  Creation  is  that 
of  a  living  soul,  which  passes  from  spiritual  death  to  spiritual 
life,  under  the  almighty  power  of  an  Infinite  Spirit.  And  be¬ 
sides,  as  I  have  shown,  the  very  change  involved  is  the  recovery 
of  the  divine  image  by  a  fallen  spirit,  which,  however  much  of 
that  image  it  may  have  lost,  retained  enough  of  it,  not  only  to 
be  susceptible  of  that  very  restoration,  but  to  possess  the  iden¬ 
tical  nature  before  and  after  its  fall,  and  before  and  after  its  re¬ 
covery.  It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  it  subverts  the  idea  of 
the  New  Creation,  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  to  claim  any  activity 
for  the  soul,  much  more  any  efficiency  in  its  own  Regeneration. 
At  the  same  time  it  appears  to  be  of  the  highest  importance,  to 
bear  in  mind,  that  the  renovation  is  absolutely  spiritual  ;  and 
that  the  passivity  asserted  is  that  peculiar  to  a  living  soul,  which 
incurs  a  vital  renovation,  through  the  instrumentality  of  divine 
truth,  made  effectual  by  the  almighty  power  of  a  divine  agent. 

I  grant  that  the  weakness  of  our  conceptions,  and  the  poverty  of  * 
language,  make  the  articulate  utterance  of  such  distinctions  less 
complete  than  their  importance  demands.  What  I  insist  on  is, 
that  the  first  distinction  is  fundamentally  important,  and  the 
second  one  hardly  less  so.  For  the  difference  between  a  spiritual 
renovation,  wholly  or  even  partially  spontaneous,  and  one  pro¬ 
duced  by  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  total  and  absolute;  and 
the  difference  between  a  spiritual  renovation  produced  by  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  with  absolute  reference  to  the  nature 
of  the  spirit  which  is  the  subject  thereof,  and  one  produced  in 
like  manner,  without  any  regard  to  that  nature,  is  immeasurably 
great. 


154  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

3.  Considering  what  multitudes  of  the  human  race  die  before 
they  appear  to  us  to  have  arrived  at  that  maturity  of  their  facul¬ 
ties,  and  that  development  of  their  nature,  which  we  judge  to  be 
necessary  in  order  to  make  them  responsible  for  their  conduct  as 
moral  agents  ;  it  becomes  a  matter  of  very  great  importance  to 
ascertain,  if  we  can,  the  bearing  of  any  proposed  method  of  sal¬ 
vation  upon  them.  Two  points  may  be  considered  settled  beyond 
dispute,  and  fundamental  in  themselves.  First,  that  from  the 
moment  of  our  personal  existence,  we  exist  as  sinners  ;  and  that 
whatever  is  meant  by  Original  Sin  is  meant  of  every  human 
being,  as  much  of  one  as  of  another.  The  second  is,  that  by 
whatever  way  any  sinner  is  saved,  all  sinners  are  saved  who  are 
saved  at  all ;  for  there  is  but  one  God,  one  Mediator  between 
God  and  men,  one  Spirit,  one  body,  one  hope,  of  one  calling,  one 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  Father  of  all.1  An  impenetra¬ 
ble  veil  is  thrown  across  the  course  of  our  conscious  existence — 
beyond  which  our  memory  does  not  penetrate;  so  that  we  cannot 
know  with  positiveness,  in  after  life,  what  were  our  earliest  men¬ 
tal  and  spiritual  exercises.  But,  at  the  same  time,  we  can  recall 
nothing,  remember  nothing,  which  impeaches,  in  the  slightest 
degree,  the  deep  conviction,  the  absolute  certainty  of  our  per¬ 
sonal  identity,  and  our  continued  identical  self-conscious  exist¬ 
ence.  If  we  could  pierce  that  mysterious  veil,  how  many  mysteries 
of  our  being  might  we  not  hope  to  see  explained  !  I  am  not 
able  to  perceive,  in  the  actual  state  of  knowledge  attainable  by 
us  concerning  our  earliest  mental  and  spiritual  exercises,  upon 
what  ground  it  is  that  we  can  question  the  applicability  to  an 
infant  soul,  of  any  part  of  that  glorious  work  which  is  allowed 
*  to  be  applicable  to  an  adult  soul.  Being  a  fallen  soul,  why  may 
not  the  work  of  the  Spirit  be  effectual  in  it ;  and  why  may  it  not 
be  united  to  Christ,  and  have  communion  with  him  in  grace,  as 
no  one  doubts  it  may  have  communion  with  him  in  glory  ?  To 
say  it  cannot  believe  in  Christ,  is  to  say  far  more  than  we  know: 
and,  besides,  if  this  were  true,  what  would  follow  would  be,  that 
there  must  be  more  than  one  way  of  salvation,  or  infants  cannot 
be  saved  at  all.  I  have  said  in  a  previous  chapter,  that  I  know 
of  no  scriptural  warrant,  when  the  sum  of  revealed  truth  is 
taken  together,  upon  which  the  damnation  of  infants  can  be  as¬ 
serted  ;  and  I  have  given  some  reasons  for  my  belief,  that  the 

1  Epli.,  iv.  4-6. 


REGENERATION. 


155 


CHAP.  VIII.] 

assertion  is  not  only  gratuitous,  but  untrue.  To  speak  of  elect 
infants  determines  nothing  :  for  unless  it  could  be  first  proved, 
or  at  least  made  probable,  that  some  of  them  perish  forever  as 
infants,  it  might  well  be,  and  probably  is,  that  all  of  them  dying 
in  infancy  are  elect.  It  must  indeed  be  admitted,  that  the  infant 
seed  of  believers  stand  in  a  different  relation  to  God  from  the 
infant  seed  of  reprobates  ;  for  whatever  can  be  concluded  favour¬ 
ably  to  all  infants,  concludes  as  well  for  the  infant  seed  of  be¬ 
lievers  ;  while  besides  all  that,  there  are  additional,  repeated, 
and  distinct  testimonies  of  God,  that  the  infant  seed  of  his  peo¬ 
ple  are  the  children  of  the  covenant.  The  special  matter  here, 
however,  is  simply  the  applicability  to  the  soul  of  any  infant,  of 
the  infinite  Grace  of  God  and  of  the  almighty  power  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  in  its  supernatural  Regeneration,  which,  it  seems 
to  me,  is  settled  as  soon  as  we  admit  that  an  infant  is  a  fallen 
human  being,  capable  of  being  saved  at  all.  We  ought  to  re¬ 
member,  for  our  comfort,  that  Adam’s  sin  cannot  be  more  effect¬ 
ual  to  pollute,  than  Christ’s  righteousness  is  to  cleanse  ;  and 
that  the  resources  of  divine  goodness,  and  wisdom,  and  power, 
are  all  infinite.  And  we  ought  to  avoid,  above  all  folly,  the 
wresting  of  the  Scriptures,  it  may  be,  to  our  own  destruction,  in 
absurd  attempts  to  make  that  which  we  know  with  clearness  and 
certainty,  accommodate  itself  to  that  concerning  which  our 
knowledge  is  both  limited  and  obscure. 

4.  In  a  matter  of  such  transcendent  importance,  of  which  the 
Scriptures  never  lose  sight,  concerning  which  no  evangelical  min¬ 
istry  is  ever  silent,  which  involves  the  point  upon  which  the  destiny 
of  every  fallen  human  soul  turns  for  all  eternity,  and  the  action 
upon  which  the  Gospel  of  salvation  is  subjectively  and  irresist¬ 
ibly  confirmed  to  man  ;  it  may  be  excused — if  indeed  it  should 
not  be  thought  necessary,  to  restate,  in  a  brief  and  clear  manner, 
the  sum  of  saving  knowledge,  with  relation  to  it.  Thus  : 

(a)  Man,  created  in  the  image  of  God,  lost  that  image  by  sin¬ 
ning  against  God  ;  and  must  be  restored  to  it,  or  remain  for¬ 
ever  unfit  for  communion  with  God,  averse  to  it,  and  excluded 
from  it. 

(5)  In  Regeneration,  fallen  man  is  restored  to  the  lost  image 
of  God  by  the  divine  renovation  of  his  depraved  nature. 

(c)  The  human  nature  which  is  thus  created  anew,  is  the 
same  human  nature  which  fell :  the  change  which  takes  place 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


156 


[book  it. 


therein  being  wholly  spiritual  as  to  its  kind,  and  wholly  of  the 
person  in  whom  it  occurs. 

( d )  This  change  upon  the  human  nature  of  the  fallen  sinner 
in  whom  it  personally  occurs,  is  the  result  of  a  work  of  infinite 
grace  and  almighty  power  ;  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  sole 
efficient  agent. 

(e)  The  efficient  instrumentality  whereby  this  change  is 
wrought  in  man,  is  the  Truth  of  God,  made  known  by  him  unto 
salvation,  and  made  effectual  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  the  change 
wrought  being  in  man,  and  not  in  the  truth,  nor  in  God. 

(/)  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  Immanuel,  the  Mediator  of  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption,  that  the  whole  takes  place  ;  it  is  in 
consequence  of  his  work,  on  account  of  his  merits,  for  his  sake, 
through  his  truth,  by  his  Spirit,  unto  his  life — that  man  is  Born 
Again. 

( g )  It  is  after  God,  that  our  nature  is  restored  ;  God  himself 
is  the  divine  model  of  the  new  creation  :  created  originally  in 
his  image,  after  his  likeness,  we  are  really  and  spiritually  restored 
thereto  in  our  New  Birth. 

Qi)  In  this  work  of  divine  renovation,  man  is  wholly  passive  ; 
we  incur  the  change  ;  but  that  passivity  is  altogether  peculiar, 
namely,  that  of  a  living  soul,  which  incurs  a  vital,  spiritual  res¬ 
toration,  wrought  in  a  manner  wholly  regardful  of  its  own  abso¬ 
lute  essence  and  nature. 

( i )  It  is  therefore  a  sovereign  act  of  God  the  Creator  of  man 
— God  the  Saviour  of  sinners :  wherein,  through  his  infinite  grace, 
not  human  nature  in  its  totality — nor  all  human  beings — but; 
those  sinful  persons  of  the  human  race,  and  those  only,  who  will 
inherit  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ,  are  renewed  in  the 
image  of  God  :  and  the  most  remote  reason  of  their  individual 
Regeneration  revealed  by  God,  or  conceivable  by  us,  in  the  free, 
special  and  eternal  love  of  God,  which  he  signifies  by  calling 
them  his  elect. 

5.  However  any  portion  of  this  sublime  concatenation  of  re¬ 
vealed  truth,  may  appear  to  the  carnal  mind  to  be  repugnant  to 
all  just  ideas  of  God,  of  man,  of  sin,  and  of  salvation  ;  the  over¬ 
whelming  facts  remain,  that  this  is  what  the  Scriptures  teach — 
this  is  what  the  Church  of  God  in  all  ages  has  been  nourished 
by — this  is  what  every  humble  and  earnest  disciple  of  Christ  pro¬ 
fesses  to  have  experienced  in  his  own  soul.  And  it  may  be  as- 


CHAP.  VIII.]  REGENERATION.  157 

sorted  without  reserve,  that  any  representation  of  a  spiritual 
renovation  in  man,  essentially  variant  from  this,  is  inconsistent 
with  human  nature,  contradictory  of  human  experience,  and 
irreconcilable  with  the  spiritual  system  of  the  universe  disclosed 
in  the  Scriptures  and  confirmed  by  every  thing  known  by  man 
concerning  God  and  nature.  Nor  need  we  be  under  the  slightest 
apprehension  that  we  can,  by  any  statements  of  ours,  exaggerate 
the  necessity  or  the  reality  of  this  restoration  from  spiritual  death, 
or  carry  too  high  its  eternal  effects.  It  is  the  distinguishing 
truth  of  the  Dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost — the  nearest  test  of 
true  religion  under  the  Gospel  state  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom. 
Of  all  the  truths  of  vital  Christianity,  this  is  the  one  which  seems 
to  be  most  easily  lost  sight  of  by  a  backslidden  church  ;  the  one 
which  a  shallow  philosophy  shuns  and  suspects  the  most  ;  the 
one  which  ungodly  men  the  most  disrelish  and  disbelieve ;  the 
one  upon  which  hypocrites  most  thoroughly  make  shipwreck. 
Who  cannot  see  in  all  this  wonderful  array,  new  proofs  of  every 
element  which  enters  into  the  general  statement  concerning  this 
great  doctrine,  and  of  the  grand  truth  to  which  they  all  conclude 
— and  which  our  divine  Saviour  sums  up  with  so  much  empha¬ 
sis,  Ye  must  be  born  again  ! 


CHAPTER  IX. 

JUSTIFICATION:  WITH  ITS  NATURE,  METHOD,  AND  EFFECTS. 

I.  1.  The  Friend  of  Sinners. — 2.  Our  Sins  must  be  Punished  in  Hell  forever,  or  freely 
Pardoned  by  a  gracious  God. — 3.  Proportion  of  Divine  Faith :  Position  of  Justi¬ 
fication  therein. — 4.  Explanation  of  its  Office  in  Salvation. — II.  I.  Original  De¬ 
feasance  of  Satan’s  claim  and  power  over  the  Elect. — 2.  Consummation  of  their 
Redemption. — 3.  Recapitulation  of  the  Work  of  Christ. — 4.  Infallible  certainty  of 
the  Justification  of  God’s  Elect. — 5.  Still,  God  must  be  Just,  even  in  their  Justi¬ 
fication. — 6.  And  his  Righteousness  therein  is  most  conspicuous. — 7.  Our  Justifi¬ 
cation  is  most  Gracious,  most  Complete — Gratuitous — and  Free:  with  absolute 
Reference  to  our  Union  with  Christ. — 8.  The  Righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to 
us,  the  Meritorious  Cause :  the  Law  of  God  established. — III.  1.  Definition  of 
Justification  by  Faith. — 2.  It  has  immediate  Reference  not  to  our  Nature,  but  to 
our  State. — 3.  Its  Relation  to  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  and  to  other  Benefits 
thereof. — 4.  Our  Justification  is  an  Act  of  God  :  and  that  Infinitely  Gracious. — 
5.  The  practical  personal  Effects  of  this  Sentence  of  the  Father :  the  Ground  on 
which  it  rests. — 6.  What  Righteousness  of  Christ  it  is  which  is  imputed  to  the 
Penitent  Sinner,  as  the  sole  ground  of  his  Justification. — 7.  The  Reality  and  the 
Manner  of  Receiving  this  imputed  Righteousness,  by  Faith. — 8.  The  Doctrines  of 
Covenant,  of  Headship,  and  of  Imputation — as  they  relate  to  Salvation. 

I. — -1.  The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  save  that  which  is  lost. 
These  are  the  words  of  Jesus  :  the  words  of  him  whom  they 
called  in  derision,  the  Friend  of  Sinners — and  whose  answer  was, 
They  that  be  whole  need  not  a  physician,  hut  they  that  are  sick — 
I  am  not  come  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance.1 
It  is  in  the  complete  recognition  of  our  own  sinfulness,  that  we 
recognize  the  need  of  a  Saviour  :  it  is  when  we  perceive  the  peril 
and  burden  of  our  sins,  that  we  desire  to  know  how  we  may  be 
delivered  from  them  :  and  the  more  we  are  aroused  to  a  sense  of 
their  pollution,  their  dominion,  and  their  guiltiness,  the  greater 
is  the  importance  we  attach  to  any  remedy  for  them,  which  pro¬ 
mises  to  be  effectual.  Any  serious  consideration  of  the  subject 
ought  to  satisfy  us,  that  the  possible  results  of  the  case  lie  in 
very  narrow  limits,  and  admit  of  very  clear  statement.  Under 
the  dominion  of  that  infinitely  wise,  just,  righteous,  and  AI- 

‘  Matt.,  ix.  12,  13;  xi.  19 ;  xviii.  11. 


159 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH. 

mighty  Euler,  who  is  also  infinitely  good,  gracious,  and  merciful, 
against  whom  all  our  offences  have  been  perpetrated  ;  it  is  not 
possible  for  us  to  conceive  of  more  than  two  general  modes  in 
which  the  sins  of  men  can  be  disposed  of,  one  of  which  modes  is, 
perhaps,  conceivable  under  several  possible  aspects.  I  will  state 
them  briefly. 

2.  It  is  certainly  very  obvious,  that  unless  our  sins  can  be 
disposed  of  in  some  other  satisfactory  manner,  they  may  be,  and 
if  we  dare  trust  either  the  word  of  God,  or  our  own  reason  and 
conscience,  or  the  common  judgment  of  mankind,  they  must  be 
adequately  punished.  And  however  we  may  delude  ourselves 
into  some  vain  hope,  that  the  adequate  punishment  of  such  sins 
as  ours,  against  such  a  Euler  as  the  living  and  true  God — will 
neither  be  great  nor  lasting  ;  we  ought  to  be  fully  aware  that 
what  he  means  by  adequate  is  immense  and  eternal  ;  and  to  say 
the  least,  there  is  small  wisdom  in  risking  our  souls  upon  the 
hope  that  he  will  shrink  from  the  execution  of  that,  of  which  he 
has  so  solemnly  warned  us.  It  is  indeed  conceivable,  and  that  is 
the  other  general  possibility,  that  our  sins  may  be  disposed  of  in 
some  way  satisfactory  to  God,  without  his  being  obliged  to  pun¬ 
ish  us  for  them  in  hell  forever.  And  this  theoretical  possibility 
has  two  aspects  ;  one  resting  on  ourselves  and  the  other  on  God. 
Concerning  ourselves,  it  is  no  doubt  conceivable  by  fallen  man, 
in  his  blindness  and  depravity,  that  he  can  himself  make  to  God 
all  the  satisfaction,  which  such  sins  as  he  idly  judges  his  to  be, 
can  require  :  and  this  fatal  conceit  is  exhibited  in  all  the  super¬ 
stition,  idolatry,  fanaticism,  and  will-worship — from  the  worship 
of  the  Devil  and  the  offering  of  human  sacrifices,  down  to  the 
worship  of  insects — which  have  degraded  our  race  through  all 
ages.  Concerning  the  divine  aspect  of  the  possibility  we  are  con¬ 
sidering,  it  is  conceivably  twofold.  For  it  is  conceivable  by  man, 
in  his  abounding  ignorance  of  God,  and  himself,  that  human 
conduct  is  of  so  little  importance  in  itself,  or  is  so  far  indifferent 
in  the  sight  of  God,  that  he  takes  small  notice  of  our  sins  in  this 
life,  and  will  take  less,  or  no  notice  of  them  in  any  life  to  come  : 
and  this  fatal  delusion  is  the  very  life  of  all  the  practical  atheism 
which  has  afflicted  mankind  under  innumerable  disguises,  ranging 
from  the  highest  pretensions  of  austere  virtue  and  philosophy, 
down  to  the  most  brutal  licentiousness.  And  in  the  remaining 
aspect  of  this  divine  possibility,  it  is  conceivable  that  God  should 


160  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

himself,  independently  of  man,  make  some  satisfactory  dispo¬ 
sition,  external  to  man,  of  the  sins  of  men — as,  for  example,  he 
might  pardon  them — in  consequence  of  which  we  need  not  perish 
for  them,  but  might,  notwithstanding  we  had  been  guilty  of 
them,  still  obtain  eternal  life.  It  seems  to  me,  that  of  these  four 
conceivable  alternatives  which  exhaust  the  subject,  and  one  or 
other  of  which  is,  therefore,  obliged  to  be  true  ;  the  second  one, 
which  rests  on  total  ignorance  of  ourselves  and  of  sin,  and  the 
third  one,  which  rests  on  total  ignorance  of  God,  and  which  to¬ 
gether  have  cursed  and  degraded  the  human  race,  may  be  dis¬ 
missed  as  soon  as  we  confront  them  with  the  word  of  God,  with 
an  enlightened  conscience,  or  with  the  havoc  they  have  wrought. 
The  alternatives  which  remain,  are  all  that  exist,  or  can  exist  : 
namely — that  we  must  be  punished  for  our  sins  in  hell  forever, 
or  we  must  receive  from  a  gracious  God  the  free  pardon  of  them 
all.  It  is  one  chief  object  of  the  Scriptures  to  reveal  to  man  this 
last  alternative.  It  is  one  great  end  of  all  the  means  of  grace  to 
press  it  upon  his  attention.  It  is  this  free  pardon  of  all  our  sins 
which  is  the  first  of  the  benefits  embraced  under  the  term  Justi¬ 
fication,  which  has  a  meaning  as  precise  in  Christian  Theology, 
and  as  decisive  of  the  whole  scope  of  that  greatest  of  all  sciences, 
as  it  is  possible  to  imagine  any  term,  in  any  science,  can  have. 

3.  Let  me  state  succinctly  the  proportion  of  faith,  and  then 
locate  precisely,  the  great  doctrine  of  which  I  am  now  to  treat. 
God  the  Creator  never  designed  to  deal  in  the  same  manner  with 
fallen  angels  and  fallen  men  :  nor  did  God  the  Saviour — man 
being  fallen — ever  design  to  deal  with  the  whole  fallen  race  of 
human  beings  alike — whether  that  race  be  considered  totally,  or 
by  peoples,  or  by  nations,  or  by  families,  or  by  individuals — and 
whether  God’s  dealings  be  considered  temporal  or  spiritual,  provi¬ 
dential  or  gracious.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  always  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  God’s  infinite  grace,  not  to  permit  the  whole  race  to  perish 
in  its  sins  ;  but  to  save  from  amongst  the  sinners  of  that  race,  a 
people  for  his  name,  a  seed  to  serve  him,  a  kingdom  through 
which  the  glory  of  his  infinite  being  and  perfections  should  be 
made  illustrious,  by  means  of  their  restoration  and  blessedness, 
to  all  eternity.  These,  the  Scriptures  call  the  Elect  of  God.  The 
immediate  object  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  was  their  Redemp¬ 
tion  :  and  in  that  covenant  they  were  given  by  the  Father  to  the 
Son,  who  was  to  become  incarnate  for  them,  and  as  the  Mediator 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH.  161 

of  that  covenant  redeem  them  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself :  it 
being  the  part  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  create  them  anew,  and  sanc¬ 
tify  them  wholly.  In  this  work  of  the  Spirit  applying  to  the 
Elect  the  benefits  of  that  covenant,  they  are  united  to  Christ  in 
their  Effect nal  Calling,  by  being  Bom  Again,  and  are  thus  made 
partakers  of  his  life  :  and  thus  united  to  him  as  their  covenant 
Saviour,  they  have  communion  with  him  through  the  divine  Spirit; 
in  which  communion  with  Christ,  they  partake  of  all  that  he  in 
his  whole  Mediatorial  work,  has  merited  and  purchased.  They 
are,  therefore,  effectually  called ;  in  the  process  of  that  Effectual 
Calling,  they  are  Regenerated  ;  being  Regenerated  they  are  Jus¬ 
tified — which  is  the  point  at  which  we  are  now  arrived.  It  may 
be  added,  and  will  be  shown  fully  in  its  proper  place,  that  be¬ 
sides  being  Regenerated  and  Justified,  we  will  be  Adopted  as 
sons  and  heirs  of  God,  will  be  sanctified  through  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  will  be  glorified  with  Christ  forever  ! 

4.  Now  it  has  been  clearly  pointed  out  that  the  two  things 
which  separate  between  us  and  God,  have  both  of  them  direct 
relation  to  sin,  which  is  that  accursed  thing  wdiich  God  hates, 
and  which  he  cannot  look  upon  with  the  least  allowance.  The 
first  of  these  is  our  depraved  nature,  which  must  be  renewed  ; 
the  necessity  of  which  renewal,  and  the  nature  and  author  of  it, 
are  declared  thousands  of  times  in  the  Scriptures;  are  specifically 
held  forth  in  the  first  sacrament  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption; 
and  have  been  explicated  at  large  in  the  preceding  chapter,  when 
treating  of  Regeneration.  The  second  obstacle  to  any  reconcilia¬ 
tion  between  God  and  sinful  men,  lies  in  the  offences  which  they 
have  actually  committed.  It  never  entered  into  the  mind  of  God, 
to  save  a  sinner  in  his  sins,  nor  to  pardon  his  sins  while  he  is  still 
the  enemy  of  God  ;  and  it  is  wholly  idle  to  talk  about  the  justi¬ 
fication  of  impenitent,  unbelieving,  unregenerate  men.  Nor  is 
there  the  least  necessity  for  any  obscurity  or  perplexity,  by  con¬ 
founding  Regeneration,  Sanctification,  or  any  work  or  grace  of 
God  relating  to  our  inner  life,  with  his  sentence  of  Justification, 
which  relates  to  our  acts  and  our  estate,  and  which  is  unalterably 
and  invariably  founded  upon  the  certainty  of  our  previous  inter¬ 
nal  change  ;  previous,  I  mean,  of  course,  in  the  order  of  thought, 
for  in  reality  they  never  are,  nor  can  be  separated.  It  is  of  our 
actual  sins,  all  of  them,  and  in  their  widest  sense,  and  of  our 
persons  and  services,  and  of  our  title  to  eternal  life,  considering 

VOL.  II.  11 


1G2  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

us  as  being  actually  born  again,  that  this  divine  act,  this  sentence 
of  God  which  we  call  justification,  completely  and  irreversibly 
disposes.  It  is  this  which  the  word  of  God  perpetually  holds  up 
before  the  followers  of  Christ :  it  is  this  which  the  second  sacra¬ 
ment  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  exhibits  to  us  in  the  sym¬ 
bols  of  the  broken  body  and  shed  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  :  and 
this  is  the  special  subject  of  our  present  enquiry.  Whom  God 
did  predestinate,  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  that  is  whomsoever  he 
did  by  his  free  and  immutable  counsel,  purpose,  and  decree, 
choose  to  grace  and  glory,  them  he  also  called  :  that  is,  he  did 
by  his  word  and  Spirit,  invite  and  draw  them  from  a  state  of 
sin  and  misery,  to  a  state  of  grace  and  salvation,  and  did  for 
Christ's  sake,  and  by  Christ's  Spirit  regenerate  their  souls,  and 
unite  them  to  Christ  by  Faith.  And  the  Apostle  adds,  Whom 
he  called,  them  he  also  justified  ;  that  is,  being  born  again  of 
the  Spirit,  and  united  to  Christ  by  Faith,  God  discharged  and 
acquitted  them — both  from  the  guilt  and  punishment  of  sin,  and 
declared  their  persons  and  their  services  to  be  acceptable  in  his 
sight,  and  pronounced  them  to  have  an  indefeasible  title  to  eter¬ 
nal  life  :  the  whole  of  which  sentence  was  founded  absolutely 
upon  the  merits  of  Christ  imputed  to  them  by  God,  and  received 
by  them  through  Faith  in  Christ.  What  is  further  declared  by 
the  Apostle  concerning  their  glorification, — that  is,  their  posses¬ 
sion  and  fruition  of  the  inheritance  thus  decreed  to  them  by  a 
title  so  transcendent,  under  a  sentence  so  sublime,  will  be  care¬ 
fully  considered  hereafter  in  its  proper  place.1 

II. — 1.  Let  us  recollect  what  has  been  repeated  so  often,  and 
what  is  full  of  such  important  consequences,  namely,  that  the 
first  promulgation  of  divine  mercy  for  man  was  made  in  the  sen¬ 
tence  of  God  upon  Satan,  for  his  seduction  and  ruin  of  man. 
In  that  sentence  God  broke  the  dominion  of  the  implacable 
murderer  and  liar  ;  and  made  utterly  void  all  right  which  he  had 
acquired  over  the  elect,  by  the  Fall  of  man.  In  the  eternal 
Covenant  of  Redemption,  they  were  parties  in  interest,  and  were 
so  far  parties  in  form,  that  the  Son  of  God,  who  was  to  take  their 
nature,  represented  them  as  their  covenant  head  therein.  And 
what  should  be  the  first  utterance  of  the  fact,  that  there  was  a 
divine  Redeemer,  if  not  the  declaration  of  his  triumph,  of  the 
overthrow  of  Satan,  and  of  the  deliverance  of  the  redeemed  who 

1  Rom.,  viii.  29.  30. 


163 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH. 

were  his  brethren  ?  But  God  went  farther  still ;  for  he  not  only 
declared  the  release  of  all  the  members  of  the  mystical  body  of 
Christ,  from  the  dominion  of  Satan  ;  but  he  declared  them,  in 
their  head,  to  be  the  enemies  and  conquerors  of  Satan.  Standing 
where  we  stand,  with  the  whole  word  of  God  in  our  hands,  and  the 
total  development  of  his  providence  and  his  grace  under  our  eyes; 
it  is  impossible  for  us  to  avoid  seeing  that  all  this  is  involved  in 
the  first  Gospel  promise.1  Seeing,  then,  from  the  very  beginning, 
the  open  declaration  by  God  of  his  determinate  counsel  and  pur¬ 
pose  to  deliver  the  heirs  of  eternal  life  through  the  Mediator,  from 
the  condemnation  of  the  Devil ;  it  would  be  strange  indeed, 
after  Christ  has  actually  redeemed  them  with  his  most  precious 
blood,  and  destroyed  him  who  had  the  power  of  death,  that  they 
should  go  all  their  lifetime  under  the  bondage  of  corruption.2 

2.  And  however  great  may  be  the  dominion  of  sin,  and  how¬ 
ever  certain  its  condemnation  ;  and  however  clearly  and  fully7  the 
Law  of  God  may  assert  both  ;  and  however  earnestly  that  Law 
may  demand  sentence  and  execution  against  us  ;  and  however 
impossible  it  may  be  to  deny,  to  silence,  or  even  to  extenuate 
the  accusations  brought  against  us  by  Satan  ;  the  refuge  which 
is  set  before  us  in  Christ  Jesus,  is  sufficient  and  complete.  Has 
not  God  sent  his  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  and  for  sin, 
condemned  sin  in  the  flesh  ?  Is  not  the  righteousness  of  the  law 
thus  fulfilled  in  us  P  Has  not  sin  received  an  adequate  condem¬ 
nation  ?  Is  not  the  law  content  with  its  own  righteousness  ren- 
dered  to  perfection,  and  its  own  penalty  and  curse  fully  borne  ? 
Is  not  Christ  the  end  of  the  law  itself  for  righteousness,  to  every 
one  that  believeth  ?3  How  then  can  there  be  any  condemnation 
to  Christ's  brethren,  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus  ?4  There  is  the 
cross  of  Christ — and  there  is  Christ  himself,  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  majesty  on  high,  in  our  nature,  exalted  to  be  a  prince  and  a 
Saviour,  to  give  repentance  to  Israel  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins.5 
Let  sin,  and  the  law,  and  death,  and  hell,  bring  something 
against  his  ability  to  save — something  against  his  willingness  to 
save  :  or  let  them  be  dumb  when  God  would  justify  us  for 
Christ’s  sake.  Do  they  admit  Jesus  and  the  resurrection  ?  Then, 
the  law,  which  is  the  strength  of  sin,  and  sin,  which  is  the  sting 
of  death,  and  the  Devil,  who  has  the  power  of  death,  ought  all 

1  Gen.,  iii.  14,  15.  a  Rom.,  viii.  15-21;  Heb.,  ii.  14,  15.  3  Rom.,  x.  4. 

4  Rom.,  viii.  1-4.  5  Acts,  v.  31. 


164  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

to  know,  that  God  has  given  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.1  For  was  he  not  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God 
with  power,  according  to  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  by  the  resurrec¬ 
tion  from  the  dead  ?2  And  is  it  not  positively  certain,  and  so 
plainly  declared,  that  unless  his  sacrifice  of  himself  for  us  had 
been  accepted  of  God,  he  never  would  have  risen  from  the  dead  ? 
And  so  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  an  incontestable  proof  that  he 
was  delivered  for  our  offences,  and  that  we  are  justified  through 
his  blood  !3 

3.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  exaggerate  the  greatness,  and  the 
completeness  of  that  which  Christ  does  for  us,  with  reference  to 
our  Justification,  and  to  what  is  involved  therein.  In  the  very 
act  of  his  incarnation,  and  the  manner  thereof,  he  laid  the  only 
foundation  that  could  be  laid,  whereby  the  original  depravity  of 
the  elect  might  be  healed,  and  their  want  of  original  righteous¬ 
ness  might  be  supplied.  For  being  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
in  the  womb  of  a  virgin,  he  was  himself  absolutely  pure,  and  re¬ 
plenished  without  measure  with  original  righteousness  :  over¬ 
whelming  facts,  whose  force  we  habitually  overlook.  And  his 
person  being  thus  constituted  Immanuel,  and  his  work  as  Me¬ 
diator  of  that  covenant  in  which  he  was  the  surety  of  the  elect 
being  fully  entered  upon  ;  in  all  his  offices  of  Prophet,  Priest, 
and  King,  and  in  both  his  estates  of  humiliation  and  exaltation  ; 
but  most  especially  in  every  part  of  his  priestly  office,  and  in  his 
estate  of  Humiliation  ;  he  performed,  point  by  point,  every  thing 
requisite  to  bring  around  the  precise  and  glorious  result,  that 
God  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in 
Jesus,  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith 
in  his  blood.4  Emptying  himself,  and  humbling  himself,  he  has 
in  our  nature  and  in  our  stead,  satisfied  divine  justice  and  every 
requirement  of  the  law  of  God,  by  his  perfect  obedience,  and  by 
enduring  the  curse  and  penalty  of  that  law,  by  the  sacrifice  of 
himself,  and  by  the  manner  thereof:  in  all  things,  by  the  infi¬ 
nite  dignity  of  his  person,  giving  infinite  value  to  his  work.  He 
has  abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light, 
by  the  Gospel :  he  has  cast  out  the  prince  of  this  world,  that  is 
Satan — leading  captivity  captive,  and  openly  triumphing  over 
him  :  and  he  is  now  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  on 

1  1  Cor.,  xv.  56,  57.  3  Rom.,  i.  4. 

3  Rom.,  iv.  .25 ;  1  Cor.,  xv.  17  ;  1  Peter,  i.  21.  4  Rom.,  iiL  25,  26. 


165 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH. 

high — whence  he  will  come  to  judge  the  world  in  righteousness, 
and  to  give  to  his  saints  the  kingdom  prepared  for  them  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world  ! 

4.  Supposing  God  to  have  any  elect — supposing  them  to  he 
united  with  Christ  by  Faith  in  his  name — supposing  them  to  be 
so  closely  united  with  him  as  to  be  his  body1 — nay,  to  be  one 
Spirit  with  him  :2  how  is  it  conceivable  that  in  such  a  state  of 
case,  God  will  not  openly  declare  their  sins  to  be  all  blotted  out 
— their  persons  and  their  services  to  be  acceptable  to  him  P  And 
who  could  object  when  he  even  declares  them  to  be  sons,  heirs 
of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ  ?  The  Father,  who  is 
in  Christ  Jesus  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself — not  imputing 
their  trespasses  unto  them — will  he  not  believe  the  testimony  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  who  has  himself  renewed  these  elect  souls  ? 
Will  he  reject  the  plea  of  his  eternal  Son,  who  has  taken  their 
nature,  and  who,  besides  being  the  surety  and  the  Redeemer,  is 
the  Advocate  of  these  elect  souls — the  very  souls  whom  the 
Father  loved  with  a  love  so  special,  that  he  spared  not  that  very 
Son,  but  freely  delivered  him  up  for  them  ?  Surely  if  the  Church 
of  the  living  God  is  ever  warranted  in  asserting  with  unanimous 
consent  any  truth  under  heaven,  it  is  warranted  in  teaching  all 
its  children  to  say,  I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins  ?  Surely 
that  Church  knows,  that  no  duty  was  ever  more  solemnly  enjoined 
on  it  by  Christ,  than  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins 
through  his  blood,  should  be  preached  in  his  name,  among  all 
nations.3 

5.  Still,  however,  we  are  warned  by  God  that  he  must  not 
only  be  just  when  he  justifies  even  those  who  believe  in  Jesus; 
but  there  must  be  an  open  declaration  of  the  divine  righteous¬ 
ness  therein.4  We  are  to  set  it  down  as  absolutely  certain,  that 
so  far  from  being  saved  in  sin,  we  cannot  be  saved  at  all  without 
possessing  a  righteousness  which  will  satisfy  the  perfect  krw  of 
an  infinitely  holy  God.  The  immaculate  truth,  the  adorable 
justice,  the  infinite  rectitude — nay,  the  very  nature  of  God,  and 
of  man  also,  renders  the  salvation  of  a  sinner  impossible  on  any 
other  condition.  What  do  we  gain,  then,  by  covering  and  deny¬ 
ing  the  guilt  of  sin,  thereby  striving  to  make  an  inadequate 
righteousness  suffice?  Let  every  mouth  be  stopped,  and  all  the 

*  1  Cor.,  xii.  13-2*7.  2  1  Cor.,  vi.  17. 

8  Luke,  xxiv.  47 ;  Matt.,  xxvi.  28.  4  Rom.,  iii.  24-26. 


166  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

world  become  guilty  before  God  :  for  by  the  deeds  of  the  law 
shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight :  for  by  the  law  is  the 
knowledge  of  sin  :  and  all  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the 
glory  of  God.1  Nor  does  human  experience  make  any  thing 
more  certain,  nor  the  word  of  God  more  distinctly  declare  any 
thing,  than  that  the  natural  depravity  of  all  men  is  far  more 
dreadful  than  they  habitually  suppose,  and  that  when  left  to 
work  itself  out  freely,  its  fruits  are  wholly  abominable.2 

6.  But  in  the  justification  of  a  renewed  sinner  through  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ,  the  righteousness  of  God  is  most  conspicuously 
set  forth  :  for  the  very  ground  of  God’s  sentence  justifying  him 
is  a  righteousness  bestowed  upon  him,  on  account  of  his  union 
with  Christ,  which  is  not  only  perfect,  but  divine  :  a  righteous¬ 
ness,  as  will  be  shown  immediately — which  is  made  ours,  not  by 
deeds  of  righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  by  the  grace  of 
God,  through  the  Redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  For  God 
makes  his  righteousness  in  the  remission  of  sins,  as  palpable  to 
the  universe,  as  his  grace  is,  by  delivering  up  his  only  begotten 
Son  to  be  a  sacrifice  in  the  place  of  those  whose  sins  he  remits.3 
And  that  for  which  God  thus  delivered  up  his  Son,  was  our  Re¬ 
demption  :4  it  was  a  propitiation  for  us,  and  for  remission  of  sins 
unto  us  :5  was  unto  God’s  justification  of  us  :  and  to  give  us 
such  a  victory  over  sin,  that  to  all  eternity  nothing  should  be 
able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord.6  And  by  means  of  this  work  of  Christ  we  ourselves 
are  made  partakers  of  the  righteousness  of  God  :7  and  are  in¬ 
vested  with  that  divine  righteousness  :8  and  are  not  only  free 
from  condemnation,  but  even  the  law  itself  acknowledges  that  its 
righteousness  is  fulfilled  in  us.9  This  divine  righteousness  be¬ 
comes  ours  through  faith  in  Christ  crucified,  and  is  the  portion 
of  all  them  that  believe  :  for  there  is  no  difference.10  For  by 
faith  we  are  in  Christ  Jesus  :  and  being  in  him  we  are  justified 
freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  Redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.11  In  whom  also,  after  that  we  believed,  we  were  sealed 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise.12 


1  Rom.,  iii.  19,  20,  23. 

3  Rom.,  iii.  21,  25  ;  viii.  32. 
6  Rom.,  viii.  37-39. 

9  Rom.,  viii.  1-4. 

13  Eph.,  i.  13. 


2  Rom.,  i.  21-32  ;  ii.  9-18. 

4  Rom.,  iii.  24.  5  Rom.,  iii  25. 

7  1  Cor.,  i.  30.  s  iip  9. 

10  Rom.,  iii.  22.  11  Rom.,  iii.  24;  viii.  1. 


167 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH. 

7.  In  the  justification  of  sinners,  the  question  of  their  union 
with  Christ  is  a  foregone  matter,  which,  if  it  were  disputable, 
would  render  all  access  to  God  for  that  purpose  impossible.  Nor 
is  there  any  question  about  the  sufficiency  of  their  own  works  as 
any  part  of  the  ground  of  their  Justification — for  that  question 
lies  even  deeper  against  them  than  the  other  :  the  very  concep¬ 
tion  of  salvation,  and  a  Saviour,  involving  the  conception  of  our 
guilt,  and  the  gratuitousness  of  our  whole  deliverance.  For  even 
supposing  we  could  do  any  thing  to  mitigate  the  severe  justice 
of  our  condemnation,  or  to  exculpate  ourselves  wholly  from  a 
large  part  of  it,  all  of  which  is  absurd  :  still,  so  much  condemna¬ 
tion  as  was  left,  must  be  fatal  to  us,  or  it  must  be  remitted  by 
the  grace  of  God  :  and  then  even  if  no  condemnation  remained, 
the  question  of  our  title  to  eternal  life,  would  be  left  just  where 
it  would  have  been  if  there  had  never  been  any  Saviour  :  for  it  is 
one  thing  to  allow  us  to  escape  hell,  and  quite  another  thing  to 
give  us  a  crown  of  glory.  The  question  is  never  between  merit 
and  grace  :  it  is  always,  as  to  us,  between  grace  and  works.  As 
to  any  merit  in  our  works,  even  the  infinite  grace  of  God  cannot 
allow  us  to  proceed  upon  a  supposition,  which  God  cannot  admit 
without  doing  violence  to  his  whole  nature  and  character.  As 
to  the  merits  of  Christ,  they  are  infinite  ;  and  as  soon  as  they  are 
brought  to  view,  the  grace  of  God  has  boundless  room  for  exercise, 
and  then  both  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  may  say,  Whosoever 
will — let  him  come.1  The  moment  we  deny  that  Faith  in  Christ 
crucified  is  the  indispensable  condition  of  our  Justification  by 
God,  we  subvert  the  whole  plan  of  salvation,  render  the  blood 
of  Christ  nugatory,  and  make  our  pardon  and  our  title  to  eternal 
life  irrespective  of  any  new  creation.  But  the  moment  we  admit 
that  Faith  in  Christ  crucified  is  the  indispensable  condition  of 
our  Justification,  we  admit  also  our  new  creation  :  for  Faith  in 
Christ  is  a  grace  of  the  Spirit,  and  its  exercise  is  a  vital  act  of 
the  renewed  soul.  And  then  it  immediately  follows,  that  as  soon 
as  our  justification  is  thus  connected  with  the  redemption  that  is 
in  Christ  Jesus,  it  is,  on  the  part  of  God,  absolutely  gracious, 
and  as  to  us  perfectly  free,  that  is,  exclusive  of  any  merit  in  us.'2 
So  clear  is  this,  that  God  tells  us,  that  no  promise  of  his  that  is 
gracious  is  capable  of  being  received  by  us,  except  through  faith: 
and  the  blessedness  of  those  to  whom  God  will  not  impute  sin,  is 

Rev.,  xxii.  17.  5  Rom.,  iii.  24. 


168  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

therefore  of  Faith,  that  it  might  be  of  grace.1  And  to  make  the 
case  complete,  we  are  told,  and  are  told  at  the  same  time  that  it 
ought  to  put  an  end  to  all  boasting;  that  we  are  not  saved  by  our 
works,  but  that  we  are  saved  by  the  grace  of  God,  through  faith; 
and  that  even  this  is  not  of  ourselves,  for  the  faith  itself  is  the 
gift  of  God.2 

8.  The  complete  righteousness,  therefore,  on  account  of  which 
God  justifies  us  graciously,  freely,  and  justly,  is  not  the  right¬ 
eousness  of  our  works,  that  is,  the  righteousness  of  the  law  ;  nor 
is  it  any  righteousness  of  our  own  of  any  sort  whatever — except 
as  it  becomes  ours  by  being  imputed  to  us  by  God,  and  re¬ 
ceived  by  Faith,  as  we  shall  see  presently  ;  but  it  is  wholly  and 
really  the  perfect  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  which 
is  made  ours  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness  of 
God  which  is  by  Faith,  even  that  righteousness  unto  which  man 
believeth  with  the  heart  !3  Yet  this  righteousness  is  so  imputed 
to  us  by  God  for  our  Justification,  and  is  so  received  by  us  through 
Faith  in  Christ,  that,  so  far  from  making  the  law  of  God  void 
through  Faith,  which  indeed  would  be  a  fatal  objection,  we  estab¬ 
lish  the  law  by  Faith.4  We  establish  it  by  our  fellowship  through 
Faith,  with  him  who  is  our  head  and  Lord,  and  who  alone — and 
we  in  him — ever  perfectly  obeyed  and  magnified  that  law  :  and 
who  then,  and  we  in  him,  endured  its  curse  and  penalty.  We 
establish  it  by  making  it,  in  all  its  fulness,  the  absolute  rule 
of  the  faith  and  obedience  of  our  renewed  souls.  We  es¬ 
tablish  it,  in  that  it  was  itself  the  means  in  the  hands  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  who  is  the  author  alike  of  it  and  of  our  new  life, 
unto  all  the  grace  and  all  the  glory  of  which  we  can  partake  with 
Christ.  Nay,  it  is-  the  new  creature  alone,  that  either  desires  or  is 
able,  to  keep  the  law  of  God  :  and  it  is  only  when  in  Christ  Jesus 
he  is  delivered  from  all  condemnation,  and  walks  not  after  the 
flesh  but  after  the  Spirit,  that  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  sets  him  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.5 

Ill — L  Id  the  common  judgment  of  the  true  Church  of  God 
in  all  ages,  this  great  doctrine  of  gratuitous  Justification,  through 
faith,  on  account  of  the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ,  is  not 
only  one  of  the  most  capital  and  distinguishing  points  of  the 
Christian  religion  ;  but  it  is  one  of  those  test  doctrines  which  so 

1  Rom.,  iv.  16.  2  Eph.,  ii.  8,  9.  3  Phil.,  iii.  8,  9;  Rom.,  x.  10. 

4  Rom.,  iii.  31.  5  Rom.,  viii.  1,  2. 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH.  169 

involve,  implicitly  or  explicitly,  the  whole  system  to  which  they 
appertain,  that  whether  as  a  science  or  as  a  rule  of  life,  the  sys¬ 
tem  is  absolutely  determinable  by  them.  No  complete  and  sys¬ 
tematic  expression  can  be  given  to  the  scriptural  conception 
which  Christians  signify  by  this  term,  without  furnishing  therein 
the  means  of  determining  the  faith  and  life  of  all  who  profess 
Christianity :  nor  can  a  precise  and  complete  definition  of  the 
term  itself  be  framed,  which  will  not  thoroughly  and  fundamen¬ 
tally  involve  the  grand  truths  of  the  plan  of  salvation.  Under 
these  impressions,  and  as  the  result  of  all  I  have  advanced,  I  de¬ 
fine  Justification  to  be  one  of  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of 
Redemption,  being  a  most  gracious  act  of  God,  wherein  he  sets 
the  Elect  free  from  sin  and  death,  accepts  their  persons  and  ser¬ 
vices  as  righteous  in  his  sight,  and  declares  their  full  right  to 
eternal  life — all  and  solely  for  the  sake  of  the  righteousness  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  which  is  im¬ 
puted  to  them  by  God,  and  received  by  them  through  Faith  alone. 
I  will  briefly  explain  the  parts  of  this  definition  in  succession  ; 
avoiding,  as  far  as  possible,  the  repetition  of  what  I  have  already 
advanced. 

2.  I  will  not  enter  into  scholastic  discussions,  or  turn  aside 
from  the  pursuit  of  positive  truth,  for  any  speculation.  They 
who  need  or  desire  such  things' — whose  importance  I  do  not  ques¬ 
tion — will  find  them  in  abundance.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  in 
discussing  most  of  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption, 
that  which  we  contemplate  in  ourselves,  is  their  influence  upon 
our  nature  ;  while,  with  regard  to  Justification,  that  which  we 
contemplate  in  ourselves,  is  its  effects  upon  our  relations — and 
these  relations  are  fundamentally  those  which  we  bear  to  God 
considered  absolutely,  or  to  one  or  other  of  the  persons  of  the 
Godhead.  And  nothing  is  farther  from  my  intention  than  to 
teach,  that  God  will  ever  approve  any  thing  sinful  either  in  our 
nature  or  our  acts  *  or  will  ever  say  or  do  any  thing  which  will 
imply  that  we  have  not  been  sinners  exceedingly  in  his  sight,  or 
that  he  ever  looked  upon  sin  with  any  thing  but  abhorrence. 
Still  it  is  not  any  inherent  righteousness  which  is  immediately 
considered  as  in  us,  in  our  Justification — which,  if  that  were  the 
case,  would  render  our  Justification  impossible  :  while,  never¬ 
theless,  such  inherent  unrighteousness  as  appertains  to  us  in  our 
unregenerate  state,  puts  our  case  beyond  the  reach  of  further  en- 


170 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


quiry,  and  therefore,  indirectly,  the  fact  of  our  renewal  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  decisive.  But  the  specific  righteousness  imme¬ 
diately  considered,  is,  as  to  us,  an  outward  righteousness,  of  which 
the  judge  and  the  law  take  cognizance.  There  is  no  objection, 
therefore,  to  calling  the  proceeding  forensic,  in  accommodation 
to  our  weakness  ;  for  in  reality  what  God  does  in  our  Justifica¬ 
tion  is  judicial — it  is  a  divine,  irreversible  sentence,  decreeing 
pardon  and  eternal  life  to  the  believing  soul,  for  the  sake  of 
Christ  crucified. 

3.  I  have  proved,  in  various  places,  that  our  union  and  com¬ 
munion  with  Christ,  result  from  the  application  to  us,  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  of  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  : 
that  the  whole  work  of  God  in  our  Effectual  Calling  is  designed 
to  put  us  in  possession  of  the  grace  and  the  glory  resulting  under 
that  covenant,  from  that  union  and  communion  with  Christ :  and 
that  regeneration  is  one  of  the  chief  of  those  benefits,  and  di¬ 
rectly  involved  in  our  Effectual  Calling.  It  follows  too  clearly 
to  need  a  detailed  proof,  that  if  by  our  communion  with  Christ, 
we  participate  in  the  benefits  of  that  covenant,  and  are  justified 
for  his  sake,  then  that  justification  is  a  benefit  of  that  covenant : 
which  follows  in  like  manner  from  the  nature  of  our  Effectual 
Calling — and  its  connection  with  Christ  and  the  covenant  on  one 
side,  and  with  Justification  on  the  other  side  :  and  which  follows 
again,  on  like  grounds,  with  reference  to  regeneration.  Being  a 
benefit  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  it  is  obliged  to  be,  in  its  own 
nature,  essentially  gracious.  But  since  those  whom  God  pre¬ 
destinated  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son,  them  he 
also  called  ;  and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified  ;  and 
whom  he  justified,  them  he  also  glorified  it  is  apparent  that 
Regeneration,  Justification,  and  Glorification — are  indissolubly 
united  to  each  other — and  that  all  appertain  by  the  Covenant  of 
Redemption,  to  ail  who  are  conformed  to  the  Lord  Jesus — that 
is  to  the  elect.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  see  how  God  could  contem¬ 
plate  a  sinner  as  justified,  without  contemplating  him  as  Effect¬ 
ually  Called,  and  Regenerate  ;  nor  to  see  how  he  could  annul 
his  sentence  of  Justification,  without  annulling  every  thing  back 
to  his  eternal  covenant,  and  then  annulling  it. 

4.  That  which  God  does  in  our  Justification,  is  a  most  gra¬ 
cious  act  on  his  part.  It  is  an  act  performed  towards  us  and 

1  Rom.,  viii.  30. 


171 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH. 

concerning  us  by  God,  not  a  work  wrought  in  us  by  God  :  and 
on  the  other  hand  it  is  really  a  divine  act,  as  distinguished  from 
a  divine  statement,  persuasion,  influence,  or  any  thing  of  the 
sort.  I,  even  I,  saith  God,  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy  trans¬ 
gressions  for  mine  own  sake,  and  will  not  remember  thy  sins  ;  I 
have  blotted  out,  as  a  thick  cloud,  thy  transgressions,  and  as  a 
cloud  thy  sins  :  return  unto  me  ;  for  I  have  redeemed  thee. 
Sing,  0  ye  heavens,  for  the  Lord  hath  done  it.1  And  from  this 
act  flows  every  blessing  to  us,  which  follows  it  in  the  definition  I 
have  given.  As  between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  this  act  of 
God  towards  us,  is  not  gracious  :  for  the  Son  had  paid  for  us  the 
deepest  price  this  world  ever  heard  of,  namely,  his  most  precious 
blood.  But,  as  between  God  and  our  souls,  it  is  infinitely  gra¬ 
cious,  alike  in  itself,  in  all  that  led  to  it,  and  in  all  that  flows 
from  it.  For  God  himself  first  provided  his  only  begotten  Son 
as  our  surety,  then  for  our  sakes  spared  him  not,  but  imputed 
our  sins  to  him,  then  accepted  his  satisfaction  in  place  of  our 
destruction,  then  imputed  to  us  for  our  Justification  that  right¬ 
eousness  of  his  Son,  thus  wrought  out,  requiring  of  us  nothing 
but  that  we  accept  by  Faith  in  his  Son,  the  righteousness  so  im¬ 
puted  to  us,  and  crowning  all  by  himself  giving  us  the  Faith.3 
Let  us  add  to  this,  the  fact  of  our  own  utter  worthlessness  and 
vileness,  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  the  conception,  as  far  as  we 
can  form  it  truly,  of  the  height  of  glory  and  felicity  to  which 
God  will  bring  us  ;  and  then  deny,  if  we  can,  the  grace  of  God 
in  our  Justification  ! 

5.  It  is  in  this  gracious  act,  and  at  the  moment  of  this  union 
with  Christ,  that  the  elect  are  set  free.  This  truth  I  have  ex~ 
plained  in  detail  in  its  objective  aspect,  in  the  Thirty-Third 
Chapter  of  the  First  Part  of  Theology.  We  now  see  precisely 
its  subjective  position  and  force.  Set  free  by  our  new  creation, 
from  the  dominion,  and  pollution,  and  power  of  Satan,  and 
sin,  and  death  ;  we  are  set  free  from  their  condemnation,  and 
punishment,  and  terror  in  our  Justification  :  restored  to  the 
image  of  God,  we  are  also  restored  also  to  his  favour.  This  is  the 
personal,  practical  result,  in  each  individual  case.  The  sentence 
of  God  pronounced  on  Satan  at  the  fall  of  man,  was  a  general 
deliverance  of  the  mystical  body  of  Christ  :  the  sentence  of  the 
Father,  pronounced  at  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  was  a  procla- 

1  Isaiah,  xliii.  25;  xliv.  22,  23.  2  Rom.,  iii.  22-25;  Isaiah,  liii.  passim. 


172  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

mation  that  full  satisfaction  had  been  made  and  accepted  for 
every  one  whose  general  deliverance  had  been  proclaimed  from 
the  beginning  :  his  sentence  pronounced  at  the  moment  of  the 
union  with  Christ  of  each  member  of  that  mystical  body,  is  the 
individual  deliverance  of  each  one  of  them  :  and  the  sentence 
„  pronounced  by  the  Son  in  the  great  day,  is  the  personal  glorifi¬ 
cation  of  each  one  :  and  then  the  kingdom  is  delivered  up,  on  the 
Lamb’s  Book  of  Life  !  It  is  the  third  sentence — even  our  per¬ 
sonal  Justification,  which  now  immediatelv  concerns  us.  Ad- 
judged  to  be  delivered  from  the  condemnation,  and  from  the 
dominion  of  sin — though  destitute  of  any  proper  righteousness 
inherently  our  own — there  is  ground  enough  in  him  who  is  our 
head  and  Lord,  to  support  the  sentence.1  The  sacrifice  of  Christ 
is  sufficient  to  justify  the  deliverance  of  all  who  are  united  to 
him,  from  all  obnoxiousness  even  to  eternal  death,  much  more 
to  any  lighter  punishment  for  sin.  .Renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
their  original  pollution  may  righteously  be  pardoned,  and  they 
may  be  presented  as  unpolluted  before  God,  on  account  of  the 
immaculate  purity  of  Christ’s  human  nature,  and  the  infinite 
worth  imparted  to  it,  in  his  person.  And  the  perfect  obedience 
of  the  whole  life  of  Christ,  is  ground  enough  on  which  to  decree 
to  all  who  have  communion  with  him,  a  participation  in  his  eter¬ 
nal  life.  Hot  only,  therefore,  are  our  sins  pardoned,  but  as  I  have 
defined,  our  persons  and  our  services  are  declared  to  be  accepted 
by  God,  and  we  ourselves  are  decreed  to  be  entitled,  through 
Jesus  Christ,  to  an  eternal  participation  in  God’s  Love  and 
Glory.3  As  to  the  work  of  Sanctification  which  follows  Justifi¬ 
cation,  and  the  work  of  Regeneration,  which  in  the  order  of 
thought  precedes  it,  and  which  is  necessarily  taken  for  granted 
in  it,  all  that  is  asserted  of  either  herein,  is  incidental :  but  nev¬ 
ertheless,  both  are  so  involved  in  the  case,  that  unless  they  are 
taken  for  granted,  the  case  breaks  down  of  itself,  at  each  suc¬ 
cessive  step.  The  sentence  of  God,  that,  for  Christ’s  sake,  we 
are  accepted  of  him — and  that,  for  Christ’s  sake,  we  are  entitled 
to  eternal  ife  ;  is  not  only  distinguishable,  but  is  obliged  to  be 
distinguished,  from  the  work  of  God  uniting  us  to  Christ,  and 
the  work  of  God  fitting  us  for  eternal  life.  But  the  act  of  God 
in  one  part  of  the  case,  cannot  be  explicated  out  of  its  insepa¬ 
rable  connection  with  the  work  of  God  in  the  other  parts  of  the 

1  Phil.,  iii.  9.  2  Rom.,  viii.  28-39;  1  Cor.,  L  26-30;  Phil.,  iii.  8-12,  20  21. 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH.  173 

case,  because,  in  point  of  fact,  it  cannot  be  truly  explicated  as 
occurring  in  a  way  in  which  it  did  not  occur  at  all.  In  full  view 
and  perfect  knowledge  of  the  whole  case,  from  beginning  to  end, 
in  all  its  parts,  and  all  its  relations  ;  the  well-considered,  final, 
and  irreversible  sentence  of  God  the  Father  is,  that  this  elect 
sinner  being  found  united  to  Christ  by  Faith,  is,  for  Christ’s 
sake,  entitled  under  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  to  pardon,  ac¬ 
ceptance,  and  eternal  life.  And  it  is  so  decreed  :  and  in  its  form 
and  in  its  substance,  this  is  Justification  through  Faith. 

6.  The  matter  of  our  Justification,  that  is,  the  meritorious 
cause  of  it,  is  the  righteousness  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And 
this  has  been  so  often  pointed  out,  and  so  variously  proved,  that 
I  content  myself  with  merely  adding  here  somewhat  in  addition, 
without  repeating  what  has  already  been  shown.  That  right¬ 
eousness  of  Christ,  which  is  the  meritorious  cause  of  our  Justifi¬ 
cation,  is  not  the  essential,  eternal,  incommunicable  righteousness 
of  his  essence,  considered  as  he  is  merely  God  :  for  that  is  one  of 
the  attributes  of  the  Godhead.  But  the  righteousness  of  which 
we  are  made  partakers,  is  the  righteousness  of  his  person  consid¬ 
ered  as  made  up  of  the  divine  nature  united  to  the  human  in  its 
sinless  state.1  The  righteousness  of  the  perfect  obedience  of 
this  person,  Christ,  thus  constituted,  to  the  whole  law  of  God  :2 
and  the  righteousness  of  the  perfect  satisfaction  rendered  by 
him  to  divine  justice  :3  the  whole  of  which  was  done  and  suf¬ 
fered  for  us  in  our  nature  and  in  our  stead.4  Here  is  righteous- 
ness,  answerable  to  our  natural  unrighteousness  ;  answerable  to 
our  unrighteousness  towards  the  precepts  of  the  law,  broken 
continually  by  us  ;  and  answerable  to  our  unrighteousness  to¬ 
wards  the  penalty  and  curse  of  the  law,  both  of  which,  as  trans¬ 
gressors,  we  underlie.  It  will  be  observed  how  completely  all 
this  depends  on  the  Person  of  the  Saviour  as  Immanuel ;  upon 
his  office  as  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  and  especially  upon 
the  priestly  work  thereof ;  and  upon  the  covenant  of  which  he 
was  the  Mediator.  Now  the  point  is  to  possess  ourselves  of  this 
righteousness  of  Christ.  There  are  two  aspects  in  which  this  is 
possible — is  real.  In  one  aspect,  a  righteousness  like  that  of 
Christ  is  wrought  in  us — nay,  we  are  made  partakers  of  his 
nature  and  his  life.  This  is  the  product  of  Effectual  Calling, 
Regeneration,  Sanctification,  and  Glorification.  In  the  other 

*  Heb.,  vii.  26.  2  Matt.,  iii.  15.  3  1  Peter,  ii.  24.  4  2  Cor.,  v.  14-21. 


174  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

aspect,  the  very  righteousness  of  Christ  himself  is  set  over  to  our 
account  by  God,  as  if  we  had  actually  wrought  it  out  ourselves 
in  every  particular.  It  is  imputed  by  God  to  his  elect,  through 
sovereign  grace  ;  it  was  brought  in  and  wrought  out,  by  Christ, 
as  their  covenant  head,  for  them  :  it  was  so  stipulated  in  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption,  and  it  is  practically  and  exactly  so 
done.  Because  it  is,  the  elect  are,  for  Christ’s  sake,  and  because 
Christ  became  incarnate  for  them,  obeyed  for  them,  died  for 
them,  and  rose  again  for  them  ;  regenerated  and  sanctified  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  being  by  him  and  through  his  work,  made  both 
willing  and  able,  both  fit  and  inclined,  for  participation  with 
Christ  in  grace  and  in  glory.  Now  the  first  and  most  constant 
expression  on  their  parr,  of  the  reality  of  these  things  in  them,  is 
Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  which  more  will  be  said  imme¬ 
diately.  But  upon  the  instant  of  their  vital  union  with  Christ 
being  manifested  by  faith  in  him  ;  then  they  are  competent  to 
receive  by  faith  this  righteousness  of  Christ  as  the  ground  of 
their  J ustification  before  God  ;  and  then  God  most  graciously, 
most  freely,  most  justly,  most  righteously,  imputes  that  right¬ 
eousness  to  them.  They,  by  faith,  accept  if,  receive  it,  rely  on 
it,  trust  to  it.  That  righteousness,  thus  imputed,  thus  received, 
is  the  sole  ground  of  the  justification  of  sinners,  revealed  by  God 
to  man.1  Upon  the  data  stated  in  the  Scriptures,  it  is  not  con¬ 
ceivable  that  the  Justification  should  fail  to  occur,  or  fail  of  its 
effects.  Upon  any  other  data  ever  yet  stated  or  conceivable  by 
man,  it  is  apparently  demonstrable  that  it  could  not  occur — and 
that  the  alleged  effects  could  not  follow.  It  seems  to  me,  that 
when  we  have  reached  the  highest  form  of  scientific  truth,  and 
find  our  conclusions  accord  with  an  overwhelming  experience,  and 
conform  to  the  whole  sum  of  divine  testimony  ;  we  have  obtained 
a  result  on  which  we  may  calmly  repose,  even  when  the  hazard 
is  the  soul  itself. 

7.  When  we  say  that  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to 
us  by  God  is  received  by  us,  we  necessarily  imply  that  something 
is  done  by  us  responsive  to  the  sovereign  and  gracious  act  of  God; 
we  receive  and  rely  upon  the  divine  righteousness  thus  imputed 
to  us  ;  we  accept  the  divine  sentence  which  justifies  us  for  the 
sake  of  that  righteousness.  When  we  add  that  it  is  by  faith 
alone  that  we  receive  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  us 

1  Jer.,  xxii.  6  ;  Rom.,  iii.  22-28  ;  iv.  5-8  ;  v.  17,  18 ;  2  Cor.,  v.  19-21 ;  Titus,  iii.  5-7. 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH. 


175 


by  God,  we  necessarily  imply  that  what  is  done  by  ns  responsive 
to  the  sovereign  and  gracious  act  of  God,  is  the  act  of  a  renewed 
soul ;  because  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  faith  is  one  of 
the  graces  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  its  exercise  by  us  is  the  first 
and  most  constant  proof  of  our  new  creation.  But  every  one  of 
these  is  a  decisive  fact;  and  the  whole  put  together  make  a  case, 
incapable  of  being  solved  except  in  the  way  which  the  definition 
I  have  framed  sums  up.  By  some  internal  spiritual  process  or 
other,  the  righteousness  of  Christ  must  be  received  by  us ;  or 
salvation  must  be  purely  physical,  purely  formal,  purely  of  force, 
purely  an  incantation,  or  something  of  some  sort  absolutely  non¬ 
spiritual — and  therefore  absolutely  nugatory  as  to  our  soul. 
But  there  is  no  conceivable  way,  internal  and  spiritual,  by  which 
the  human  soul  can  receive  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  imputed 
to  it  by  God  ;  except  by  apprehending  it,  accepting  it,  resting  on 
it,  and  appropriating  it.  But  simply  and  exactly,  this  is  Justi¬ 
fying  Faith.  Besides,  there  is  in  this  act  of  the  soul,  that  which 
the  soul  is  wholly  incapable  of  doing  in  its  unrenewed  state  ; 
and  that  whether  what  is  done  be  considered  in  its  relation  to 
God,  or  to  the  Mediator,  or  to  divine  truth,  or  to  depraved  human 
nature.  For  as  long  as  it  is  with  the  heart  man  believe th  unto 
righteousness,  the  heart  remaining  in  its  desperate  wickedness, 
and  its  surpassing  deceitfulness,  neither  will  nor  can  so  believe  ; 
and  this  is  the  constant  testimony  of  God  and  of  the  human 

V 

soul.  This  Justifying  Faith,  therefore,  is  the  immediate  and 
universal  proof  that  the  soul  is  united  to  Christ  by  a  new  birth ; 
and  if  so,  there  is  but  this  alternative  possible,  namely,  that  the 
righteousness  of  Christ,  to  which  every  renewed  soul  united  to 
him  has  a  gracious  but  an  indefeasible  title,  under  the  Covenant 
of  Redemption,  sealed  with  the  blood  of  Christ,  must  be  imputed 
to  it ;  or  the  whole  fabric  of  scriptural  salvation  is  a  pure  illu¬ 
sion,  which  vanishes  as  soon  as  the  first  earnest  soul  puts  it  to 
the  test.  Still  further,  it  is  apparent  that  nothing  in  the  act  of 
faith  itself,  receiving  the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ,  or  in 
him  who  performs  that  act  ;  is  any  part  of  the  righteousness  of 
Christ  thus  imputed :  wherefore  it  is  wholly  absurd  to  say,  that 
they,  or  either  of  them,  are  any  part  of  the  meritorious  cause  of 
that  Justification,  of  which  it  has  been  abundantly  proved  that 
the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ  is  the  sole  meritorious  cause, 
either  actual  or  conceivable.  The  act  of  believing,  or  the  soul 


176  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II, 

that  believes,  may  or  may  not  be  meritorious,  in  some  sense  or 
other  :  it  is  merely  idle  to  move  that  enquiry  in  this  relation. 
For  justifying  Faith  is  the  mere  vital  evidence  of  our  union  with 
Christ,  and  so  of  the  fitness,  for  Christ's  sake,  of  the  imputation 
of  his  righteousness  ;  the  mere  instrument  by  which  we  are 
united  to  Christ,  and  by  which,  in  consequence  of  our  union  and 
communion  with  Christ,  we  receive  this,  and  every  other  benefit 
of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  And  so,  as  the  Apostle  Paul 
has  explained  all  in  one  sentence,  Christ  crucified  is  unto  them 
which  are  called,  Christ  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom 
of  God.1 

8.  No  aspect  of  the  spiritual  system  of  the  sacred  Scriptures 
is  more  striking  and  characteristic,  than  that  which  developes  their 
conception  and  statement  of  covenant,  of  Headship,  and  of  im¬ 
putation,  of  which  I  have  now  sjjoken  so  much.  These  doctrines 
stand  or  fall  together ;  and  the  plan  of  salvation  is  simple  and 
precise,  if  we  will  accept  these  grand  and  controlling  ideas  of 
God,  in  the  manner  and  in  the  proportion  in  which  he  has  dif¬ 
fused  them  through  all  other  revealed  truths.  If  any  thing  is 
indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  sinners,  surely  the  pardon  of 
their  sins  is  :  and  if  any  true  saying  of  God  is  worthy  of  all  ac¬ 
ceptation,  surely  that  one  is,  which  declares  that  Christ  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  with  the  chief  of  whom  it  were  well 
if  we  could  feel  more  keenly  that  we  might  justly  class  ourselves. 
But,  how  a  sinner  can  he  pardoned  and  saved  unless  his  sins 
were  imputed  to  Christ,  and  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed 
to  him  ;  the  Scriptures  do  not  tell  us,  nor  is  man  able  to  con¬ 
ceive.  And  how  our  sins  could  be  imputed  to  Christ,  or  his 
righteousness  could  be  imputed  to  us,  unless  he  should  take  our 
nature,  and  take  our  place,  and  so  become  our  Federal  head,  in 
the  whole  matter  of  our  salvation  ;  none  ever  knew,  ever  dis¬ 
closed.  And  that  one  of  the  three  Persons  of  the  Adorable 
Godhead,  should  become  incarnate  as  the  Federal  head  of  all 
saved  sinners,  and  as  the  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  should 
do  and  suffer,  what  Christ  has  done  and  suffered,  involving  at 
every  step  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  fate  of  God's  created  uni¬ 
verse,  and  the  destiny  of  God’s  rational  creatures  ;  and  yet  so 
far  from  doing  this  by  covenant,  that  both  the  other  persons 
of  the  Godhead  should  be  idle  and  unconcerned  spectators  of 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  23,  24. 


177 


CHAP.  IX.]  JUSTIFICATION  BY  FAITH. 

prodigies  so  awful  and  so  decisive,  is  hardly  less  insupportable, 
than  the  escape  of  such  monstrous  suggestions,  by  the  perdition 
of  every  sinner  that  exists  !  Why  should  we  resort  to  such  fatal 
absurdities  ?  Why  need  we  seek  to  pervert  the  word  of  God  ? 
The  Covenant  of  Redemption,  the  Headship  of  the  Son  of  God, 
the  doctrine  of  Imputation — these  sublime  truths  with  which  the 
Scriptures  are  replenished,  reduce  the  whole  doctrine  of  Salva¬ 
tion,  as  a  part  of  the  spiritual  system  of  the  universe,  to  a  form 
as  distinct  and  coherent  as  the  most  positive  truth  is  capable  of 
assuming.  And  in  this  form,  salvation,  become  a  sublime  science, 
is  only  purged  from  human  folly,  to  run  in  its  own  strength  its 
own  career.  To  all  penitent  and  all  believing  souls,  the  light, 
and  the  life,  and  the  joy,  and  the  peace  that  passeth  all  under¬ 
standing  !  To  all  justified  souls,  the  outward  demonstration  of 
the  reality  and  the  completeness  of  their  Redemption,  and  the 
inward  means  of  a  sweet  sense,  a  comforting  assurance,  an  un¬ 
shaken  confidence,  that  their  sins  are  pardoned,  and  that  they 
shall  see  God's  face  in  peace  !  To  all  suffering  and  tried  souls, 
an  inexpressible  comfort,  founded  on  the  completeness  of  God's 
love,  and  of  the  proof  of  it,  that  he  is  not  punishing  but  is  purg¬ 
ing  them  for  the  coming  glory,  and  that  all  things  work  to¬ 
gether  for  their  good  !  To  all  doubting  and  troubled  souls,  a 
refuge  like  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land — a  re¬ 
freshment  for  which  they  long  even  as  the  hart  panteth  for  the 
water  brooks  !  Let  all  the  waves  and  all  the  billows  go  over  us, 
and  let  deep  call  unto  deep  exulting  over  us  !  God  hath  depths 
still  more  awful  than  their  depths,  from  the  deepest  of  which 
this  voice  of  his  love  comes  to  us  ever  more — God  hath  the  water 
of  the  river  of  eternal  life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the 

throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  ! 

VOL.  ii.  12 


CHAPTER  X. 


ADOPTION:  ITS  GROUNDS,  NATURE,  AND  FRUITS. 

I.  1.  Analogy  between  the  treatment  of  the  Divine  Attributes,  and  the  Graces  of  the 
Spirit. — 2.  Diversities  of  the  treatment  of  both  subjects:  and  the  Effect. — 
3.  Treatment  of  the  latter  subject  by  the  Apostle  Paul. — 4  His  method  adopted, 
and  applied. — II.  1.  Scriptural  account  of  our  Adoption,  as  Sons  of  God. — 2.  The 
Act  of  Adoption  is  by  the  Father,  for  the  sake  and  upon  the  Designation  of 
Christ,  in  behalf  of  those  who  have  been  Regenerated  by  the  Spirit,  and  Justified 
by  the  Father. — 3.  Relation  of  Adoption  both  to  the  outward  Acts  and  inward 
Work  of  God,  in  our  Salvation. — 4.  Adoption  defined:  Portions  of  the  Definition 
which  have  been  explained  sufficiently :  Portions  which  require  further  explana¬ 
tion. — III.  I.  By  Adoption  as  Sons  of  God  our  Relations  to  Sin  are  changed. — 
2.  Our  Relations  to  the  Law  of  God  are  changed. — 3.  Our  Relations  to  all  Earthly 
Things,  and  to  God’s  Providence  over  them  and  us,  are  changed. — 4.  The  Rela¬ 
tions  of  our  inner  life  to  God  are  changed. — IY.  1.  Our  Heirship. — 2.  Heirs  of  all 
the  Promises. — 3.  Heirs  of  God  and  Joint  Heirs  with  Christ. — 4.  As  such,  we 
have  an  indefeasible  Title  to  the  whole  world:  that  is  to  the  Work  and  Glory  of 
God  as  Creator. — 5.  And  constitute  the  kingdom  of  God:  inheriting  the  Work 
and  Glory  of  God  as  Saviour. — 6.  And  God  has  given  himself  to  us,  as  our  Crown¬ 
ing  Inheritance. — Y.  1.  Particular  Truths :  Proportion  of  Faith :  Spiritual  Insight. 
— 2.  The  Lot  of  each  Heir :  the  Crown  of  each :  the  Positive  Consideration  of 
the  Hew  Creature. — 3.  Illustrative  deduction:  career  of  each  saved  Soul. 

I. — 1.  When  we  attempt  to  consider  the  perfections  of  God, 
it  is  necessary  for  us  to  bear  in  mind  continually,  that  it  is  one  and 
the  same  infinite  Spirit,  which  is  always  the  subject  of  our  medi¬ 
tations.  It  is  our  own  weakness  which  obliges  us  to  contemplate 
that  glorious  being  in  various,  and  to  some  extent,  separate  as¬ 
pects,  in  order  to  obtain  some  satisfying  knowledge  of  an  exist¬ 
ence  which  we  cannot  contain  in  one  view.  Something  analogous 
occurs  when  we  address  ourselves  to  the  consideration  of  the  life 
of  God  in  the  soul  of  man.  We  must  not  allow  ourselves  to  for¬ 
get  that  the  New  Creature  is  the  same  and  the  single  object  of 
our  scrutiny,  no  matter  how  variously  we  may  contemplate  it,  or 
the  life  of  God  manifested  in  it,  or  upon  it,  or  tty  it.  What  we 
endeavour  is,  to  get  more  perfect  knowledge  of  it,  and  of  God  in 
his  dealings  with  it,  by  means  of  all  the  aspects  under  which  we 


ADOPTION. 


1T9 


CHAP.  X.] 

successively  consider  it.  In  this  way  such  terms  as,  acts  of  God, 
works  of  God,  graces  of  the  Spirit,  gifts  of  God,  benefits  of  the 
covenant,  elect,  regenerate,  justified — and  multitudes  like  them, 
become  specific,  and  convey  precise  knowledge.  In  one  case  it  is 
God  himself  who  is  the  immediate  object  of  our  enquiry  ;  in  the 
other  case  it  is  the  New  Creature  ;  in  both  cases  the  distinct  and 
constant  impression  of  the  true  nature  of  our  pursuit,  will  prove 
of  the  highest  value  in  making  our  progress  at  once  clear  and 
sure. 

2.  If  it  had  happened  that  the  first  systematic  expositors  of 
divine  truth,  in  both  of  these  transcendent  departments  of  know¬ 
ledge,  had  been  so  illuminated  of  God  that  a  perfect  conception 
of  the  subject,  a  perfect  method  of  treating  it,  and  a  perfect  or¬ 
der  of  developing  it  and  classifying  its  results,  had  been  hit  upon 
— and  had  been  followed  by  all  subsequent  teachers  :  in  what  a 
different  posture  would  the  sublime  science  of  God,  and  the  exact 
and  systematic  knowledge  of  it  by  men,  this  day  stand  !  Yet 
such  a  beginning,  and  progress,  and  result,  would  have  been  ut¬ 
terly  different  from  all  that  has  occurred  touching  all  knowledge  : 
and  what  may  be  safely  pronounced  impossible  with  regard  to 
the  humblest  departments  of  knowledge,  is  preposterous  when 
demanded  concerning  a  knowledge  which  embraces,  on  one  hand 
the  incomprehensible  God,  and  on  the  other  the  depths  of  the 
human  soul — and  lying  between  the  two  all  their  boundless  rela¬ 
tions  to  each  other.  Confining  myself  to  the  matter  imme¬ 
diately  before  me,  and  to  the  illustration  of  it  in  the  preceding 
paragraph  ;  it  is  apparent  that  to  make  it  fundamental  that 
either  the  knowledge  of  the  divine  perfections,  or  the  knowledge 
of  the  New  Creature,  should  be  perfect  on  our  part,  before  we 
can  say  it  is  certain,  is  merely  absurd,  and  puts  an  end  at  once 
to  all  attempts  to  demonstrate,  to  develope,  and  to  classify,  what 
knowledge  is  really  attainable.  But  if  neither  of  these  know¬ 
ledges  is  perfect,  or  can  be  :  then  it  follows  that  all  who  en¬ 
deavour  to  obtain  either  of  them,  or  to  distinguish,  and  to  impart 
them,  are  liable,  even  while  they  essentially  agree  with  each 
other — -to  differ  in  many  subordinate  particulars,  or  even  to  reach 
the  same  result  by  divers  ways.  To  say  nothing  of  diversities  in 
gifts  and  attainments  of  those  who  devote  themselves  to  such 
attempts  ;  the  infinite  compass  of  both  subjects  is  such,  that 
they  may,  from  different  points  of  view,  be  cast  into  systems 


180  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

adopting  different  distinctions  and  a  different  nomenclature — and 
all  be  really  true  ;  or  into  systems  developing,  one,  some  particu¬ 
lar  portion,  and  another,  some  different  portion,  and  the  whole 
fit  and  supplement  each  other.  It  is  impossible  to  give  names 
and  places,  in  any  human  system  intended  to  aid  men  in  the 
pursuit  of  truth,  to  every  thing  in  God  which  every  pious  heart 
knows  to  be  worthy  of  love  and  praise — that  is  to  every  known 
perfection  of  God’s  nature.  In  like  manner,  it  is  impossible  in 
any  such  system,  to.  give  names  and  places  to  every  act  of  God 
for  the  New  Creature,  and  every  work  of  God  in  it,  and  every 
manifestation  of  the  life  of  God  by  the  New  Creature — that  is  to 
every  benefit  and  every  blessing  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption. 
Nor  is  this  a  reproach  to  the  truth — nor  even  a  hindrance  to  its  pur¬ 
suit  and  attainment.  It  is  only  a  great  lesson  to  us  to  have  charity 
for  those  who  are  weaker  than  ourselves,  and  yet  not  to  follow  im¬ 
plicitly  after  those  who  are  stronger  than  ourselves,  but  to  follow 
Christ  only.  It  is  for  God’s  truth — to  which  such  reflections 
ought  to  drive  us  as  to  our  only  satisfying  resource — an  abiding- 
proof  of  its  infinite  glory  and  fulness.  For  here  is  a  small  volume 
which  any  superior  man  could  master  absolutely  in  a  few  months, 
if  it  were  the  product  of  merely  human  intelligence  ;  and  yet  the 
greatest  of  mankind  through  all  ages,  and  after  life-long  study 
of  it,  have  all  united  in  this  strange  testimony — the  wayfaring 
man,  though  he  were  a  fool,  need  not  err  concerning  the  great 
and  pervading  sense  of  this  book — but  its  depths  are  unfathom¬ 
able  by  any  created  intelligence  ! 

8.  These  observations  will  perhaps  appear  the  more  suitable 
in  this  place,  when  it  is  recollected  that  we  are  in  the  midst  of 
subjects  of  the  very  highest  importance — whose  treatment  has 
been  very  various,  even  by  such  as  hardly  differed  perceivably 
concerning  the  absolute  nature  of  the  subjects  themselves.  Which 
are  the  decisive  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption — those 
which  draw  after  them  and  involve  the  rest  ?  Which  do  the 
Scriptures  themselves  give  this  distinct  prominence  to — and  what 
names  do  they  affix  to  them  ?  How,  according  to  the  nature  of 
man,  and  the  laws  of  his  being  in  the  pursuit  of  truth — are  these 
grand  points  to  be  most  justly  and  truly  ordered  ?  It  is  here,  as 
I  have  already  explained,  that  our  weakness  manifests  itself  in  a 
manner  analogous  to  the  manifestation  of  it,  when  the  attributes 
of  God  are  to  be  treated  by  us.  I  have  sought,  upon  that  greatest 


181 


CHAP.  X.]  ADOPTION. 

of  all  difficulties,  to  suggest  a  classification,  and  to  demonstrate 
the  foundations  of  it.  And  now  coming  upon  a  subordinate  but 
analogous  difficulty,  and  fully  sensible  of  its  extreme  importance 
in  many  aspects  of  practical  religion  as  well  as  systematic  truth  ;  I 
have  preferred,  up  to  this  point,  to  rely  on  the  force  and  coherence 
of  the  truth  itself  for  the  vindication  of  the  particular  benefits  of 
the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  which  have  been  selected  for  special 
treatment ;  rather  than  to  discuss  the  question  separately.  The 
Apostle  Paul  has  given  us  a  precise  and  comprehensive  state¬ 
ment  of  the  subject,  which  ought  to  be  taken  as  our  guide.  His 
statement  grounds  itself  upon  that  division  of  mankind  which  is 
perfectly  decisive — namely,  such  as  do,  and  such  as  do  not,  love 
God.  Now,  says  he,  all  who  love  God,  do  so  because  they  are 
the  called  according  to  his  purpose.  For  God  having,  from  eter¬ 
nity,  a  perfect  knowledge  of  his  children  according  to  the  elec¬ 
tion  of  grace,  predestinated  them  to  be  conformed  to  the  image 
of  his  Son.  Their  calling,  under  the  power  of  which  they  became 
lovers  of  God,  was  the  result  of  that  predestination  :  as  the  pre¬ 
destination  was  the  result  of  God's  distinct,  personal,  eternal 
knowledge  of  his  own.1  The  result  of  that  calling  and  its  ante¬ 
cedents  and  consequences,  was  their  justification.  And  the  result 
of  that  justification,  and  all  that  preceded,  was  their  glorification. 
And  the  end  of  all  is,  that  nothing  shall  ever  separate  them  from 
that  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  which  is  the  founda¬ 
tion,  in  all  respects,  of  that  love  of  theirs  for  God  with  which 
the  Apostle's  statement  began.2  It  seems  to  me  this,  while  it 
admits  not  of  being  gainsaid — is  at  once  decisive  and  sufficient. 

4.  It  is  this  divine  summary  which  I  have  carefully  followed — 
and  shall  follow  to  the  end.  That  to  which  the  elect  were  pre¬ 
destinated  by  God,  was  that  they  should  be  conformed  to  the 
image  of  his  Son  ;  and  their  love  to  God  is  incontestable  proof 
that  they  have  been  thus  conformed.3  The  Scriptures  abundantly 
teach  us  that  this  conformity  is  the  result  of  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost :  that  this  work  of  the  Spirit  is  a  benefit  of  the 
Covenant  of  Grace  ;  and  that  this  love  of  the  elect  for  God  is  a 
grace  of  the  Spirit.  I  have  therefore  commenced  this  Book,  and 
this  immediate  question  of  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul,  with  the 
demonstration  of  our  union  and  communion  with  Christ,  by  means 
of  the  application  to  us  of  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Re- 

1  2  Tim.,  ii.  19.  2  Rom.,  viii.  28-39.  3  1  John,  iv.  6-10. 


182 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


demption  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  the  second  place,  I  have  dis¬ 
cussed  that  divine  calling  of  God,  which  the  Apostle  declares  to 
be  an  infallible  result  in  the  case  of  every  one  predestinated  to 
be  conformed  to  the  image  of  Christ ;  in  which  that  union  and 
communion  with  Christ,  before  spoken  of,  is  consummated. 
Now  that  communion  with  Christ  is  a  participation  with  him,  in 
all  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  secured  by  him 
for  the  elect,  that  is,  in  all  the  grace  and  all  the  glory  of  the 
Redeemer.  And  this  communion  with  him  is  founded  on  the 
double  participation  of  a  common  life  between  Christ  and  the 
believer :  first,  by  Christ  taking  the  nature  of  man,  and  sec¬ 
ondly,  by  the  new  creation  of  man  by  the  Holy  Ghost  :  and 
this  New  Birth  of  the  human  soul  is  the  most  decisive  mat¬ 
ter  to  us,  in  our  calling  of  God.  I  have,  therefore,  in  the 
third  place,  demonstrated  this  great  reality  of  Regeneration. 
Another  fruit  of  our  divine  calling  asserted  by  the  Apostle,  is 
our  J ustification,  which  is  explicated  in  the  chapter  immediately 
preceding  this.  What  is  demonstrated  thus  far  then  is,  our 
Union  and  Communion  with  Christ,  our  Effectual  Calling  of 
God,  and,  as  the  result  of  both,  our  Regeneration,  and  our  Justi¬ 
fication.  But  besides  being  born  again,  and  besides  being  par¬ 
doned  and  decreed  to  be  entitled  to  eternal  life  for  Christ’s  sake; 
there  are  unsearchable  riches  of  that  grace  whereof  we  are  made 
partakers  through  our  fellowship  with  Christ  our  Saviour  ;  one 
of  the  most  precious  and  immense  portions  of  which  follows,  in 
a  manner,  immediately  on  our  Justification,  as  that  does  on  our 
Regeneration.  This  is  summarily  expressed  by  the  term  Adop¬ 
tion,  whose  precise  place  and  signification  in  the  oeconomy  of 
salvation  subjectively  considered,  is  thus  ascertained  ;  and  whose 
ground,  nature,  and  fruits,  will  now  be  briefly  explained. 

II- — 1*  When  the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come,  says  the 
Apostle  Paul,  treating  this  subject  expressly,  God  sent  forth  his 
Son,  made  of  woman,  made  under  the  law,  to  redeem  them  that 
were  under  the  law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons. 
And  because  ye  are  sons,  God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his 
Son  into  your  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father.  Wherefore,  thou  art 
no  more  a  servant,  but  a  son  ;  and  if  a  son,  then  an  heir  of  God 
through  Christ.1  Undoubtedly  one  part  of  the  object  of  the 
Apostle  in  the  passage  from  which  this  statement  is  taken,  was 

1  Gal.,  iv.  4-4. 


CHAP.  X.] 


ADOPTION. 


183 


to  explain  tlie  great  superiority  of  the  condition  of  believers  under 
the  Gospel  Church  state,  to  their  condition  under  the  Mosaic 
dispensation.  This,  however,  only  makes  more  distinct  the  real 
nature  of  the  great  doctrine  we  are  examining,  after  it  has  at¬ 
tained  its  final  and  complete  form.  And  so,  in  another  Epistle, 
he  tells  us  that  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
hath  chosen  the  faithful  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before  him 
in  love  :  having  predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of  children 
by  Jesus  Christ  to  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his 
will,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  wherein  he  hath  made 
us  accepted  in  the  Beloved.1  And  the  Apostle  John  speaking  of 
the  advent  of  Christ  and  his  rejection  by  the  Jewish  people, 
adds,  But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  be¬ 
come  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name  ; 
which  were  born,- not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor 
of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.2  It  is  in  this  manner  that,  being 
justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  :  by  whom  also  we  have  access  by  faith  unto  this 
grace  wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in  the  hope  of  the  glory  of 
God.3  It  was  because  the  children  of  God  were  partakers  of  flesh 
and  blood,  that  the  Son  of  God  also  himself  likewise  took  part 
of  the  same  ;  that  through  death  he  might  destroy  him  that  had 
the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  Devil  :  and  deliver  them  who 
through  fear  of  death  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage. 
For  Christ  that  sanctifieth,  and  the  children  of  God  who  are 
sanctified,  are  all  of  one,  for  which  cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to 
call  them  brethren.  And  so  deep  and  so  effectual  is  this  par¬ 
ticipation  of  our  nature  by  Christ,  and  this  participation  of  his 
nature  by  his  brethren,  that  it  is  said  it  became  God,  for  whom  are 
all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto 
glory,  to  make  the  captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  suffer¬ 
ings.  And  the  conclusion  of  a  connected  statement  full  of  so  many 
wonders,  is  that  in  all  things  it  became  Christ  to  be  made  like  unto 
his  brethren,  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest 
in  all  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins 
of  the  people.  Surely  we  ought  to  lay  to  heart  such  things  as 
these.  For  inconceivably  precious  as  the  matters  thus  revealed 
to  us  are,  it  is  also  inconceivable  how  we  shall  escape  if  we 

1  Eph.,  i.  1-6.  2  John,  i.  12,  13.  3  Rom.,  v.  1,  2. 


184  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

neglect  so  great  salvation  :  a  salvation  taught  by  the  Lord 
himself,  God  bearing  witness  both  with  signs  and  wonders,  and 
divers  miracles,  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  according  to 
his  will.1 

2.  It  is  God  the  Father  who  adopts  us  as  his  children.  It  is 
expressly  written,  Behold  what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath 
bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons  of  God.2 
That  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love, 
he  chose  us  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world;  having 
predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  to 
himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will.3  He  actually 
adopts  us  as  sons  only  by  Christ — only  in  Christ — only  for  the 
sake  of  Christ — only  after  we  have  trusted  in  Christ — only  after 
he  has  justified  us  on  account  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ  im¬ 
puted  to  us  and  received  by  faith:  he  does  it  to  the  praise  of  the 
glory  of  his  grace,  wherein  he  hath  made  us  accepted  in  the  Be¬ 
loved — in  whom  also  after  we  believed,  we  were  sealed  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  promise.4  Nothing — absolutely  nothing — in  our 
salvation,  leaves  Christ  out  of  view  for  a  single  instant.  This 
adopting  act  of  the  Father  might  seem  to  have  sufficient  rele¬ 
vancy  to  Christ — without  demanding  some  new  and  precise  in¬ 
tervention  on  his  part,  in  the  case  of  every  child  of  God.  For 
the  whole  matter  proceeds  upon  what  he  has  already  done — and 
upon  what  both  the  Father  and  the  Spirit  have  already  done  in 
his  name  and  for  his  sake — and  upon  what  the  penitent  and  be¬ 
lieving  soul  has  obtained  from  him  and  through  him.  But  no  : 
Christ  must  interpose  directly.  This  soul  has  received  Christ — it 
believes  on  his  name — it  is  born  of  God.  Shall  it  not  be  adopted 
by  God  as  a  Son — and  if  a  Son,  then  an  heir — an  heir  of  God, 
and  a  joint  heir  with  Jesus  Christ  P  Yes — yes,  surely,  provided 
Christ  will  but  speak  the  word, — To  him  give  I  poiver  to  become 
a  son  of  God.5  In  every  crisis  of  our  destiny,  it  is  Christ  who 
stands  surety  for  us  :  it  is  Christ's  recognition  that  we  are  his, 
which  decides  our  fate.  It  was  so  in  the  eternal  covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption — it  will  be  so  when  in  the  great  day  he  shall  acknow¬ 
ledge  us  before  his  Father  and  the  holy  angels — it  is  so  at  every 
instant  of  the  existence  of  every  child  of  God.  Nor  is  there  any 

i  Ileb.,  ii.  passim.  2  1  John,  iii.  1.  3  Eph.,  i.  4,  5. 

*  Eph.,  i.  6-14.  5  John,  i.  12. 

*  E tjovcia — -jus — dignitns — concessio ; — authorization — authoritative  designation. 


ADOPTION. 


185 


CHAP.  X.] 

possibility  that  any  recognition  of  us  as  liis  should  ever  be  fruit¬ 
less — even 'to  the  consummation  of  our  glory,  when  he  will  point 
to  the  record  of  our  names  in  that  book  of  life,  upon  which  he 
will  deliver  up  the  mediatorial  kingdom  to  the  Father.  Most  fit 
then  is  this  authorization  of  Christ — this  giving  of  power,  as  our 
English  Bible  has  it — this  authoritative  designation  of  us  by 
Christ — declaring  our  fitness  as  his  brother  to  be  adopted  as  a 
son  by  his  Father,  upon  which  the  Father  does  actually  adopt 
us.  Most  fit  is  it,  also,  that  here  as  in  every  other  part  of  applied 
salvation,  if  I  may  so  speak,  all  the  persons  of  the  adorable 
Trinity  are  set  conspicuously  before  us.  It  is  the  Holy  Ghost 
who,  by  his  divine  work  within  us,  has  made  us  meet  to  be  par¬ 
takers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light :  it  is  Christ  who 
authoritatively  declares  this  fitness  of  his  brethren,  and  pro¬ 
pounds  them  for  this  great  and  decisive  act :  it  is  the  Father 
who,  by  a  most  gracious,  sovereign  and  irreversible  act,  adopts 
us  into  the  number  and  gives  us  a  right  to  all  the  privileges  of 
sons  of  God. 

3.  It  is  nothing  to  the  present  purpose  to  enquire  in  how 
many  other  senses  we  may  be  truly  called  the  sons  of  God,  or  in 
how  many  other  senses  even  the  Scriptures  may  designate  the 
whole  family  of  man,  or  any  portions,  or  individuals  of  it,  as  the 
children  of  God.  None  of  them  concern  the  matter  we  are  now 
considering,  namely,  the  blessings  which  justified  believers  in 
Christ  acquire,  by  their  adoption  as  sons  and  heirs  of  God.  God 
has  an  only  begotten  Son — the  same  in  substancs — equal  in 
power  and  glory  with  himself.  It  is  he  who  became  Immanuel — 
and  who  is  the  divine  Saviour  of  sinners.  There  is  no  conceiva¬ 
ble  way  in  which  any  being,  much  less  a  fallen  sinner  of  the 
human  race,  can  become  a  son  of  God  in  any  sense  bearing  the 
most  distant  resemblance  to  the  one  I  have  been  pointing  out — 
except  by  becoming,  in  the  very  way  declared  in  the  Scriptures, 
the  brother  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  by  adoption  the  son  of  God. 
That  way  involves  the  whole  plan  of  salvation — and  rests  upon 
the  truth  and  efficacy  of  every  part  jpf  it.  And,  what  is  infin¬ 
itely  remarkable,  it  is  the  concrete  of  the  whole  outward  form  of 
salvation,  brought  directly  into  union  with  the  concrete  of  the 
whole  inward  form  of  salvation.  Distimmishino:  the  acts  of  God 
towards  us,  from  the  work  of  God  within  us — which  we  are  ob¬ 
liged  to  do;  Adoption  completes  those  acts  in  a  manner  perfectly 


186 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


decisive,  and  when  stated  by  God  to  us,  perfectly  obvious  ;  and 
yet  in  a  manner  wholly  remote  from  all  human  thinking — until 
God  states  it  to  us.  We  call  ourselves  the  brethren  of  Christ 
and  the  sons  of  God  so  familiarly,  that  we  are  apt  to  forget  what 
mysteries  of  divine  love  and  wisdom,  are  involved  in  the  terms  we 
use.  The  whole  Scripture  doctrine  of  Adoption  is  utterly  inca¬ 
pable  of  being  true,  or  even  intelligible — unless  the  Godhead 
exists  in  three  Persons  in  one  Essence — unless  the  Second  Per¬ 
son  he  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world — unless  the 
human  race  be  a  fallen  race  capable  of  restoration — unless  the 
Holy  Ghost  actually  regenerates  sinners,  and  the  Father  actually 
justifies  them  for  the  sake  of  Christ  the  Saviour — unless  the 
sacred  Scriptures  are  not  only  the  word  of  God,  and  the  infalli¬ 
ble  rule  of  our  faith,  hut  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to 
every  one  that  believeth.  But  conceding  all  this — without  the 
whole  of  which  the  scriptural  idea  of  Adoption  is  equally  im- 
/  practicable  on  the  side  of  God,  and  on  the  side  of  the  sinner ; 
who  could  have  deduced  from  the  whole,  any  thing  more  than 
that  sinners  are  restored  to  the*  lost  image  and  favour  of  God, 
are  saved  from  sin  and  misery  in  this  world,  and  from  Hell  for¬ 
ever,  and  are  brought  to  glory  and  endless  felicity  ?  Admit  that 
the  Son  of  God  has  taken  our  nature— and  that  by  the  new  birth 
we  are  made  partakers  of  his  nature  :  does  it  necessarily  follow 
that  we  are  to  share,  not  only  all  his  grace,  hut  all  his  glory  ? 
Hoes  it  necessarily  follow  that  we  are  to  share  with  him  his 
infinite  inheritance  as  the  Son  of  God  P  Above  all,  does  it 
necessarily  follow  that  we  shall  do  all  this  as  absolutely  his 
brothers — as  absolutely  sons  of  his  Father  ;  and  that  by  his  own 
procurement,  and  through  the  boundless  love  of  God,  a  divine 
sentence  shall  award  to  us,  in  this  life,  an  indefeasible  title  as 
sons  and  heirs,  not  only  to  the  whole  inheritance,  but  to  the 
actual  possession  and  fruition  of  the  earnest  of  it,  here  below  ? 
It  is  God  who  has  explained  to  us  that  these  things  flow,  as  a 
part  of  the  unsearchable  riches  of  his  grace,  from  that  boundless 
store  of  which  it  has  never  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  con¬ 
ceive.  It  is  God,  who  thus  carrying,  by  his  acts  of  grace,  the 
blessedness  of  our  estate  even  in  this  life,  above  the  reach  of  our 
highest  endeavours  to  comprehend  it  all ;  reserves  only  the  per¬ 
fect  completion  of  his  work  of  grace  within  us — through  our 
progressive  sanctification — that  we  may  he  fitted  at  last  for  the 


ADOPTION. 


187 


CHAP.  X.] 


eternal  weight  of  glory  to  which  our  title  is  now  complete.  Con¬ 
sider  that  God  has  said  to  us.  Ye  are  by  nature  children  of  wrath: 
consider  also  that  he  has  said  to  us,  Ye  are  the  light  of  the 
world!  The  danger  is  not  great,  of  our  exaggerating  the  distance 
between  these  two  states. 

4.  I  therefore  define  that  Adoption  is  one  of  tin?  benefits 


the  Covenant  o£  KedeinDtion  ^ecured-  tQ  -  the  .elect,  being  a  .most 
gracious  act  of  God  tlipnph  his  only  Son 

Jesus  Cka§t,  whereby  all  that  have  been  regenerated  and  justi- 

/•»  1  1  •  . -I  .,.,11—1  _ „  Iiliwiran 

tied,  being  openly  propounded  as  brethren  ot  Christ,  are  taken 
into  the  number,  receive  the  name,  and  are  admitted  to  all  the 


liberties  and  privileges  of  the  sons  of  God,  and  are  made  heirs.. Qf 
all  the  promises,  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  After  what  has  been  proved  in  this  and  several  preceding 
chapters,  there  is  no  necessity  to  enlarge  upon  all  the  separate 
parts  of  this  definition.  That  the  grace  of  Adoption  into  the 
family  of  God  is  a  benefit  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  :  that 
it  is  secured  therein  to  all  the  elect  of  God,  and  to  none  besides  : 
that  it  is  God  the  Father  who  pronounces  the  sentence  of  Adop¬ 
tion,  and  that  it  is  not  a  work  of  God  within  us,  but  an  act  of 
God — and  that  of  mere  grace  towards  us  :  that  it  is  an  act  per¬ 
formed  solely  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  favour 
only  of  his  regenerated  and  justified  brethren,  to  whom  this  very 
thing  is  conceded  by  him  in  a  way  of  authoritative  designation  : 
and  that  therein  they  are  admitted  to  the  number  and  receive 
the  name  of  sons  of  God  :  all  these  fundamental  truths  have — as 
I  suppose — been  so  variously  established  and  explained,  that  no 
one  who  accepts  the  general  doctrine  of  this  whole  Treatise,  will 
question  here  that  they  are  positive  truths  of  the  Knowledge  of 
God  Subjectively  Considered.  The  remaining  portion  of  the  de¬ 
finition,  which  asserts  that  in  our  adoption  we  are  admitted  to  all 
the  liberties  and  privileges  of  sons  of  God — and  are  made  heirs  of 
all  the  promises,  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  :  will  require  further  exposition.  It  is  very  manifest, 
however,  that  the  priceless  and  immeasurable  blessings  and  bene¬ 
fits,  liberties  and  privileges,  immunities  and  dignities  which  ap¬ 
pertain  to  the  sons  of  God  :  can  be  treated  in  an  attempt  like 
this,  only  under  a  severe  and  narrow  classification.  And  all 
those  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  of  God  :  all  that 
unsearchable  riches  of  grace  and  glory  with  Christ  :  all  those 


188 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


divine  liberties  and  immunities  to  the  whole  of  which,  as  heirs 
of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ,  we  acquire  by  our  Adoption 
an  irreversible  title,  sealed  with  the  blood  of  Christ,  attested  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  grounded  on  the  eternal  love  of  the  Father, 
and  guaranteed  by  the  everlasting  Covenant  of  Bedemption  :  all 
the  vastness  of  this  incorruptible  and  undefiled  inheritance  : 
what  can  mortal  powers,  restricted  within  bounds  so  limited,  do 
concerning  it,  beyond  some  brief,  general,  distinguishing  reca¬ 
pitulation  of  some  of  the  chief  parts,  which  are  near  enough  to  us 
to  be  seen  with  some  distinctness  !  This  is  what  I  must  nowr 
attempt. 

III. — 1.  By  our  adoption  as  sons  of  God,  all  our  relations  to 
sin,  to  condemnation  on  account  of  it,  and  to  slavish  terror  by 
reason  of  it,  are  totally  changed.  Being  dead  to  sin,  we  cannot 
any  longer  live  in  sin.  Having  been  planted  in  the  likeness  of 
the  death  of  Christ,  the  same  thing  must  occur  with  reference  to 
his  resurrection.  For  our  old  man  was  crucified  with  Christ,  that 
the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed,  that  henceforth  we  should 
not  serve  sin.  Having  died  with  Christ  we  must  also  live  with 
him  :  free  from  the  dominion  both  of  sin  and  of  death  :  but  alive 
unto  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Sharing  with  the  Son 
of  God,  who  is  not  ashamed  to  call  us  his  brethren,  a  common 
nature  both  by  reason  of  his  incarnation  and  our  regeneration, 
-•and  then  for  Christ's  sake  not  only  justified  by  the  Father  but 
adopted  as  his  sons  ;  immunities  the  most  immense  touching  out 
former  sinful  and  miserable  estate  are  granted  to  us — and  privi¬ 
leges  the  most  immense  touching  our  new  estate  of  deliverance, 
security  and  peace,  are  bestowed  upon  us.1  For  we  have  peace 
with  God ;  peace  which  we  obtained  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  the  method  whereof  was,  that  we  were  justified  on  ac¬ 
count  ot  his  righteousness  imputed  to  us,  and  received  by  faith  : 
and  then  there  remained  no  controversy  between  us  and  God — 
for  we  were  ready  to  take  his  part  even  against  our  own  humbled, 
sorrowing,  and  penitent  souls.  But  the  same  faith  in  Christ 
which  gave  us  access  to  God  for  justification — gave  us  access 
too  for  this  peace  wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the 
glory  of  God :  yea,  and  are  ready  to  rejoice  even  in  tribula¬ 
tion,  for  the  sake  ot  the  patience,  the  experience,  the  sustaining 
hope,  the  fervent  love  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts,  by  the  Holy 

1  Rom.,  vi.  ‘passim ;  Heb.,  ii.  passim. 


ADOPTION. 


189 


CHAP.  X.] 

Ghost  which  is  given  to  us.1  As  for  condemnation,  there  can  be 
none  to  them  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus — who  walk  not  after  the 
flesh  but  after  the  Spirit.  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  hath  made  them  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death. 
What  the  law  could  not  do,  the  Son  of  God  did  :  and  through 
his  satisfaction  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  even  the  righteousness 
of  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  us  :  and  to  be  spiritually  minded  is  both 
life  and  peace.  He  in  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  dwells,  is  not  in 
the  flesh  but  in  the  Spirit :  and  he  who  has  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
is  his  :  and  Christ’s  dwelling  in  us,  is  life  :  and  all  that  are  led 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  are  sons  of  God.  But  the  sons  of  God  do 
not  receive  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear  :  but  they  receive 
the  Spirit  of  Adoption  whereby  they  cry,  Abba,  Father.  The 
Spirit  itself  bearing  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  God  :  and  if  children  then  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs 
with  Christ :  if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  him,  that  we  may  be 
also  glorified  together.2  I  grant  that  these  wonderful  statements 
of  the  word  of  God,  prove  a  great  deal  more  for  us  than  they  are 
cited  here  to  prove  :  but  that  makes  it  only  the  more  clear  that 
the  sons  of  God  are  set  free  from  sin,  from  condemnation,  and 
from  terror.  It  would  be  wonderful  indeed,  that  when  we  were 
open  enemies  of  God  he  reconciled  us  to  himself  by  the  death  of 
his  Son  ;  and  yet  after  we  were  thus  reconciled,  and  have  become 
his  children,  he  could  not,  or  would  not,  save  us  by  the  life  of  his 
Son.3 

2.  In  like  manner  our  relations  to  the  law  of  God  are  wholly 
changed.  Whatever  law  of  God  ever  bound  and  obliged  the 
elect  of  God,  and  whatever  penalty  and  whatever  curse  of  any 
such  law  hung  over  them,  by  reason  of  any  transgression  thereof, 
or  any  want  of  conformity  thereto  ;  one  universal  proposition 
applies  to  all — we  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace.4 
Whatever  may  be  said  about  deserved  punishment — is  answered 
by  the  sacrifice  of  Christ :  whatever  about  the  claims  of  the  pre¬ 
ceptive  portion  of  the  law  is  answered  by  the  complete  obedience 
of  Christ :  whatever  about  our  depraved  nature  is  answered  by 
the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God  and  our  regeneration  by  his 
Spirit :  and  his  resurrection,  wherein  he  was  proclaimed  to  be 
the  Son  of  God  with  power,  and  wherein  is  the  complete  proof 
of  full  satisfaction  rendered  and  accepted  for  his  brethren — put 

1  Rom.,  y.  1-5.  3  Rom.,  viii.  1-1 1.  3  Rom.,  v.  10.  4  Rom.,  vl  15. 


190  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

our  case  in^uch  a  posture  that  the  justification  by  the  Father  of 
those  regenerated  by  the  Spirit,  followed  from  the  very  faithful¬ 
ness  and  justice  of  God.1  Then  came  our  Adoption  as  sons  and 
heirs  of  God,  involving  not  only,  but  declaring  that  the  deliver¬ 
ance  of  the  children  of  God  is  not  only  from  the  bondage  of  cor¬ 
ruption,  hut  into  a  glorious  liberty.5  For  where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.8  .Nor  is  any  exhortation  of  the  Gospel 
to  us  more  explicit,  than  that  we  should  stand  fast  in  the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free,  and  not  be  entangled  again 
with  the  yoke  of  bondage.4  Even  that  unalterable  moral  law, 
which  is  founded  in  the  very  nature  of  good  and  evil,  which  was 
written  on  the  heart  of  man  at  his  original  creation,  and  was 
written  again  by  the  finger  of  God  upon  tables  of  stone  and 
delivered  to  Moses ;  that  holy,  just,  and  good  law,  which  would 
have  saved  us  if  any  law  could  save  those  who  transgress  it — has 
changed  its  relation  to  us  upon  our  being  adopted  into  the  family 
of  God.  That  blessed  law  is  still  a  rule  of  duty,  a  rule  of  faith, 
a  rule  of  judgment,  a  doctrine  of  perfect  holiness  unto  us.  But 
its  just  and  inexorable  demands  as  a  Covenant  of  Life — its  ter¬ 
rible  curse  against  every  one  who  continueth  not  in  all  things 
written  in  it  to  do  them — its  fearful  penalty  denouncing  a  just 
recompense  of  reward  against  every  transgression  and  disobe¬ 
dience  under  it — its  terrible  and  universal  sentence  that  the  soul 
that  sinneth  shall  die  :  all  these  pass  us  by,  and  fall  on  him  who 
loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us,  and  who  is  able  to  present  us 
faultless  before  God,  yea,  holy,  and  unblamable,  and  unreprovable 
even  in  his  sight.5  We  do  not  desire  to  be  set  free  from  service — 
nor  from  obedience  ;  a  service  the  most  earnest  and  loving — an 
obedience  the  most  scrupulous  and  absolute — in  those  who  have 
the  most  abounding  freedom  and  ability  unto  that  service  and 
obedience,  through  the  deepest  insight  and  conformity  to  that 
most  perfect  law,  which  is  an  infallible  guide  to  the  will  of  God 
concerning  our  salvation.  But  we  are  set  free  from  slavery  even 
to  that  most  righteous  law,  whose  very  holiness  makes  its  do¬ 
minion  terrible,  even  to  those  who  would  gladly  keep  it  if  they 
could,  who  blame  themselves  and  not  it  when  they  come  short  of 
it,  and  who  would  protest  with  uplifted  hands  against  the  smallest 
diminution  of  its  sublime  rectitude.  Our  Lord,  our  Master,  our 

1  1  John,  i.  9.  2  Rom.,  viii.  21.  a  2  Cor.,  iii.  11. 

4  Gal.,  v.  1.  5  Jude,  24  ;  Col.,  1.  22. 


ADOPTION. 


191 


CHAP.  X.] 

Elder  Brother— kept  it  and  then  suffered  under  it — both  for  us  : 
our  God  and  Father,  who  is  the  giver  and  maker  of  it,  has  put 
that  righteousness  to  our  account — and  now  we  are  his  sons  !  Let 
that  suffice.  And  let  Satan,  and  the  powers  of  this  world,  and 
all  persecutors  know,  that  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God,  which 
the  law  of  God  himself  not  only  respects  but  upholds,  is  not  a 
licentiousness,  but  is  a  consecration  to  Christ,  so  absolute,  that 
the  glory  of  his  crown  is  as  deeply  involved  as  the  peace  of  their 
own  conscience  is,  in  the  exclusive  loyalty  which  his  followers 
owe  and  render  to  him.1 

3.  And  now  if  we  will  look  away  a  little  from  sin  and  the 
law,  and  look  abroad  upon  the  world  around  us,  and  scrutinize 
the  infinite  providence  which  sustains,  controls,  and  directs  all 
things  ;  we  shall  discover  how  deeply  our  new  relation  to  God  as 
his  sons,  affects  our  relations  to  all  earthly  things,  and  to  the 
providence  which  is  over  and  in  them  all.  Directing  us  concern¬ 
ing  the  course  of  this  world,  concerning  our  relations  to  it  and 
our  conduct  in  it,  and  concerning  his  providential  care  over  us  ; 
God  commands  us  to  come  out  from  among  the  wicked  and  to  be 
separate  from  them — and  adds  with  special  emphasis,  Touch  not 
the  unclean  thing  ;  and  I  will  receive  you,  and  will  be  a  Father 
unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord 
Almighty.  And  this  he  tells  us  has  been  the  uniform  and  per¬ 
petual  condition  of  the  duty  of  his  children  and  his  providences 
over  them.2  Nor  is  any  thing  in  all  God’s  word  more  clearly 
disclosed,  than  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them 
that  love  God,  to  them  who  are  the  called  according  to  his  pur¬ 
pose.3  And  thus  as  children  of  God  we  recover  the  right,  which 
our  race  lost  by  the  fall  of  Adam,  not  only  to  the  free  but  to  the 
sanctified  use  of  the  creatures  of  God  ;  for  it  is  only  as  he  gives 
us  his  Son,  that  he  with  him  freely  gives  us  all  things.4  As  to 
the  wisdom  of  this  world,  it  is  foolishness  with  God ;  and  the 
thoughts  of  the  wise  are  known  to  God  as  vain.  Far  be  it,  there¬ 
fore,  from  those  who  possess  all  things,  to  glory  in  man.  For, 
saith  God,  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or 
life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come  :  all  are  yours  ; 
and  ye  are  Christ’s  ;  and  Christ  is  God’s.6  Considering  that  we 
are  but  strangers  and  pilgrims- upon  earth — and  that  all  things  in 

1  Rom.,  xiv.  4;  Acts,  iv.  19 ;  xv.  10  ;  Gal.,  iv.  8-11.  2  2  Cor.,  vi.  16-18. 

3  Rom.,  viii.  28.  4  Rom.,  via  32.  5  1  Cor.,  iii.  19-23. 


192 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


it  and  of  it,  are  of  that  nature  that  they  cannot  satisfy  us,  and 
that  they  perish  in  the  using  :  they  who  love  God,  and  to  whom 
God  hath  shown  that  the  sum  of  all  good  consists  in  doing  justly, 
loving  mercy,  and  walking  humbly  with  God,  can  conceive  of 
nothing  more  perfect  than  the  provision  which  he  has  made  for 
them.  Keeping  themselves  unspotted  from  the  world,  they 
have  a  covenant  right  to  the  free  and  sanctified  use  of  all  the 
creatures  of  God,  and  the  infinite  providence  of  God  is  pledged, 
that  all  things  shall  work  together  for  their  good  ! 

4.  If  we  will  again  turn  our  thoughts  in  a  new  direction,  we 
shall  perceive  that  there  is  an  inward,  and  very  near  and  intimate 
aspect  of  this  participation  of  the  liberties  and  privileges  of  the 
children  of  God.  For  in  Christ  Jesus  we  have  boldness  and 
access  with  confidence  to  God  by  faith  :  an  access  the  result  of 
which  is  peace  with  God,  and  rejoicing  in  hope  of  the  glory  of 
God.1  For  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  well  as  righteousness  and 
peace,  appertain  to  us  as  sons  of  God  :2  a  joy  which  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  declare  to  be  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.3  Moreover  the 
sons  of  God  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God — and  have  therein  a 
divine  testimony  of  their  Adoption — of  the  intercession  of  Christ 
for  them  at  the  right  hand  of  God — and  of  their  assured  partici¬ 
pation  of  the  unalterable  love  of  God.4  They  are  able  to  say, 
Abba,  Father,  because  they  have  received  the  Spirit  of  Adoption: 
and  that  is  a  witnessing  Spirit,  which  beareth  witness  with  our 
spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of  God.5  And  as  if  to  put  the 
matter  wholly  out  of  dispute,  the  Apostle  in  another  place  adds 
that  because  we  are  sons,  God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his 
Son  into  our  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father.6  That  is,  this  Spirit 
is  given  unto  us  because  we  are  God’s  children,  and  then  it  tes¬ 
tifies  to  us  that  we  are  his  children.  And  this  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  is  a  sealing,  as  well  as  a  witnessing  Spirit — sealing  unto  the 
day  of  Redemption,  all  the  children  of  God.7  And  as  a  sealing 
Spirit,  it  is  that  Holy  Spirit  of  Promise  which  is  the  earnest  of 
our  inheritance,  until  the  redemption  of  the  purchased  posses¬ 
sion,  and  God  shall  have  gathered  together  all  things  in  Christ, 
in  whom  we  have  obtained  the  inheritance.8  Why  then  should 
there  be  any  marvel — that  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  should  be  a 

1  Eph.,  iii.  12;  Rom.,  v.  1,  2.  2  Rom.,  xiv.  IT.  8  1  Pet.,  i.  8. 

4  Rom.,  viii.  14,  34,  39.  5  Rom.,  viii.  15,  16.  «  Gal.,  iv.  6. 

7  Eph.,  iy.  30 ;  Rom.,  viii.  21,  23.  8  Eph.,  i.  10,  14. 


ADOPTION. 


193 


CHAP.  X.J 

preeminent  element  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  ?  or  that  the 
members  of  that  kingdom  should  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory 
of  God  ?  Although  they  never  saw  J esus — is  there  not  reason 
enough  why  they  should  love  him  supremely :  reason  enough 
why,  believing  in  him,  they  should  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory  ? .  Why  should  there  be  any  wonder,  that,  as 
the  end  of  such  faith  as  this,  the  children  of  God  should  receive 
the  salvation  of  their  souls  P1 

IY. — 1.  I  have  abstained  in  the  preceding  exposition  from 
saying  any  thing  having  a  special  and  separate  relation  to  the 
idea  of  heirship — having  as  far  as  possible  confined  myself  to  the 
idea  of  sonship.  I  wished  to  fix  attention  upon  our  relation  as 
sons  of  God  by  Adoption,  to  sin,  to  the  Law,  to  this  present  evil 
world  and  God’s  providence  over  us  therein,  and  to  the  work  of 
grace  in  our  own  souls  specially  relevant  to  this  particular  stage 
of  our  progress  in  the  divine  life.  Whatever  else  relates  to  our 
participation  in  the  privileges  and  liberties,  the  rights  and  bene¬ 
fits,  the  immunities  and  dignities  of  the  children  of  God — my 
limits  oblige  me  to  pass  over — as  I  am  constantly  obliged  to  pass 
over  whatever  will  bear  to  be  omitted  from  a  statement,  which, 
while  it  is  general,  ought  to  be  thorough.  I  have  stated  in  the 
definition,  portions  of  which  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  illus¬ 
trate,  that  bv  Adoption  into  the  family  of  God,  the  brethren  of 
Christ  become  heirs  of  all  the  promises,  heirs  of  God — and  joint 
heirs  with  Christ;  And  now  I  ought  to  add  a  few  words  en¬ 
forcing  these  statements. 

2.  The  Apostle  Peter  tells  us  that  unto  them  who  have  ob¬ 
tained  the  same  precious  faith  that  he  had,  through  the  right¬ 
eousness  of  our  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ — grace  and  peace 
are  multiplied  through  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  Jesus  our 
Lord.  He  adds  that  we,  through  the  divine  power,  by  means  of 
a  calling  which  is  toglory  anxfvirtue,  and  ha  vinigTeceived  through 
the  knowledge  of  God,  in  Christ,  all  things  that  pertain  to  life 
and  godliness  ;  have  received  exceeding  great  and  precious 
promises,  that  by  these  we  might  be  partakers  of  the  divine  na¬ 
ture,  having  escaped  the  corruption  that  is  in  the  world  through 
lust.2  We  are  told  by  the  Apostle  Paul,  that  it  was  in  order  to 
confirm  the  promises  made  unto  the  fathers,  and  that  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  might  glorify  God  for  his  mercy  :  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a 

i  1  Pet.,  L  7-9.  2  1  Pet,  i.  1-4. 

VOL.  II. 


13 


194 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


minister  of  the  circumcision  for  the  truth  of  God.1  In  other 
places  he  states,  that  all  the  promises  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  are 
yea,  and  in  him  are  amen,  unto  the  glory  of  God  by  us  :2  and 
that  it  is  through  faith  and  patience  that  all  God's  saints  inherit 

m  * 

his  promises,3^.  Iiow  vast  these  promises  are,  we  may  have  some 
conception  when  we  find  -  it  asserted  with  the  greatest  emphasis, 
that  godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come.4  And  the  mystery 
of  that  godliness  to  which  such  an  inheritance  belongs,  embraces 
of  itself  and  as  incontrovertible  parts  of  its  own  essence,  an 
inheritance  greater  than  all  it  could  draw  after  it :  for  when  we 
have  it,  we  have  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  Spirit, 
seen  of  angels,  preached  unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the 
world,  received  up  into  glory.5  To  all  this  is  added  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  passages  in  the  word  of  God — remarkable  for 
the  amazing  distinctness  with  which  the  final  glory  of  the  saints 
is  secured  to  them — remarkable  for  the  divine  condescension  and 
the  divine  demonstration  with  which  this  is  done.  God,  willing 
more  abundantly  to  show  unto  the  heirs  of  promise  the  immuta¬ 
bility  of  his  counsel,  confirmed  it  by  an  oath  :  an  oath  sworn  to 
Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,  and  because  God  could 
swear  by  no  greater,  he  swore  by  himself :  that  by  two  immuta¬ 
ble  things  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  God  to  lie,  we  might 
have  a  strong  consolation,  who  have  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold 
upon  the  hope  set  before  us  :  which  hope  we  have  as  an  anchor 
of  the  soul,  both  sure  and  stedfast,  and  which  enteretli  into  that 
within  the  veil :  whither  the  forerunner  is  for  us  entered,  even 
Jesus,  made  a  high  priest  forever  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chisedec.6 

3.  That  they  who  are  adopted  as  the  children  of  God  for  the 
sake  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  are  made  heirs  of  God, 
and  joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ,  is  implied  throughout  the 
Scriptures,  is  hundreds  of  times  involved  in  statements  relating 
immediately  to  the  subject,  and  is  repeatedly  asserted  in  the  most 
distinct  manner.  If  it  were  otherwise,  I  do  not  suppose  any 
mortal  would  ever  have  conceived  such  an  idea,  or  have  ventured 
to  utter  it.  If  children,  then  heirs ;  heirs  of  God,  and  joint 
heirs  with  Christ :  if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  him,  that  we  may 

1  Rom.,  xv.  8,  9.  2  2  Cor.,  i.  20.  3  Heb.,  vi.  12, 

4  1  Tim.,  iv.  8,  9.  6  1  Tim.,  iii.  16.  3  Heb.,  vi.  13-20. 


CHAP.  X.] 


ADOPTION. 


195 


be  glorified  together.1  If  a  son,  then  an  heir  of  God  through 
Christ.2  That  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheri¬ 
tance  amongst  them  which  are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  me.3 
He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all, 
how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things.4  If  ye 
be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  according  to 
the  promise.5  That  'the  Gentiles  should  be  fellow  heirs,  and  of 
the  same  body,  and  partakers  of  his  promise  in  Christ,  by  the 
Gospel.6  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which  according  to  his  abundant  mercy  hath  begotten  us 
again  unto  a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from 
the  dead,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiled,  and  that 
fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you,  who  are  kept  by  the 
power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation,  ready  to  be  revealed 
in  the  last  time.7  But  there  is  no  necessity  to  multiply  citations 
of  this  sort.  The  conception  which  pervades  the  whole  word  of 
God  is,  that  in  restoring  man  he  will  exalt  him  to  a  condition  far 
more  blessed  and  glorious  than  that  from  which  he  fell.  And  as 
soon  as  we  receive  with  clearness  a  knowledge  of  the  way  in  which 
God  accomplishes  this  amazing  purpose,  we  cannot  avoid  seeing 
that  in  the  very  process  of  our  own  restoration  and  salvation, 
that  purpose  of  God  is  necessarily  accomplished.  Human  nature 
has  been  taken  into  indissoluble  and  eternal  union  with  the 
divine  nature;  and  innumerable  human  beings  have  been  created 
anew  in  the  image  of  God  ;  and  these  all  have  been  constituted 
into  the  one  family  of  the  Father,  whose  children  they  are. 
When  we  think  of  what  we  have  been  and  are,  these  things  may 
overwhelm  us  with  astonishment  and  shame  :  when  we  consider 
the  things  themselves,  we  must  be  filled  with  inexpressible  joy 
and  peace.  But  when  we  see  it  plainly  set  down  in  that  word, 
which  we  know  will  abide  though  heaven  and  earth  pass  away — 
that  all  these  redeemed  souls  are  made  partakers  of  the  infinite 
righteousness  of  Christ,  and  of  his  divine  life  by  a  new  creation; 
it  does  not  seem  incredible  that  they  should  partake  of  all  grace, 
of  all  glory  !  In  effect,  that  is  just  it.  The  whole  inheritance 
of  Christ,  as  the  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  is  shared  with 
all  his  brethren  :  the  Father  adopting  them  all  as  his  children, 
adopts  them  also  as  his  heirs — joint  heirs  with  his  only  begotten 

i  Rom.,  viii.  17.  2  Gal.,  iv.  7.  3  Acts,  xxvi.  18.  *  Rom.,  viii.  32. 

5  Gal.,  iii.  29.  6  Eph.,  iii.  6.  7  1  Pet.,  i.  3-5. 


196  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

Son.  And  hundreds  of  times  in  his  blessed  word,  the  complete, 
irrevocable,  endless  devise  is  ratified  and  repeated.  And  millions 
are  daily  enjoying  their  earthly  portion :  and  millions  of  millions 
are  enjoying  their  heavenly  portion  :  and  all  are  awaiting  an 
increase  of  their  portion  with  every  increase,  by  every  means,  of 
the  glory  of  God,  in  the  execution  of  his  eternal  purpose  ! 

4.  It  may  serve  to  give  distinctness  to  our  conceptions  of  this 
great  subject  of  our  heirship — as  before  to  that  of  our  son  ship — 
to  illustrate,  as  briefly  as  possible,  a  few  chief  points  connected 
with  the  boundless  inheritance.  And  in  the  first  place,  by  be¬ 
coming  heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ,  the  adopted 
children  of  God  acquire  an  indefeasible  title  to  the  whole  world. 
I  do  not  mean  merely,  that  they  acquire  a  covenant  right  to  such 
a  portion  of  the  things  of  this  world  as  is  best  for  them,  and  to 
the  sanctified  use  of  so  much  thereof  as  God  allows  them  to 
enjoy,  and  that  all  things  temporal  work  together  for  their  good  : 
the  whole  of  which  is  indeed  true,  and  of  the  highest  importance 
to  us.  But  God,  at  the  beginning,  gave  to  man  dominion  over 
the  earth  and  all  connected  with  it,  and  bade  him  subdue  and 
replenish  it.  And  when  this  immense  endowment  was  forfeited 
by  man,  and  the  earth  itself  was  cursed  for  his  sake  ;  Gqcl  an¬ 
nulled  the  dominion  of  Satan  over  the  elect — leaving  the  earth 
still  under  the  curse,  but  with  the  assurance  that  it  should  yield 
bread  to  the  sweat  of  man’s  face.  When  Noah  came  forth  from 
the  ark,  God,  bv  a  new  covenant  with  him,  recognized  the  claim 
vested  hut  slumbering  in  the  elect,  as  I  have  just  explained  :  and 
reiterated  the  original  command  to  replenish  it.  From  thence 
onward  throughout  the  Scriptures,  the  purposes  of  God  concerning 
the  ultimate  destiny  of  the  earth  are  more  and  more  openly  de¬ 
clared.  So  far  as  the  present  matter  is  concerned,  it  is  clearly 
revealed  that  the  promise  to  Abraham,  that  he  should  be  the  heir 
of  the  world,  was  not  made  to  him  or  to  his  seed  through  the 
law,  but  through  the  righteousness  of  Faith.1  Nay,  that  this 
promise  to  Abraham  and  his  seed,  was  specific  and  singular — not 
of  many,  but  one — which  is  Christ.2  From  whence  it  follows, 
as  the  Apostle  proves  at  large,  that  if  we  be  Christ’s,  then  are  we 
Abraham’s  seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the  promise.3  And  so 
the  Son  of  God  by  his  name  of  The  Seed  of  the  Woman  delivered 
us  from  Satan,  and  by  his  name  of  The  Seed  of  Abraham  delivered 

1  Rom.,  iv.  13.  8  GaL,  iii.  16.  3  Q-al.,  in.  29. 


ADOPTION. 


197 


CHAP.  X.] 

the  earth  as  our  inheritance,  from  the  curse.  Two  particulars  of 
great  importance  are  insisted  on  in  the  Scriptures.  The  first  is, 
that  the_cr£aturn.w  and  the„,.hondage  of 

corruption,  not  willingly,  and  in  hope  :  and  that  its  deliverance 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  (rod  will  occur  along 
with  their  manifestation,  their  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption 
of  their  body,  as  our  English  version  has  it.*1  The  second  par¬ 
ticular  is,  that  though  the  day  of  God  must  come,  wherein  the 
heavens  being  on  fire  shall  he  dissolved,  and  the  elements  shall 
melt  with  fervent  heat  :  nevertheless,  we,  according  to  his  pro¬ 
mise,  look  for  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness.2  It  does  not  appear  to  me  that  the  Scriptures 
teach  that  this  earth,  whether  in  its  present  or  its  renewed  and 
glorious  condition,  is  to  he  the  final  inheritance  and  habitation 
of  the  saints,  anv  more  than  the  constant  abode  of  our  race.  But 
I  do  not  see  how  we  can  deny,  without  great  wresting  of  the 
Scriptures,  that  they  do  teach  us  plainly,  that  it  is  an  immense 
inheritance  belonging  to  us  by  the  original  gift  of  God  ;  lost  and 
polluted  by  the  fall  of  man  ;  recovered  by  the  blood  of  Christ  ; 
restored  to  us  for  his  sake  as  sons  and  heirs  of  God  ;  purged,  re¬ 
newed,  and  to  be  occupied  in  glory  and  felicity,  short  only  of  our 
final  rest  and  triumph  when  the  kingdom  itself  is  delivered  up  to 
the  Father. 

5.  It  is  of  that  spiritual  kingdom,  as  another  portion  of  the 
inheritance  of  the  heirs  of  God,  that  I  now  add  a  few  words. 
The  truths  set  forth  in  the  preceding  paragraph  conclude  to  the 
great  result,  that  the  work  and-irforv  of  God  as  Creator,  are  the 
inheritance  of  hisJtieirs.  In  this  paragraph  the  great  resuHTto 
which  our  thoughts  are  directed  is,  that  the  work  and  glory  of 
God  as  Bedeemer,  are  also  the  inheritance  of  his  heirs.  I  appoint 
you  a  kingdom,  said  the  Saviour  to  his  Apostles,  as  my  Father 
hath  appointed  unto  me  :  that  ye  may  eat  and  drink  at  my  table 
in  my  kingdom,  and  sit  on  thrones  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel.3  And  when  one  who  sat  at  meat  with  him  heard  some 
touching  words  uttered  by  him,  and  exclaimed,  Blessed  is  he  that 
shall  eat  bread  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  :  the  Saviour  immediately 

*  kironahviptc;  vlodema — ano'XvTpums  tov  (rcj/iaroc,  appear  to  be  equivalent  to  each 
other  in  this  passage,  so  far  as  the  time  of  the  deliverance  of  the  creature,  has  any 
relation  to  the  condition  of  the  heirs  of  the  creation. 

i  Rom.,  viii.  19-23.  2  2  Pet.,  hi.  12,  13. 


3  Luke,  xxii.  29,  30. 


198  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

explained  by  one  of  his  most  striking  parables,  bow  that  kingdom 
was  perpetuated,  and  who  the  members  of  it  were.1  And  on 
another  occasion  expressly  teaching  bis  disciples,  be  said,  Fear 
not,  little  flock :  for  it  is  your  Father’s  good  pleasure  to  give  you 
the  kingdom  :2  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  world.3  And  the  Apostle  Peter  declares,  that  be¬ 
lievers  being  a  generation  chosen  to  show  forth  the  praises  of  him 
who  called  them  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light :  are 
not  only  a  people,  a  nation,  and  a  priesthood — but  that  as  a  people 
they  are  peculiar,  as  a  nation  holy,  and  as  a  priesthood  royal.4 
This  Kingdom  of  God,  which  the  Apostle  James  tells  us,  God 
has  prepared  for  them  who  love  him  ;5  this  universal  body  of  the 
redeemed,  this  commonwealth  of  the  elect,  is  exhibited  through¬ 
out  the  Scriptures  under  a  threefold  aspect :  first,  as  the  Messianic 
Kingdom,  held  forth  under  Christ  the  head  and  Lord  :  secondly, 
as  the  New  Creation  exhibited  as  a  Kingdom,  every  member  of 
which  is  regenerated  and  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and 
thirdly,  as  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  manifested  through  its 
members,  every  one  of  whom  is  the  object  of  the  free  and  eternal 
love  of  God,  and  has  been  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  the  Son  of 
God — now  militant,  fighting  for  their  Saviour  and  their  inheri¬ 
tance — but  hastening  to  their  millennial  triumph — and  beyond 
that  to  their  eternal  glory.  We  ought  to  reflect,  that  in  truth 
this  Kingdom  of  God,  though  spiritual,  is  so  far  from  being  ideal 
that  all  other  kingdoms  have  for  their  chief  object,  the  working 
out  of  a  certain  security,  protection  and  success  for  this  divine 
kingdom.  And  as  the  divine  concession  that  any  such  world- 
powers  should  exist,  was  given  only  after  the  drowning  of  the  old 
world,  and  on  account  of  the  wickedness  of  man,  and  not  until 
after  sixteen  or  seventeen  centuries  of  progress  by  the  Kingdom 
of  God  ;  so  the  whole  of  them  are  to  pass  away — and  the  highest 
use  of  which  they  are  finally  capable,  is  to  be  made  into  a  king¬ 
dom  for  the  Lord  and  his  Christ.6  And  the  end  of  the  prince  of 
this  world,  the  power  that  worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience 
— cast  out  as  he  was  by  the  lifting  up  of  the  Son  of  man — -is  that 
he  shall  be  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  where  the 
beast  and  false  prophet  are,  and  shall  be  tormented  day  and  night 
forever  and  ever.7  As  for  impenitent  sinners — the  wicked  shall 

1  Luke,  xiv.  15-24.  2  Luke,  xii.  32.  3  Mat.,  xxv.  34.  *  i  pet.,  y.  9.  5  James,  il  5. 

6  Rev.,  xi.  15;  Daniel,  ii.  44 ;  vii.  13-18.  7  John,  xiL  31,  32  ;  Rev.,  xx.  10. 


ADOPTION. 


199 


CHAP.  X.] 

be  turned  into  hell,  with  all  the  nations  that  forget  God.1  It  is 
this  divine  kingdom^  visible  to  men  now  only  in  the  imperfect 
lives  of  the  weak  heirs  of  it — but  yet  replenished  with  the  power 
of  God — and  chosen  as  his  peculiar  portion  ;  which  God  has 
given  to  his  children,  and  through  which  he  will  make  them 
blessed  and  himself  glorious,  beyond  all  that  the  heart  of  man 
can  conceive — and  that  through  eternal  ages. 

6.  When  God  has  given  to  us  his  work  and  glory  as  Creator, 
and  his  work  and  glory  as  Redeemer — as  I  have  shown  in  the 
two  preceding  paragraphs  he  has  done  ;  there  remains,  as  it 
would  seem,  nothing  else  to  bestow  upon  us.  For  we  bear  to 
God  no  relation  that  is  not  involved  in  our  condition  as  creatures, 
or  our  condition  as  sinners  ;  and  God  bears  no  relation  to  us  that 
is  not  involved  in  his  being  God  our  Creator,  and  God  our  Saviour. 
But  God  has  found  an  inheritance  greater  than  all  besides.  He 
hn,s  gi yen  hirpse.lf.-to  us.,  I  There  can  be  no  approximation  ofthe 
finite  to  the  infinite  which  will  not  leave  an  infinite  chasm  be¬ 
tween  the  two  :  and  therefore  man  when  created,  however  really 
he  was  an  image  and  likeness  of  God,  stood  very  far  off  from 
God.  Compared  with  the  posture  in  which  those,  whose  portion 
God  is,  now  stand,  the  original  posture  of  man  is  not  a  just  illus¬ 
tration.  For  in  the  process  of  restoring  man  to  the  lost  image 
of  God — what  was  done  was  not  a  simple  act  of  infinite  power 
effacing  defilement  and  restoring  the  obscured  image  and  lost 
perfection,  such  as  it  was  :  but  new  and  transcendent  events  oc¬ 
curred — and  the  very  process  of  restoration  led  to  results  so 
foreign  from  our  human  thinking,  and  so  inscrutable  in  them¬ 
selves — that  even  after  God  has  carefully  explained  them  to  us, 
and  after  we  have  personally  experienced  their  effects — the  whole 
appears  only  the  more  wonderful.  The  infinite  has  taken  the 
finite  into  mysterious  union  with  itself ;  God  has  become  incar¬ 
nate  in  human  nature.  This  is  the  fundamental  fact :  and  it  is 
no  longer  a  question  of  the  chasm  between  the  finite  and  the 
infinite — but  a  problem  to  be  worked  out  on  this  new  basis,  of  the 
inseparable  union  between  the  two — the  God-man.  The  out¬ 
working  of  that  superhuman  problem  gives  this  result,  namely, 
the  regeneration  of  the  soul  of  fallen  man  by  the  Holy  Ghost — 
and  by  this  means  the  participation  of  humanity  in  its  individual 
aspect,  as  before  in  its  totality — with  the  divine  nature  :  and  so 


1  Psalm  ix.  17. 


200  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

a  second  and  very  different  union  of  the  finite  and  the  infinite — 
the  New  Creature.  Upon  this  every  thing  else  follows  :  upon 
this  all  else  depends.  We  must  deny  the  incarnation,  or — what 
would  he  futile  after  admitting  it — we  must  deny  the  New  Crea¬ 
tion  :  otherwise  we  have  to  stultify  both  ourselves  and  God,  to 
escape  being  thoroughly  orthodox  and  evangelical.  These  stu¬ 
pendous  events,  these  inscrutable  realities — with  so  much  flowing 
from  them  as  is  revealed  by  God  and  understood  by  man ;  con¬ 
stitute  that  condition  of  things  which  is  expressed  by  saying, 
God  himself  is  the  crowning  portion  of  that  immeasurable  inheri¬ 
tance  which  he  bestows  upon  those  who,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
are  adopted  as  his  children  and  declared  to  be  his  heirs.  God 
himself  is  the  satisfying  portion  of  their  souls.  And  in  return, 
their  love  for  God  is  not  only  the  manner  of  service,  and  the  way 
of  recognition,  but  is  the  method  of  enjoying  their  inheritance — 
which  above  all  is  acceptable  to  him.  We  see  so  clearly  our  own 
unworthiness,  we  shrink  so  timidly  from  the  scoffs  of  those  who 
walk  in  darkness,  that  we  understate  the  teachings  of  God,  and 
our  own  most  exalted  communion  with  him.  And  yet,  if  we 
know  any  thing  of  God  or  of  our  own  souls,  we  know  assuredly 
that  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  God  himself,  is  the  consum¬ 
mation  at  once  of  the  glory  which  he  can  derive  from  us,  and  of 
the  felicity  which  we  can  derive  from  him.1 

V. — 1.  In  the  treatment  of  such  subjects  as  these,  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  avoid  any  approach  towards  any  exaggera¬ 
tion,  of  the  particular  matter  at  any  time  under  special  considera¬ 
tion.  On  the  other  hand,  the  certainty  and  the  completeness  of 
the  general  result,  depend  upon  our  ability — while  we  discuss 
successive  truths — to  keep  steadily  before  the  mind  the  whole 
proportion  of  faith,  and  the  exact  relation  of  each  particular  truth 
to  all  other  particular  truths,  and  to  the  grand  scheme  of  which 
all  of  them  are  but  elemental  parts.  To  an  infinite  mind  the 
whole  is  but  one  truth,  intuitively  perceived,  and  that  with  per¬ 
fect  clearness.  It  is  a  resource  of  weakness  not  of  strength,  to 
take  that  whole  to  pieces  and  examine  the  parts:  or  to  take  those 
parts  and  by  putting  them  together  reconstruct  that  whole.  And 
in  both  processes,  the  very  weakness  which  exacts  them  is  prone 
to  innumerable  mistakes  :  from  which,  in  the  treatment  of  the 

i  1  John,  iii.  2 ;  Phil.,  hi.  passim;  Col.,  hi  1-4,  9,  10;  Gal.,  ii.  20 ;  2  Tim.,  L  14; 
1  John,  hi.  24;  iv.  12-17. 


ADOPTION. 


201 


CHAP.  X.] 

Knowledge  of  God  unto  Salvation  as  a  science  of  positive  truth, 
the  greatest  security  is  that  spiritual  insight  which  flows  from  the 
conformity  of  the  soul  itself  to  God. 

2.  Applying  these  observations  to  the  present  subject,  we  are 
to  bear  in  mind  that  all  the  rights  and  liberties,  all  the  privileges 
and  dignities  of  the  sons  and  heirs  of  God,  are  by  no  means  in¬ 
stantly  bestowed  on  them,  for  full,  immediate,  and  constant 
enjoyment,  as  soon  as  they  are  adopted  by  God  as  his  children, 
and  declared  to  be  his  heirs.  Nor  is  it  true  that  the  portion 
bestowed  on  each  child  of  God,  is  precisely  equal  to  the  portion 
bestowed  on  every  other  child  of  God,  whether  in  the  kingdom 
of  grace  or  the  kingdom  of  glory,  any  more  than  in  the  dispen¬ 
sation  of  his  providence.  On  the  contrary,  each  one  has  a  lot 
and  a  destiny  peculiarly  his  own,  which  he  must  work  out :  and 
answering  thereto  a  crown  peculiarly  his  own,  which  he  will  wear 
forever.  And  the  total  sum  of  all  the  results  will  illustrate  every 
possible  phase  of  the  immensely  diversified  problem,  of  infinite 
grace  successfully  applied  to  save  fallen  and  depraved  creatures, 
under  every  form  of  sin,  in  every  variety  of  fortune,  through  every 
aspect  of  temptation,  by  means  of  every  method  of  divine  deal¬ 
ing  with  cases  all  generically  alike,  but  full  of  complicated  and 
inconceivable  peculiarities  ;  grace  abounding,  grace  triumphant, 
the  one  grand  truth  shining  through  all !  Nor  is  it  true  that 
every  gift  and  every  grace  bestowed  by  God  upon  his  sons  and 
heirs,  has  an  exclusive,  or  even  an  immediate  relation  to  God's 
act  of  Adoption  :  much  less  is  it  true  that  that  act  of  itself  fits 
his  children  and  heirs  for  the  enjoyment  of  their  whole  inheri¬ 
tance.  On  the  contrary,  many  gifts  and  many  graces,  and  many 
acts  and  many  works,  of  divine  love  and  mercy,  have  gone  before 
that  adopting  act  of  God — and  many  will  follow  after ;  all  con¬ 
spiring  to  fit  the  redeemed  sinner  to  be  and  do  what  his  new 
condition  demands.  And  the  same  thing  might  be  said,  nearly 
in  the  same  words,  concerning  almost  every  benefit  of  the  Cov¬ 
enant  of  Redemption,  and  concerning  almost  every  Christian 
grace — one  after  another.  It  is  by  habituating  ourselves  to  the 
contemplation  of  the  New  Creature  as  a  real  being — as  indeed 
our  very  self ;  and  to  the  contemplation  of  the  vital  manifesta¬ 
tions  of  that  New  Creature,  as  so  many  qualities,  acts,  incidents, 
divinely  appropriate  to  such  a  creature  ;  that  we  may  best  pro¬ 
tect  ourselves  from  the  illusions  of  our  imaginations  and  the 


202  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

mistakes  of  our  reason  ;  and  keep  all  the  graces  and  all  the  rela¬ 
tions  of  that  New  Creature,  in  their  true  position  with  reference 
to  him,  to  each  other,  to  the  Godhead,  and  to  each  Person  of  the 
adorable  Trinity. 

3.  To  illustrate  this,  in  a  few  words.  We  have  found  this 
child  of  God  a  fallen,  depraved,  and  ruined  enemy  of  his  Crea¬ 
tor.  We  have  seen  his  Creator,  in  infinite  grace,  become  his 
Saviour,  and  proclaim  his  eternal  purpose  to  save  him — and 
reveal  the  plan  by  which  he  would  accomplish  this.  We  have 
traced  the  development  of  this  plan,  till  it  fell  with  equal  power 
and  mercy  upon  this  sinner.  We  have  seen  him  awakened, 
penitent,  believing — -united  to  Christ  :  and,  examining  more 
closely,  we  have  seen  him  effectually  called  by  God,  regenerated 
by  the  Holy  Ghost — justified  by  the  Father — and  now  adopted 
as  a  son  and  heir  of  God  :  and  what  further  of  grace  and  glory 
is  in  store  for  him,  remains  for  us  to  trace.  But  it  is  all  the 
while  the  same  soul :  all  the  while  the  things  we  have  been  con¬ 
sidering  are  either  the  vital  manifestations  of  this  soul,  first  in 
its  state  of  sin,  and  then  in  its  state  of  grace  ;  or  else  the  coun¬ 
sel,  purpose,  acts,  and  works,  of  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Hoty 
Ghost,  concerning,  towards,  upon,  or  in,  this  same  soul  in  its  two 
estates  of  sin  and  grace.  Point  by  point,  every  thing  may  be 
made  clear :  but  even  this  is  a  method  exacted  by  our  weakness 
— as  I  have  pointed  out — with  its  best  remedy,  namely,  a  true 
spiritual  insight.  And,  moreover,  every  separate  point  may  be 
made  clear,  merely  as  a  separate  point,  and  not  as  an  essential 
element  of  the  great  whole  ;  which  latter  office  of  each  truth  is 
indispensable  to  all  adequate  and  secure  possession  of  the  mo¬ 
mentous  subject  ;  and  I  have  pointed  out  that  the  security 
against  this  second  danger  from  our  weakness,  lies  in  the  habit 
of  considering  divine  things  in  the  concrete  and  in  the  whole,  as 
they  affect  us.  Let  us  be  humble  under  the  manifold  proof  of 
the  damage  which  sin  has  wrought  to  our  understanding,  even 
while  we  take  comfort  in  the  proof  afforded  by  the  very  discovery 
of  our  weakness,  that  divine  grace  has,  in  some  degree,  restored 
us,  even  in  knowledge,  to  the  lost  image  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XI 


SANCTIFICATION :  RELATION  TO  THE  PLAN  OF  SALVATION ;  NATURE : 

MEANS:  RELATION  TO  THE  GODHEAD. 

I.  1.  The  mutual  Love  of  God  and  his  Children. — 2.  Relation  of  Righteousness  to 
Life:  Sanctification:  Consummation  of  Love. — 3.  The  Life  of  God  in  the  Soul 
nourished  and  advanced  to  Perfection. — 4.  Sanctification  compared  with  Adop¬ 
tion:  with  Regeneration :  with  Effectual  Calling  ;■  with  Justification. — 5.  Sancti¬ 
fication  itself  described. — II.  1.  Sanctification  a  Benefit  of  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption:  Effects  and  Objects  of  it. — 2.  A  great  Work  of  Divine  Grace,  pervading 
the  whole  Man. — 3.  Unequal  in  different  Persons:  Gradual:  Imperfect  in  this 
Life:  Finally  Complete  and  Sure. — 4.  Relation  of  Sanctification  to  Repentance, 
Faith,  and  Love. — 5.  Efforts  of  the  Renewed  Soul  after  Deliverance  from  Pollu¬ 
tion,  and  Perfection  in  Holiness. — III.  1.  Means  of  Grace  in  our  Sanctification. — 
2.  The  Word  is  the  great  Means:  Divine  Truth  the  Effectual  Instrument. — 3.  All 
the  Ordinances  of  God:  the  Sacraments — the  Sabbath-Day — Religious  Worship — 
Preaching  the  W ord — Prayer — Praise — Alms — Fasting — V ows — Discipline. — IV. 

1.  God  the  Author  of  Sanctification:  Its  Peculiar  Relation  to  the  Godhead. — 

2.  The  Power  exerted  therein  exceeds  and  is  opposite  to  all  Power,  except  that  of 
God. — 3.  Its  Exercise  ascribed  to  Jehovah,  to  the  Father,  to  the  Son,  and  to  the 
Holy  Ghost:  Explication  of  this. — 4.  This  Work  of  the  Godhead,  and  the  Per¬ 
sons  thereof,  in  Sanctification,  accords  with  the  Administration  of  each,  in  the 
(Economy  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption. — 5.  We  are  Sanctified  through  the 
Virtue  of  the  Death  and  Resurrection  of  Christ. — 6.  Definition  of  Sanctification. 

I. — 1.  When  the  Scriptures  would  distinctly  express,  or  syste¬ 
matically  explain,  the  sum  and  result  of  the  inward  dealings  of  God 
with  the  souls  of  the  redeemed ;  the  emphatic  characteristic  which  is 
usually  marked  in  them  is,  that  they  love  God.  It  is  for  them  who 
love  God,  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  ;  for  it  is  they 
only  who,  having  been  called  according  to  his  purpose,  thus  love 
him.  The  divine  method  as  explicated  by  God  himself,  begins  by 
pointing  out  the  fact  of  their  love  for  him — and  closes  by  declar¬ 
ing  his  unalterable  and  eternal  love  for  them.  Between  these 
two  points  the  whole  scheme  of  salvation  is  expounded  in  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  passages  contained  in  the  word  of  God.1 
There  is  the  loving  child  of  God  :  and  there  is  God’s  infinite  care 

1  Rom.,  viii.  28-39. 


204  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

over  him.  Would  we  understand  this  ?  Then  understand  and 
accept  the  eternal  purpose  of  God — his  eternal  foreknowledge  of 
his  children,  his  eternal  predestination  of  their  conformity  to  the 
image  of  his  Son.  Understand,  moreover,  and  accept,  their  divine 
calling  in  Christ,  and  their  divine  justification  by  the  Father, 
.  during  their  mortal  pilgrimage  ;  and  their  assured  glorification, 
begun  in  time,  and  to  be  consummated  in  eternity.  After  this 
is  told  to  us,  it  is  easy  to  believe  the  conclusion  of  the  matter, 
namely,  that  God's  love  for  them  will  surmount  all  things,  and 
survive  for  ever. 

2.  Bighteousness  alone  can  give  us  no  title  that  will  endure 
any  longer  than  it  endures  itself.  While  it  lasts,  it  may  secure 
life  to  us  :  if  it  would  secure  eternal  life  to  us,  it  must  be  a 
righteousness  eternally  continued.  If  it  were  otherwise — which 
in  the  nature  of  the  case  it  could  not  be — righteous  Adam  had  a 
perfect  title  to  eternal  life  before  he  fell :  and  so  perhaps  had 
Satan  ;  and  then  there  was  no  need  of  the  everlasting  righteous¬ 
ness  brought  in  by  the  divine  Mediator  for  the  salvation  of  fallen 
men.  It  has  been  plainly  shown  that  it  is  by  our  adoption  as  sons 
and  heirs  of  God,  that  we  are  put  in  possession  of  an  indefeasible 
title  to  his  boundless  inheritance  ;  and  as  a  part  of  it,  the  ever¬ 
lasting  righteousness  of  our  brother  and  joint  heir,  the  Son  of 
God,  made  flesh.  The  very  way  in  which  he  became  the  first 
born  among  many  brethren,  was  that  God  did  predestinate  them 
to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son.1  So  that  they  were 
predestinated  to  the  righteousness  itself,  no  less  assuredly  than 
to  all  the  fruits  which  flow  from  its  possession.  Being,  for  the 
sake  of  that  righteousness  of  Christ,  effectually  called  of  God, 
and  born  again  of  the  Spirit ;  that  righteousness  is  imputed  to 
us  for  our  justification,  and  received  by  us  only  through  Faith. 
And  now,  being  sons  of  God  by  Adoption,  our  Sanctification  is 
the  gradual  consummation  of  that  righteousness  in  the  renewed 
soul.  Throughout  all  this  divine  process  of  Sanctification,  Be- 
pentance  toward  God  is  a  kind  of  perpetual  revulsion  of  our  new 
nature  against  our  former  estate,  and  the  remains  of  pollution 
still  lurking  in  it ;  a  perpetual  yearning  of  our  new  nature  after 
fuller  participation  of  this  Bighteousness.  And  Faith,  the  pri¬ 
meval  vital  act  of  our  new  nature,  becomes  the  great  internal 
means  through  which  every  other  part  of  the  wonderful  trans- 

1  Rom.,  viii.  29. 


CHAP.  XI.] 


SANCTIFICATION. 


205 


formation,  is  carried  on  and  perfected.  Until,  at  last,  those 
eternal  results  of  which  Faith  is,  to  us  here  below,  at  once  the 
substance  and  the  evidence,1  are  fully  reached  ;  and  Faith  itself 
is  swallowed  up  in  the  perfect  vision  of  him  who  is  at  once  its 
author  and  its  finisher.2  For  when  mortality  is  swallowed  up  of 
life,  and  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory:3  what  shall  abide,  will 
he,  that  undying  love  of  God  for  his  children,  and  of  his  children 
for  him,  out  of  which  all  salvation  comes,  and  in  which  all  salva¬ 
tion  will  he  consummated  !4 

3.  By  the  Fall  of  man,  our  whole  race  contracted,  not  only 
guilt,  hut  pollution.*  It  lost  also  its  original  righteousness.  But 
it  is  expressly  written,  that  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the 
Lord.5  God  himself  is  most  holy ;  and  the  restoration  of  man 
to  the  lost  image  of  his  Creator- — and  the  predestinated  con¬ 
formity  of  the  elect  to  the  image  of  the  Son  of  God — can  mean 
no  less,  how  much  soever  more  they  may  mean — than  their  re¬ 
covery,  not  only  of  the  knowdedge,  hut  of  the  righteousness  and 
true  holiness  of  creatures  having  the  image  and  likeness  of  God, 
and  conformity  to  the  image  of  his  Son.  It  is  not  enough  that 
actual  punishment  for  sin  should  be  remitted  ;  nor  even  that  its 
blameworthiness  should  he  overlooked.  Its  impurity  must  be  re¬ 
moved  ;  and  our  personal  holiness  must  be  restored. f  The  sum 
of  all  this,  as  a  divine  work  toward,  and  in  man, — the  Apostle 
in  the  brief  summary  so  often  alluded  to,  expresses  by  three 
words,  namely,  Calling,  Justification,  and  Glorification.6  As  a 
help  to  our  weakness,  the  Church  of  God,  in  all  ages,  and  ex¬ 
positors  of  the  divine  word  of  all  shades  of  opinion,  have 
brought  from  other  j)ortions  of  the  Scriptures  other  terms  inter¬ 
posed  by  the  same  or  some  other  inspired  writer,  to  enlarge  this 
brief  description.  I  have,  in  like  manner,  followed  the  chapter 
on  Effectual  Calling  with  one  on  Regeneration,  which  ap¬ 
pertains  to  it ;  and  followed  the  chapter  on  Justification  with 
one  on  Adoption,  which  results,  in  a  manner,  from  it ;  and  now, 
postponing  the  separate  treatment  of  Glorification  till  we  have 
considered  all  that  precedes  it,  this  chapter  on  Sanctification 
is  added  to  point  out  how  the  children  of  God,  after  being 
Effectually  Called,  Regenerated,  Justified,  and  Adopted,  find 

1  Heb.,  xi.  1.  2  Heb.,  xii.  2.  3  2  Cor.,  v.  4;  1  Cor.,  xv.  54. 

*  1  John,  iv.  8,  16.  *  llcatus. — Macula.  5  Heb.,  xii.  14. 

f  Poena. — Culpa. — Macula. — Sanctitas.  8  Rom.,  riii.  30. 


206  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

the  life  of  God  sustained  and  advanced  in  the  soul  unto 
perfection. 

4.  Sanctification  is  different  from  Adoption,  though  both  of 
them  relate  to  the  inheritance  of  the  redeemed  :  the  former  con¬ 
cerning  our  fitness  to  possess  and  enjoy  every  thing  to  which  title 
is  given  by  the  latte r.  God  having  brought  us  so  far  as  to  adopt 
us  as  his  sons  and  heirs,  now  proceeds  to  train  us  in  a  manner 
that  makes  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light.1  Sanctification  is  also  different  from  Regenera¬ 
tion  ;  for  it  is  not  a  new  creation,  which  Regeneration  is,  but  it 
is  the  nurture  and  perfection  of  that  new  creation,  so  far  as  that 
is  accomplished  during  our  mortal  existence.  It  is  different  also 
from  Effectual  Calling :  for  that  relates  to  the  method  of  our 
renewal  in  the  image  of  God,  while  this  relates  to  the  gradual 
progress  of  the  divine  life  within  us,  unto  the  total  completeness 
of  that  renewal  of  man  in  the  divine  image.  It  is  different  from 
Justification,  with  which  it  is  most  frequently  confounded,  and 
with  the  least  reason  of  all.  For  Justification  is  an  act  of  God's 
grace  outward  as  to  us,  while  Sanctification  is  a  work  of  God's 
grace  within  us  :  the  former,  moreover,  relating  to  our  state,  the 
latter  to  our  nature  ;  the  one  consummated  by  the  Father  in  a 
single  judicial  sentence,  the  other  involving  a  work  of  the  whole 
Godhead,  and  especially  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  uninterruptedly  to 
the  end  of  our  mortal  existence,  to  be  manifested  afterwards  in 
glory  for  ever.  With  regard  to  sin,  it  is  pardoned  in  Justifica¬ 
tion  ;  but  the  object  of  Sanctification  is  to  purge  it  out,  destroy 
it,  and  supplant  it  with  holiness  :  and  as  touching  holiness,  Jus¬ 
tification  is,  by  means  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed 
to  us,  while  Sanctification  is  the  result  of  that  righteousness 
received  into  the  soul  itself,  as  a  living  and  transforming 
power. 

5.  Sanctification,  considered  of  itself  as  a  work  of  divine  grace, 
must  not  be  confounded  with  sanctity,  or  personal  holiness,  con¬ 
sidered  as  a  quality  in  us.  Personal  holiness  in  us,  sanctity,  is 
the  habit  of  doing  only  what  is  both  true  and  good — that  is,  what 
is  right :  that  state  of  the  new  man  in  which,  by  a  divine  crea¬ 
tion,  not  only  righteousness  in  its  broadest  sense,  but  especially 
true  holiness — the  holiness  of  truth,*  is  the  habit  of  the  soul. 
But  man,  so  far  from  having  any  such  sanctity  as  this  by  nature, 

1  Col.,  i.  12.  *  kUaLOGvvTi  Kcndaio-t/Tc  ttjs  aX-r}6elac.  Eph.,  iv.  24. 


CHAP.  XI.] 


SANCTIFI.OATION. 


207 


has  lost  his  original  righteousness ;  and  has,  besides,  contracted 
a  defilement,  and  reduced  his  nature  to  a  state  and  habit  of  sin, 
precisely  opposite  to  the  holiness  his  nature  needs.  The  process 
of  restoring  that  original  righteousness,  and  perfecting  that  true 
holiness — meantime  healing  and  extirpating  that  inward  state 
and  habit  of  sin  ;  is  that  work  of  grace  whereby  both  the  quality 
and  the  habit  of  human  actions  are  changed,  by  acting  radically 
and  divinely  upon  the  human  soul  itself.  This  vital  progress 
and  steady  mutation  of  the  renewed  soul,  is  what  we  call  Sancti¬ 
fication  ;  that  work  of  God’s  grace  in  regenerate,  justified,  and 
adopted  believers,  whereby  the  spiritual  acts  and  habits  of  their 
nature  are  changed  from  sin  and  the  fruits  thereof,  to  true  holi¬ 
ness  and  the  fruits  thereof.  Considered  as  a  great  work  of  divine 
grace  within  the  renewed  soul,  it  is  the  method  whereby  God 
renews  us  completely  in  his  lost  image,  and  conforms  us  entirely 
to  the  image  of  his  Son,  restoring  us  to  the  perfect  knowledge 
and  love  of  his  truth,  and  the  complete  fruition  of  his  holiness.1 
For  if  we  have  learned  Christ  aright,  and  have  been  taught  by 
him,  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus  ;  we  put  off,  concerning  the  former 
conversation,  the  old  man  which  is  corrupt  according  to  the  de¬ 
ceitful  lusts  ;  and  are  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  our  mind  ;  and 
put  on  the  new  man  ;  which  after  God  is  created  in  righteous¬ 
ness  and  true  holiness.2 

II. — 1.  The  prophet  Jeremiah,  after  distinctly  foretelling  the 
captivity  of  God’s  ancient  people,  and  their  return  from  Babylon, 
adds,  as  a  glorious  event  to  occur  afterwards,  and  speaking  in 
the  name  of  God — I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  them, 
that  I  will  not  turn  away  from  them,  to  do  them  good  ;  but  I 
will  put  my  fear  in  their  hearts,  that  they  shall  not  depart  from 
me.3  In  another  place  he  calls  that  everlasting  covenant  new, 
as  compared  with  the  special  and  peculiar  administration  of  his 
grace  under  the  Jewfish  dispensation  ;  and  describes  clearly  but 
briefly  the  Gospel  state  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  in  contrast 
with  the  Mosaic  state  of  it.  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the 
Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel 
and  the  house  of  Judah.  Not  according  to  the  covenant  that  I 
made  with  their  fathers,  in  the  day  that  I  took  them  by  the 
hand  to  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ;  which  my  cove¬ 
nant  they  broke,  although  I  was  a  husband  unto  them,  saith  the 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  30;  vi.  11.  2  Eph.,  iv.  24;  vi.  10-20.  3  Jer.,  xxxii.  40. 


208  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

Lord.  But  this  shall  be  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the 
house  of  Israel  after  those  days,  saitli  the  Lord  ;  I  will  put  my 
law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts  ;  and  will 
be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people.  And  they  shall  teach 
no  more  every  man  his  neighbour,  and  every  man  his  brother,  say¬ 
ing,  Know  the  Lord  :  for  they  shall  all  know  me,  from  the  least 
of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saitli  the  Lord  ;  and  I  will 
remember  their  sin  no  more.1  Supposing  these  remarkable  state¬ 
ments  to  have  an  application  to  the  Jewish  people  far  more  exact 
than  has  yet  been  realized  ;  that,  so  far  from  weakening,  increases 
the  light  they  throw  on  the  manner  of  God's  gracious  dealings, 
under  the  Gospel  aspect  of  his  everlasting  covenant,  with  the 
souls  of  his  people.  The  very  thing  which  happens,  as  God's 
children  are  more  and  more  conformed  to  him  in  their  progressive 
sanctification  is,  that  God  becomes  more  manifestly  their  God, 
and  they  become  more  manifestly  his  jieople  ;  they  know  him 
better  continually,  and  love  him  more  as  they  know  him  better  ; 
and  all  this  occurs  by  God  putting  his  law  in  their  inward  parts, 
and  writing  it  in  their  hearts.  And  so,  out  of  the  bosom  of  the 
Christian  Church,  in  the  earliest  practical  manifestation  of  these 
ancient  promises,  the  Apostle  Peter  proclaims  the  realization  of 
God's  declarations  to  Jeremiah.  For  exhorting  the  elect  scat¬ 
tered  through  the  nations,  to  desire,  as  new-born  babes,  the  sin¬ 
cere  milk  of  the  word  that  they  might  grow  thereby  :  beseeching 
them,  if  they  had  tasted  that  the  Lord  was  gracious,  to  come  to 
him  as  unto  a  living  stone,  disallowed  indeed  of  men,  but  chosen 
of  God  and  precious  :  he  asserts  that  to  all  believers  he  is  pre¬ 
cious,  and  that  it  was  in  order  to  show  forth  the  praises  of  him 
who  had  called  them  out  of  darkness,  into  his  marvellous  light, 
that  they  who  had  been  no  people,  had  become  the  joeople  of  God, 
and  were  now  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  na¬ 
tion,  a  peculiar  people.2  And  with  all  these  things  agree  innu¬ 
merable  statements  of  the  word  of  God.  We  are  not,  therefore, 
allowed  to  doubt,  that  our  Sanctification  is  one  of  the  chief 
benefits  of  God's  eternal  Covenant  of  Redemption  \  and  that  it  is 
no  illusion,  but  a  great  and  inevitable  reality  concerning  the  true 
life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man  ;  the  result  of  a  peculiar,  gradual, 
and  sustained  work  of  divine  grace  in  the  elect  of  God— com¬ 
pleting  the  inward  transformation  which  commenced  in  their 

1  Jer.,  xxxl  31-34. 


2  1  Peter,  iL  1-10. 


CHAP.  XI.]  SANCTIFICATION.  209 

Effectual  Calling,  and  which  was  established  in  their  Regenera¬ 
tion  ;  completing  too  their  fitness  for  that  vast  inheritance  to 
which,  partly  in  their  Justification,  and  fully  in  their  Adoption, 
they  were  declared  by  God  to  be  in  possession  of  a  complete  and 
irrevocable  title. 

2.  Concerning  the  nature  of  this  great  work  of  grace,  the 
most  obvious  peculiarity  is,  its  absolute  totality  with  reference 
to  the  whole  nature  of  man.  The  very  God  of  peace  sanctify  you 
wholly  ;  and  I  pray  God  your  whole  spirit,  soul  and  body,  be 
preserved  blameless  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.1 
A  Sanctification  extending  to  the  whole  man — and  to  every  ele¬ 
ment  of  his  being  :  yea,  so  extending,  that  his  spirit — his  soul — 
and  his  very  body  may  be  preserved  blameless  ;  so  that  when 
Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  theii  shall  we  also  appear 
with  him  in  glory.2  For  in  him  clwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  bodily,  and  we  are  complete  in  him,  which  is  the  head 
of  all  principality  and  power.3  The  Spirit  which  is  the  essence 
of  our  being,  and  the  very  condition  of  our  existence  in  the  image 
and  after  the  likeness  of  God  ;  the  soul  concerning  which  it  is 
said  that  God  breathed  into  the  nostrils  of  Adam  the  breath  of 
life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul  :4  the  vile  body,  frail,  sinful, 
dying — yet  awaiting  a  glorious  resurrection,  and  which  may  be 
so  used  by  God’s  children,  as  that  even  it  may  be  preserved 
blameless,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God  :  concerning  all, 
the  exhortation  to  us  is  to  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  filthiness  of 
the  flesh  and  spirit.6  And  while  we  are  thus  clearly  taught  the 
all-pervading  nature  of  this  stedfast  transformation  from  dark¬ 
ness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God  ;  we  are  as 
distinctly  taught,  on  the  other  hand,  that  there  can  be  no  such 
thing  in  the  divine  life  in  man,  as  a  partial  existence  of  vitality 
— one  part  pure,  and  another  impure — some  sins  mortified  and 
strangled  while  others  are  allowed  and  cherished.  Much  less  is 
there  any  rule  of  compensation  by  which  one  excess  which  we 
persuade  ourselves  is  good,  can  be  set  against  another  excess 
which  we  fear  may  be  evil  ;  and  least  of  all  can  we  compensate 
by  outward  acts — even  the  giving  of  our  body  to  be  burned — for 
inward  defilement,  which  nothing  but  an  inward  work  of  divine 
grace  can  reach.  Along  with  such  deep  and  obvious  truths,  the 
divine  standard  of  holiness  is  exalted  before  us  to  the  very 

1  1  Thess.,  v.  23.  2  Col.,  iii.  4.  3  Col.,  ii.  9, 1 0.  4  Gen.,  u.  Y.  5  2  Cor.,  vii.  1. 

VOL.  II.  14 


210  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

heavens,  and  promises  of  divine  aid  in  our  endeavours  after  it 
are  mingled  with  divine  exhortations  and  commands  to  us,  to 
make  the  most  earnest  efforts  after  complete  conformity  to  God. 
Nay,  when  every  thing  else  fails  to  stimulate  the  renewed  soul  to 
that  earnestness  which  God  requires  in  our  pursuit  of  the  infinite 
prize  set  before  us  ;  he  hides  his  face  from  us,  that  we  may  realize 
more  adequately  that  he  is  the  only  satisfying  portion  of  the  soul. 
And  so  in  every  form  in  which  a  subject  so  immense,  and  interests 
so  transcendent,  can  he  presented  to  the  heirs  of  eternal  life  ; 
the  one  great  conception  of  total  conformity  to  God — absolute 
consecration  to  his  service — engrossing  love  for  his  cause — his 
name — himself,  pervades  the  divine  word,  and  pervades  the  sanc¬ 
tified  heart,  as  the  sum  of  all  true  blessedness  on  earth,  and  the 
real  preparation  for  eternal  felicity  and  glory. 

3.  A  work  of  this  sort  must  needs  be  unspeakably  various — we 
may  say  unequal — when  one  Christian  heart  is  compared  with 
another — in  the  boundless  diversities  of  spiritual  experience,  and 
spiritual  attainments.  It  must,  of  necessity,  also,  be  gradual  ; 
and  cannot,  in  this  life,  ever  be  absolutely  perfect,  in  the  sense 
that  no  further  attainment  can  be  made,  or  in  the  sense  that  no 
remains  of  sin  are  left  to  be  subdued.  All  these  conditions  have 
a  certain  mutual  dependence  on  each  other.  If  absolute  perfec¬ 
tion  in  our  conformity  to  God  were  attainable  in  our  present 
state  ;  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  any  diversity  of  experience  could 
exist,  either  in  the  process  of  reaching  the  one  absolute  type  of 
the  immaculate  holiness  of  the  one  living  and  true  God,  or  in  the 
result  after  it  was  reached  ;  any  more  than  how  any  thing  could 
be  left,  after  that,  for  heaven  itself  to  add  to  us.  The  case  is 
tar  otherwise.  There  are  endless  diversities  in  the  endowments 
of  the  creature — in  the  operations  of  the  Spirit — in  the  gifts  of 
God — in  the  administration  of  the  Lord — in  the  manifestations 
of  the  Spirit  given  to  men  to  profit  withal.1  Under  all  these 
diverse  conditions,  each  soul  incurs  a  threefold  operation  ;  one  to 
put  off  the  old  man — one  to  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  the  mind 
— one  to  put  on  the  new  man.2  Every  soul  must  be  planted  to¬ 
gether  with  Christ  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,  and  must  be 
planted  also  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection  ;  we  must  die 
with  Christ,  and  we  must  live  with  him.3  Our  nature  has  indeed 
been  renewed — or  else  it  is  idle  to  say  a  word  about  Sanctification. 

1  1  Cor.,  xu.  4-12.  2  Eph.,  iv.  22,  24.  3  Rom.,  vi.  5,  8. 


CHAP.  XI.]  SANCTIFICATION.  211 

But  with  that  very  renewal,  the  great  spiritual  warfare  com¬ 
menced — the  spirit  lusting  against  the  flesh,  and  the  flesh  lusting 
against  the  spirit ;  and  these  contrary  the  one  to  the  other ; 
so  that  we  cannot  do  the  things  that  we  would.1  Between  the 
putting  off  the  old  man,  and  the  putting  on  the  new  man,  the 
Apostle,  as  we  have  just  seen,  expressly  locates  the  necessity  of 
being  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  our  mind.2  The  work  of  stripping 
the  soul  of  its  polluted  habiliments  ;  the  work  of  clothing  the 
soul  in  its  heavenly  vestments ;  the  work  of  making  the  spirit  of 
the  mind — the  habit  of  the  soul — recoil  from  its  old  and  conform 
to  its  new  life.  In  all  this  work  wrought  in  the  name  and  for 
the  sake  of  Christ — the  divine  Spirit  respects  God's  work  of  cre¬ 
ation — and  deals  with  us  as  rational,  moral,  free  creatures.  And 
so  by  his  sanctifying  work,  he  more  and  more  subdues  our  wills, 
enlightens  our  understandings,  purifies  our  hearts,  enables  and 
inclines  us  to  love  and  to  enjoy  God — performing,  until  the  day 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  good  work  which  he  hath  begun  in  us.3  And 
yet  when  we  consider  that  in  our  flesh  dwelleth  no  good  thing, 
and  that  even  when  to  will  is  present  with  us,  we  see  another  law 
in  our  members  warring  against  the  law  of  our  mind,  and  bring¬ 
ing  us  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  our  members  ;4 
we  can  easily  understand  the  nature  of  the  peril  that  our  progress 
in  holiness  may  be  slow,  interrupted,  and  marked  by  many  back- 
slidings  :  and  the  reason  why  it  can  never  be  perfectly  achieved 
until  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immortality — this  corruptible 
shall  have  put  on  incorruption.5  And  this  is  the  very  method  of 
God,  in  all  his  works.  One  degree  after  another,  whether  of 
grace  or  glory  ;  one  exaltation  after  another  in  endless  dispensa¬ 
tions — cycle  after  cycle — higher  and  higher  for  evermore.  Though 
we  must  say  of  all  our  righteousnesses,  that  they  are  but  as  filthy 
rags,  and  though  we  must  feel  that  sin  doth  so  easily  beset  us  ; 
yet  we  run  with  patience  the  race  set  before  us,  looking  unto 
Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith.6  Nor  can  we,  without 
denying  the  faith  and  outraging  the  unchangeable  love  of  God, 
distrust  his  promise — nay,  his  covenant — nay,  his  oath — to  pre¬ 
pare  his  children  for  their  infinite  inheritance,  and  bring  them  to 
its  eternal  enjoyment.7 

1  Gal.,  v.  17.  2  Eph.,  iv.  23.  3  Phil.,  i.  6 ;  Psal.  li.  10 ;  Ezek.,  xxxvi.  2a 

4  Rom.,  vii.  18,  23.  5  1  Cor.,  xv.  54.  6  Isa.,  Ixiv.  6 ;  Heb.,  xii.  1,  2. 

7  Jer.,  xxxi.  3;  Heb.,  vi.  17,  20;  xiii.  20,  21  ;  John,  x.  28. 


ft 

212  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

4.  This  general  work  of  divine  grace  on  our  renewed  nature, 
has  a  peculiar  relation  to  particular  graces  of  the  Spirit  ;  espe¬ 
cially  to  Repentance,  to  Faith,  and  to  the  Love  of  God  shed 
abroad  in  the  soul.  It  is  not  possible  for  us  to  conceive  how  a 
free,  spiritual  being,  can  hate  and  shun  any  thing  as  sinful,  ex¬ 
cept  as  it  discerns  truly  the  sinfulness  of  the  thing  ;  nor  how  it 
can  hate  and  shun  it  more  and  more,  except  as  it  more  and  more 
discerns  truly  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin.  In  like  manner, 
such  a  being,  in  order  to  love  and  cleave  to  what  is  good,  must 
discern  truly  the  goodness  of  the  object ;  and  to  increase  in  its 
love  and  desire  for  any  thing,  it  must  increase  in  the  clearness  of 
its  perception  that  it  is  good.  But  this  is  the  nature  of  the 
double  office  of  Repentance  :  which  out  of  a  just  apprehension 
of  the  true  nature  of  sin — hates  it  and  turns  from  it ;  and  out  of 
a  just  apprehension  of  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  turns  to 
God  with  a  set  purpose  of  heart  after  a  new  obedience.1  Except 
therefore  in  the  continual  exercise  of  one  or  other  office  of  the 
grace  of  Repentance — there  is  no  possibility  of  growth  in  grace — 
and  therefore  none  of  our  Sanctification.  We  see  in  this  how 
futile  it  is  to  suppose,  that  we  can  ever  attain  sinless  perfection 
in  this  life  :  for  surely  the  blessed  Lord  had  never  commanded  all 
his  people,  always,  to  pray  for  the  forgiveness  of  their  daily 
transgressions — if  they  committed  none  ;  any  more  than  to  pray 
for  daily  bread  if  they  need  none.  We  see  also,  how  our  growth 
in  grace  must  necessarily  be  gradual  and  constant,  in  proportion 
as  God  withdraws  the  veil  which  obscures  the  true  nature  of  sin, 
and  discloses  its  hatefulness  more  and  more  to  the  renewed  soul ; 
and  in  proportion  as  he  discloses,  on  the  other  hand,  his  own 
beauty  and  excellence  and  glory  more  and  more  ;  and  in  propor¬ 
tion,  also,  as  he  quickens  us  in  the  power  of  our  new  life,  of 
which  both  as  to  its  reality  and  its  actual  state,  the  grace  whose 
use  I  am  illustrating  is  a  manifestation  so  constant  and  so  deci¬ 
sive.  In  like  manner,  as  the  whole  conception  of  grace  towards 
us,  involves  continually  and  fundamental^  the  idea  of  the  divine 
Mediator  between  God  and  man  ;  so  every  idea  we  can  form  of 
Sanctification,  is  relative  to  him — and  all  growth  in  grace  by  us, 
is  some  increase  in  our  likeness  to  him — some  augmentation  of 
the  power  of  his  life  in  us.  But  Faith  in  him,  while  it  is  the 
only  conceivable  method  of  our  spiritual  union  with  him,  is  at  the 

1  Acts,  xx vi.  18. 


CHAP.  XI.] 


SANCTIFICATION. 


213 


same  time  tlie  first  and  the  most  constant  manifestation  of  our 
new  birth,  and  the  channel  through  which  all  life  and  grace  that 
come  immediately  from  him  to  us,  are  communicated  to  the  soul. 
In  proportion,  therefore,  to  the  strength,  the  simplicity,  the 
purity  and  activity  of  our  Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  must 
necessarily  he  the  power  of  that  new  life  which  we  share  with  the 
Lord  from  heaven  ;  and  in  the  same  degree  must  he  the  sted- 
fastness  of  our  growth  in  grace,  and  the  final  completeness  of 
our  Sanctification.  It  is  not  merely  a  figure  of  speech  to  say, 
that  Faith  is  not  only  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen,  hut  is  also 
the  substance  of  things  hoped  for.1  For  grace  and  truth  come 
by  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  of  his  fulness  have  we  all  received,  and 
grace  for  grace  ;  grace  in  all  his  children  responsive  to  the  bound¬ 
less  grace  in  him,  in  whom  dwelt  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
bodily.2  It  is  wonderful  to  observe  how  these  first  and  simplest 
graces  of  the  Spirit — these  earliest  manifestations  of  the  life  of 
God  in  the  soul  of  man — are  made  effectual  unto  the  very  highest 
attainments  the  soul  is  capable  of  making.  Repentance  toward 
God  and  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — the  conditions  of 
salvation  itself — which  are  as  familiar  to  the  very  humblest  child 
of  God,  as  the  path  in  which  the  wayfaring  man  habitually  walks, 
is  to  him  ;  are  nevertheless,  the  very  means  by  which  every  diffi¬ 
culty  is  solved,  every  obstacle  surmounted,  and  the  highest  form 
of  spiritual  life  finally  attained.  The  result  of  this  growth  in 
grace,  as  I  have  shown  is  general,  not  partial ;  it  is  the  Sanctifi¬ 
cation  of  the  whole  man — -and  it  is,  at  every  step  of  the  process, 
a  work  involving  the  whole  man.  Nevertheless,  there  is  a  special 
and  infallible  mark  of  the  progress,  the  particular  stage,  and  the 
result  of  this  great  work  of  grace.  He  who  exercises  Faith  in 
Jesus  Christ,  proves  thereby  that  he  is  born  of  God  ;  so  he  who 
loves  God  supremely,  proves  thereby  that  he  is  sanctified.  The 
very  end  of  the  circumcision  of  the  heart  by  God  is,  that  we  may 
love  the  Lord  our  God  with  all  our  heart,  and  with  all  our  soul.3 
And  the  first  and  great  commandment  both  of  the  Law  and  the 
Gospel  is  couched  in  those  words.4  The  very  end  of  the  com¬ 
mandment  is  charity,  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a  good  con¬ 
science,  and  of  faith  unfeigned.5  Faith  itself  works  by  love 
and  so  working  both  purifies  the  heart  and  overcomes  the  world. 

1  Heb  ,  xi.  1.  2  John,  i.  16,  17  :  Col.,  it  9.  3  Deut.,  xxx.  6. 

4  Deut.,  vi.  5  ;  Matt.,  xxil  37.  5  1  Tim.,  i.  5.  6  Gal.,  v.  6. 


214  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

But  there  is  no  need  of  proving  by  numerous  texts  that  which 
belongs  to  the  very  structure  of  revealed  religion.  The  first  rela¬ 
tion  between  God  and  man  was  a  relation  of  boundless  mutual 
love  :  the  second  relation  is  one  of  unalterable  love  of  God  to  his 
elect — and  of  pollution  and  hate  on  their  part :  the  third  is  still 
love  on  the  part  of  God — and  love  on  the  part  of  the  regenerate 
sinner,  commencing  with  his  new  birth,  and  increasing  with  his 
growth  in  grace  :  the  last  is  the  consummation  of  God’s  love  to 
man,  and  the  restoration  of  the  glorified  man  to  a  love  for  God, 
of  which  the  primeval  man  had  no  ability,  no  conception.  It  is 
the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,1 
which  is  at  once  the  test  of  our  actual  relation  to  him,  the  meas¬ 
ure  of  our  enjoyment  of  him,  and  the  distinctive  element  in  our 
fitness  and  our  ability  to  serve  him.  Beyond  all  this,  it  is  imme¬ 
diately  relevant  both  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  our  infinite 
inheritance  ;  for  the  things  which  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  are  the  things 
which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him.3 

5.  I  have  pointed  out  in  a  previous  chapter  the  ordinary 
efforts  and  experience  of  the  human  soul,  in  the  matter  of  our 
Effectual  Calling  of  God  anterior  to  our  Kegeneration  ;  and  now 
we  are  to  consider  very  briefly  the  peculiar  nature  of  that  force, 
and  the  form  of  it,  which  the  new  creature  is  able  to  put  forth 
in  its  own  gradual  Sanctification.  It  is  manifest  that  we  can 
put  forth  no  force  concurring  with  any  outward  act  of  God 
towards  us,  and  preceding  the  finished  act  of  God  ;  and  that 
with  regard  to  all  of  them,  as,  for  example,  his  act  justifying, 
and  his  act  adopting  us,  the  utmost  ability  of  man  is  some  act 
responsive  to  the  gracious  act  of  God,  performed  after  it,  and 
performed  in  consequence  of  a  gracious  ability  previously  con¬ 
ferred  by  God  ;  as,  for  example,  our  receiving  the  imputed 
righteousness  of  Christ,  by  faith — which  faith  is  the  result  of  our 
previous  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  impotence  of 
man  to  the  change  of  his  own  nature,  as  well  as  the  peculiar 
nature  of  his  passivity  in  that  great  spiritual  change  which  the 
Scriptures  call  his  new  birth  ;  have  been  sufficiently  explained 
in  another  place.  But  now  that  we  are  born  again,  the  case  does 
not  stand  exactly  as  it  did.  We  can  indeed  do  nothing  to  create 
ourselves  ;  but  being  already  created  with  capacities  competent 

1  Rom.,  v.  5.  2  1  Cor.,  ii.  9. 


CHAP.  XI.] 


SANCTIFICATION. 


215 


to  the  greatest  undertakings,  and  whose  very  nature  it  is  to  he 
enlarged  and  perfected  by  use  ;  it  is  the  reverse  of  true  to  allege 
that  culture  produces  no  lasting  effect — 'that  effort  has  no  per¬ 
manent  result  ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  that  imbecile  indifference, 
voluntary  ignorance,  and  sinful  self-indulgence,  leave  no  traces 
on  our  noblest  powers.  Thus  the  endeavours  of  the  new  creature 
to  liberate  itself  from  native  pollution,  and  to  increase  in  con¬ 
formity  to  God,  are  contemplated  in  every  divine  command  and 
encouragement  tending  to  our  growth  in  grace ;  and,  either  ex¬ 
pressly  or  impliedly,  the  active  co-operation  of  the  renewed  soul 
seems  to  be  always  recognized  in  the  process  of  its  own  sanctifica¬ 
tion.  The  number  of  such  Scriptures  is  very  great.  Thus  the 
Apostle  Paul  says  to  the  saints  at  Colosse,  that  although  Christ 
he  all  and  in  all, — Ye  have  put  off  the  old  man  with  his  deeds, 
and  have  put  on  the  new  man,  which  is  renewed  in  knowledge 
after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him.1  And  still  more  dis¬ 
tinctly  to  the  saints  at  Philippi,  Work  out  your  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling,  for  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  you  both  to 
will  and  to  do,  of  his  good  pleasure.* 2  Nothing  can  be  more  de¬ 
cisive  than  this.  The  saints  are  exhorted  to  address  themselves 
to  the  work  of  their  personal  salvation  :  the  temper  of  mind  in 
which  they  should  do  this  is  that  awe  becoming  him,  with 
whom  they  have  to  do,  and  that  solicitude  appropriate  to  the 
vast  interest  at  stake  ;  the  encouragement  offered  to  them  is 
God's  working  in  them  in  all  things — for  willing  and  doing  em¬ 
brace  every  thing  ;  the  result  is  the  total  product  of  his  grace. 
Practically,  so  great  is  the  influence  of  spiritual  things  upon  the 
soul  that  is  earnestly  engaged  with  them,  that  the  habitual  com¬ 
plexion  of  our  spiritual  experience  is  taken  from  the  objects  we 
habitually  contemplate.  And  so  it  is  said,  We  all  with  open 
face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed 
into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord.3  We  ought  not  to  forget  for  a  moment  the  magnitude 
of  the  work  which  is  to  be  accomplished,  nor  the  perfection  of  it 

1  Col.,  iii.  9,  11. 

*  'Yrrep  ryq  cvdoKiat;:  if  his  be  supplied,  according  to  the  English,  one  sense  is 
given :  but  if  vpuv  be  supplied,  a  different  and  possibly  better  sense,  making  the 
phrase  mean — prosier  desiderium :  thus,  for  it  is  God  who  worheth  in  you  both  to  will 
and  to  do ,  beyond  your  longing  desire :  which  is  the  apparent  sense  of  the  Greek,  if 
nothing  be  supplied. 

3  Phil.,  ii.  12,  13. 


3  2  Cor.,  iii.  18. 


216  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

when  it  shall  be  fully  done.  The  divine  nature  condescended  to 
take  human  nature  into  eternal  union  with  itself,  in  the  person 
of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  human  nature  is  to  be  elevated  to  eter¬ 
nal  participation  of  the  divine  nature,  in  the  person  of  every  re¬ 
deemed  sinner.  A  single  act  of  the  Son  of  God,  assuming  human 
nature,  perfected  that  union  of  God  and  man.  But  what  innu¬ 
merable  acts,  and  how  amazing  and  multiplied  in  the  case  of 
every  child  of  God,  before  that  participation  is  completely 
achieved  by  them  all  !  And  in  every  one,  after  what  grace,  and 
mercy,  and  love  of  God  ;  after  what  anguish  on  account  of  sin, 
what  efforts  to  subdue  it,  what  conflicts,  what  victories,  what 
hosannahs  in  the  highest  ! 

III.- — 1.  Having  now  endeavoured  to  explain,  under  the  first 
general  division,  the  relation  of  Sanctification  to  the  plan  of  sal¬ 
vation,  and  under  the  second,  the  nature  of  it  as  exhibited  by 
some  of  its  most  distinguishing  characteristics  ;  it  is  necessary  to 
enquire  more  particularly  by  what  means  it  is  carried  on  in  the  soul, 
and  in  what  manner  it  is  related  to  the  Godhead  as  the  author 
of  it.  No  terms  are  more  familiar  to  the  people  of  God  than 
Means  of  Grace — means,  that  is,  whereby  the  grace  of  God  is 
made  effectual  to  the  salvation  of  sinners.  And  the  complete 
provision  of  those  means  of  grace  by  God,  and  their  universal 
applicability  and  use  in  saving  men,  and  the  intimate  connection 
between  them  and  the  whole  course  of  the  divine  life  in  man, 
furnish  a  distinctive  proof  that  the  supernatural  method  of 
divine  grace  and  salvation  is  not  miraculous,  in  any  proper  sense; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  the  manifest  and  declared  inefficacy  of 
all  these  means,  merely  of  themselves,  to  produce  the  effects 
which  follow  from  their  use,  is  an  equally  distinctive  proof  that 
the  system  of  grace  and  salvation  to  which  they  appertain,  is  not 
natural,  in  any  proper  sense.  It  is,  therefore,  both  absurd  in 
itself  and  irreverent  toward  God,  for  us  to  devise  other  means 
than  those  appointed  by  him  ;  for  us  to  neglect  the  diligent  use 
of  all  those  means  he  has  commanded,  and  for  us  to  rely  on  those 
he  has  appointed,  otherwise  than  in  the  way,  to  the  extent,  and  for 
the  purpose,  revealed  by  him.  Amongst  the  benefits  of  the  Cov¬ 
enant  of  Redemption,  those  which  are  the  most  nearly  connected 
with  the  means  of  grace,  are  those  which  relate  to  our  first  en¬ 
grafting  into  Christ,  and  those  which  relate  to  the  subsequent 
increase  of  the  power  of  our  new  life  within  us.  And  between 


CHAP.  XI.]  SANCTIFICATION.  217 

these  there  is  this  wide  difference,  that  in  the  former  case  they 
are  addressed  to  the  natural  man,  to  whom  they  are  foolishness,1 
for  the  purpose  of  awakening,  enlightening,  and  quickening  him; 
while,  in  the  latter  case,  they  are  addressed  to  the  new  man,  to 
whom  they  are  very  precious,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  to 
grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.2  It  is,  therefore,  in  this  very  matter  of  our  Sanc¬ 
tification  that  the  means  appropriate  to  that  great  and  constant 
work  of  grace,  are  at  once  most  obviously  needful  and  most  gen¬ 
erally  fruitful. 

2.  The  word  of  God  is  the  great  means  of  the  sanctification 
of  penitent  and  believing  sinners.  Our  divine  Kedeemer  said  to 
his  Apostles,  as  he  and  they  sat  together  after  the  last  supper 
was  ended,  Now  are  ye  clean  through  the  word  which  I  have 
spoken  unto  you.3  And  when  his  discourse  to  his  Apostles  was 
ended,  addressing  himself  to  his  Father,  he  said,  concerning  those 
whom  the  Father  had  given  him,  Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth  ;  thy  word  is  truth.  As  thou  hast  sent  me  into  the  world, 
even  so  have  I  also  sent  them  into  the  world.  And  for  their 
sakes  I  sanctify  myself,  that  they  also  might  be  sanctified 
through  the  truth.4  Having  respect  to  human  nature  in  its  ab¬ 
solute  essence,  and  in  all  its  known  qualities  and  modes  of  op¬ 
eration,  we  are  not  able  to  conceive  how  the  understanding  of  a 
renewed  soul  could  increase  in  divine  knowledge,  its  conscience 
increase  in  divine  sanctity,  its  will  increase  in  conformity  to  the 
will  of  God,  otherwise  than  by  the  instrumentality  of  divine 
truth  ;  while  we  are  also  unable  to  conceive  how  it  could  fail  to 
do  so,  under  the  application  of  divine  truth  to  it  with  the  power 
of  God.  And  such,  in  both  respects,  is  the  universal  practical 
result.  And  such  is  the  uniform  and  multiplied  testimony  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures.6  Indeed,  the  very  thing  which  the  grace  of 
God  that  bringeth  salvation  has  taught  all  men  is,  that  denying 
ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live  soberly,' righteously 
and  godly  in  this  present  world  ;  looking  for  that  blessed  hope, 
and  the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ ;  who  gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zeal- 

1  1  Cor.,  ii.  14.  2  2  Pet.,  iii.  18.  3  John,  xv.  3. 

4  John,  xv.  17-19. 

5  Ps.  cxix.  142-151;  1  Cor.,  vi.  11;  Eph.,  v.  26 ;  1  Tim.,  iv.  5;  1  Pet.,  L  22. 


218  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

ous  of  good  works.1  And  tliis  embraces,  equally,  all  holy  Scrip¬ 
tures  which  indiscriminately — the  whole  of  it — is  not  only  the 
instrument  of  our  Sanctification,  hut  the  rule  of  our  New  Obe¬ 
dience,  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  that 
is  in  Christ  Jesus.  For  all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for 
instruction  in  righteousness  :  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  per¬ 
fect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works.2 

3.  In  a  strict  sense,  whatever  can  with  propriety  be  called  a 
means  of  grace  is  implicitly  contained  in  the  declaration,  that 
the  word  of  God  is  the  instrument  of  our  Sanctification.  No 
doubt  the  divine  truth  itself  has  an  efficacy  in  this  way  peculiar 
to  itself ;  and  that  all  the  means  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  for 
making  divine  truth  effectual,  have  an  efficacy  peculiar  to  each 
one.  But  that  these  are  means  at  all,  depends,  as  to  us,  upon 
the  single  fact  that  God  has  appointed  them,  which  fact  can  be 
ascertained  only  by  the  testimony  of  the  word  itself.  The  whole 
of  these  are  ordinances  of  God,  not  excepting  even  the  divine 
Word.  The  chief  of  them  are,  the  Sacraments  of  the  Covenant 
of  Redemption,  instituted  by  Christ  in  his  church  to  signify  and 
seal  to  his  followers  the  benefits  of  his  mediation  :3  the  Sabbath 
day  which  God  blessed  and  sanctified  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  and  afterwards  embodied  in  the  ten  commandments  which 
contain  a  divine  summary  of  the  Moral  Law,  obligatory  upon  all 
mankind:4  the  religious  worship  of  God,  both  public  and  private, 
with  the  preaching  of  the  word,  the  offering  of  prayer,  and  the 
singing  of  the  praises  of  God  :5  to  which,  in  a  lower  sense,  are 
to  be  added  Alms,  Fasting,  and  Lawful  Vows  :6  nor  should  the 
exercise  of  Discipline,  so  emphatically  commanded  by  God,  be 
overlooked,7  Very  nearly  connected,  therefore,  with  our  growth 
in  grace,  and  immediately  relevant  to  our  Sanctification,  both  as 
means  of  promoting  it,  and  as  manifestations  of  it,  are  the  New 
Obedience,  Good  Works,  and  the  Spiritual  Warfare.  Any  just 
consideration  of  these  immense  resources  of  God’s  church  and 
people,  ought  to  fill  our  hearts  with  awe  and  joy.  They  have  all 
been  provided  by  Christ  for  the  gathering  and  perfecting  his 

1  Titus,  ii.  11-14.  2  2  Tim.,  iii.  15-1 7. 

3  Matt.,  xxvi.,  26,  27 ;  xxviii.  19.  4  Gen.,  ii.  3 ;  Exod.,  xx.  8-11. 

5  Deut.,  xii.  32;  2  Tim.,  iv.  2;  Phil.,  iv.  5;  Col.,  iii.  16. 

6  1  John,  iii.  17,  18;  Matt.,  xii.  15;  Eccl.,  v.  4,  5. 

7  Heb.,  xiii.  17 ;  1  Thess.,  v.  12,  13. 


CHAP.  XI.]  SANCTIFICATION.  219 

saints,  in  this  life,  to  the  end  of  the  world  :  and  it  is  he  who  by 
his  presence,  and  his  Spirit,  according  to  his  promise,  makes  them 
all  effectual.1  The  narrowness  of  my  limits,  and  the  strictness 
of  my  method,  do  not  permit  me  to  enlarge  upon  any  of  them 
here  :  which  is  of  the  less  consequence,  as  they  will  all  receive 
further  consideration  as  we  advance  in  the  disclosure  of  the  sub¬ 
jective  effects  of  the  Knowledge  of  God. 

IY. — 1.  And  now  we  reach  the  climax  of  this  matter,  in 
reaching  the  author  of  all  these  wonderful  provisions  for  a  work 
of  grace,  not  less  wonderful  than  they  ;  the  adorable  God,  from 
whose  bosom  all  grace  flows,  and  with  it  all  power  that  makes 
grace  effectual.  This  divine  work  of  Sanctification,  so  peculiar 
in  itself  as  compared  with  other  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption,  brings  the  soul  into  peculiar  relations  with  the  God¬ 
head.  The  application  to  the  Elect  of  the  benefits  of  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption,  is  generally  so  accomplished  that  the 
particular  act  or  work  we  are  considering  may  be  seen  to  have 
very  special  reference,  often  exclusive  reference,  to  a  particular 
operation  of  the  Godhead  :  as  in  Election,  the  love,  and  in  Jus¬ 
tification,  the  sentence  of  the  Father;  in  Regeneration,  inspi¬ 
ration,  and  the  whole  testimony  borne  to  Christ,  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  in  Incarnation,  satisfaction,  intercession,  and  the 
final  sentence  of  acquttial,  the  work  of  the  Son.  In  the  counsel 
of  God,  the  covenant  resulting  from  it,  and  the  decree  founded 
on  it — to  speak  according  to  our  weakness — the  two  former  sug¬ 
gest  all  the  Persons  of  the  Godhead,  while  the  latter  suggests 
the  undivided  essence — Jehovah  ;  on  the  one  side,  the  plurality 
in  unity — -on  the  other  the  unity  of  that  plurality  :  simplicity  of 
essence — plurality  of  Persons — unity.  This  is  the  aspect  of  the 
divine  existence,  connected  with  our  salvation  in  its  foundation. 
And  this  same  aspect  of  the  divine  existence  becomes  manifest 
again,  as  that  salvation  is  being  consummated  in  the  complete 
sanctification  of  those  elect,  concerning  whom  were  that  counsel, 
that  covenant,  and  that  decree.  In  the  intermediate  divine  acts 
connected  with  our  salvation,  the  distinct  work  of  the  several 
Persons  of  the  Godhead  keeps  an  aspect  of  the  divine  existence 
corresponding  to  that  manner  of  working,  continually  before 
the  mind.  Concerning  our  sanctification,  the  Godhead  in  its 
unity,  and  each  Person  of  the  Godhead  separately,  are  distinctly 

1  Isa.,  lix.  20,  21;  Eph.,  iv.  11-13. 


220  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

exhibited  by  the  Scriptures  as  concurring  it  in  a  manner  peculiar 
to  this  great  and  crowning  work  of  grace  ;  and  this  is  illustrated 
by  their  relations  to  that  eternal  covenant — the  consummation 
of  whose  grace,  and  the  commencement  of  whose  glory,  Sancti¬ 
fication  itself  marks  as  already  approached. 

2.  To  put  off  the  old  man — to  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of 
our  mind— to  put  on  the  new  man  this,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the 
divine  description  of  the  progress  of  every  one  who  has  truly 
learned  Christ,  who  has  earnestly  commenced  a  career  of  right¬ 
eousness  and  true  holiness.  It  is  not  that  the  old  man  is  put  off 
first,  and  then  the  spirit  of  the  mind  is  renewed,  and  then  the 
new  man  is  put  on  :  which,  in  every  respect,  is  impossible.  But 
it  is,  that  being  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  the  mind,  simultaneously 
with  that  renewal,  and  as  the  simultaneous  effects  of  it,  the  old 
man  dies  on  one  hand,  and  the  new  man  arises  on  the  other ; 
both  results  being  the  unavoidable  effects  of  the  spiritual  re¬ 
newal.  And  then  as  the  power  of  this  central  and  pervading  life 
increases,  or  is  itself  renewed  or  advanced,  it  follows  unavoidably 
and  simultaneously  that  the  putting  off  the  old  man  on  one  side, 
and  the  putting  on  the  new  man  on  the  other,  also  proceeds. 
The  rising  of  the  sun  necessarily  and  simultaneously  chases  away 
the  darkness,  by  diffusing  light;  and  as  he  ascends  in  his  glorious 
career,  both  effects  proceed  together.  Thus  our  sanctification  is 
general,  and  is  total,  and  yet  is  both  imperfect  in  this  state  of 
being,  and  certain  to  be  perfect  in  the  next.  Now  the  power 
which  produces  these  results,  is  the  power  which  renewed  us  in 
the  spirit  of  our  mind,  and  which  augments  the  vital  force  of  the 
new  existence  thus  communicated  to  us.  The  nature  of  this 
progress,  and  the  means  which  infinite  power  condescends  to  em¬ 
ploy  in  this  method  of  nourishing  and  advancing  this  life  of  God 
in  man,  have  been  explained.  It  is  the  power  itself  of  which  we 
now  enquire.  Manifestly,  it  transcends  all  ability  of  our  own — 
all  power  in  the  universe  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge,  ex¬ 
cept  that  of  God  ;  so  manifestly,  that  the  effects  are  precisely 
opposite  to  the  nature  of  all  known  power,  except  that  of  God  ; 
and  never  occur,  are  never  conceived  of,  except  in  causal  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  power  of  God.  This  growth  in  grace  is  not  a  new 
creation  in  the  sense  that  Regeneration  is,  any  more  than  natural 
growth  from  infancy  to  manhood  is  a  succession  of  births  ;  a 

1  Eph.,  iv.  20,  24. 


SANCTIFICATION. 


221 


CHAP.  XI.] 

truth  that  may  help  to  explain  to  us  the  widely  different  effects 
of  the  means  of  grace  upon  renewed  and  unrenewed  souls.  It 
is  no  doubt  true,  that  reformation  and  increased  purity  of  out¬ 
ward  life  follow  growth  in  grace  ;  bat  that  these  follow  it  merely 
as  effects  of  the  inward  power, — proofs  of  the  reality  of  the  inward 
transformation,  would  never  have  been  questioned,  except  in 
order  to  deny  the  pollution  of  human  nature,  and  to  deny  the 
power  of  God  which  removes  it. 

3.  That  divine  power  is  ascribed,  in  the  first  place,  to  God 
considered  absolutely.  Infinite  holiness  is  the  source  of  finite 
holiness.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God — (. Adonai  Jehovah )* — I  gave 
them  my  Sabbaths,  to  be  a  sign  between  me  and  them,  that  they 
might  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  ( Jehovah)]*  that  sanctify  them.1 
And  the  ascription  of  this  work  to  Jehovah,  is  connected  with 
the  most  explicit  recognition  of  earnest  co-operation  on  our  part. 
Sanctify  yourselves  therefore,  and  be  ye  holy  ;  for  I  am  the  Lord 
your  God.  J  And  ye  shall  keep  my  statutes  and  do  them  :  I  am 
the  Lord  (Jehovah)  which  sanctify  you.2  And  this  use  is  found 
very  commonly  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  :  thus,  And 
the  very  Gad  of  peace  sanctify  you  wholly.3  In  like  manner  the 
Father  is  often  declared  to  be  the  author  of  our  Sanctification. 
Thus  J ude  addresses  his  epistle  to  them  that  are  sanctified  by 
God  the  Father,  and  preserved  in  Jesus  Christ.4  And  Paul  de¬ 
clares  that  it  is  the  Father  which  hath  made  us  meet  to  be  par¬ 
takers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.6  And  perhaps 
the  most  emphatic  statement  in  the  Scriptures,  that  the  word  of 
God  is  the  instrument  of  our  Sanctification,  is  made  by  the  Sa¬ 
viour  in  earnest  petition  to  the  Father,  to  sanctify  the  elect 
through  his  truth.0  As  to  the  Son,  his  relation  to  our  Sanctifi¬ 
cation  is  most  express,  both  in  that  he  merited  and  purchased  it 
for  us,  and  in  that  he  applies  it  to  us.  Thus,  Paul  states  that 
Christ  loved  the  Church  and  gave  himself  for  it ;  that  he  might 
sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of  wTater,  by  the  word, 
that  he  might  present  it  to  himself,  a  glorious  Church,  not  having 
spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing ;  but  that  it  should  be  holy 
and  without  blemish.7  For,  the  very  reason  why  he,  who  knew  no 
sin,  was  made  sin  for  us,  was,  that  we  might  be  made  the  right- 

*  rrrp  ■'inx  f  —  rnm  1  Ezek.,  xx.  5,  12.  t  W'fiVs  run** 

2  Levit.,  xx.  7,  8.  3  1  Thess.,  v.  23.  4  Jude,  1.  6  Col.,  i.  12. 

6  John,  xvii.  17.  7  Eph.,  y.  25-27. 


222  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD  [BOOK  II. 

eousness  of  God  in  him.1  And  while  it  is  of  God  that  we  are  in 
Christ  Jesus,  this  is  so  accomplished,  that  Christ  Jesus  is  of  God 
made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and 
redemption.2  And  with  reference  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  according 
to  the  ceconomy  of  the  divine  operation,  every  part  of  the  internal 
work  of  our  restoration  and  salvation  appertains  in  a  special 
manner  to  him  ;  and  amongst  the  rest  this  is  expressly  declared 
concerning  our  Sanctification.  Thus  when  speaking,  at  the  same 
time,  of  all  three  Persons  of  the  Trinity,  and  explaining  the  rela¬ 
tion  of  each  one  to  our  salvation,  the  work  of  sanctifying  us  is 
particularly  appropriated  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  After  that  the 
kindness  and  love  of  God  our  Saviour  towards  man  appeared,  not 
by  works  of  righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but  according  to 
his  mercy  he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  re¬ 
newing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  which  was  shed  on  us  abundantly 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour ;  that  being  justified  by  his 
grace  we  should  be  made  heirs  according  to  the  hope  of  eternal 
life.3  Our  obligation  to  give  thanks  always  to  God,  for  our 
brethren  beloved  of  the  Lord,  is  declared  to  be,  because  God  hath 
from  the  beginning  chosen  you  to  salvation  through  sanctifica¬ 
tion  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of  the  truth  ;  whereunto  ye  were 
called  by  our  Gospel,  to  the  obtaining  of  the  glory  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.4  It  appears  therefore  that  the  uncreated  holiness 
which  is  of  the  essence  of  the  Godhead,  and  which  therefore  ap¬ 
pertains  equally  and  alike  to  each  Person  of  the  Trinity- — -while 
it  was  the  basis  of  the  peculiar  form  of  righteousness  brought  in 
and  wrought  out  by  Christ  ;  is  also  the  ultimate  source  of  the  cre¬ 
ated  holiness  wrought  in  the  elect,  as  the  consummation  of  divine 
grace  in  this  life.  By  consequence,  the  power  competent  to  pro¬ 
duce  and  perfect  that  holiness  in  the  heirs  of  God,  is  common  to 
each  person  in  the  Godhead,  and  to  the  Godhead  considered  ab¬ 
solutely.  And  finally,  according  to  the  Scriptures  this  amazing 
power  is  actually  and  continually  exercised  by  them  all,  in  a  work 
of  sanctifying  grace  in  all  renewed  souls  ;  to  their  unspeakable 
comfort,  edification,  and  advancement ;  to  the  infinite  glory  of 
the  Triune  God  \  and,  as  we  shall  immediately  see,  to  the  highest 
exaltation  of  the  work  of  Christ  !  And  so  the  end,  as  well  as  the 
beginning,  and  all  the  progress  of  our  salvation,  shows  that  the 
whole  is  absolutely  responsive  to  the  revealed  mode  of  the  divine 

1  2  Cor.,  y.  21.  2  1  Cor.,  i.  30.  3  Titus,  iii.  4-7.  *  Titus,  ii.  13,  14. 


CHAP.  XI.]  SANCTIFICATION.  223 

existence  ;  that  the  apparent  obscurity  of  any  portion  of  God’s 
word,  and  all  its  alleged  inconsistencies,  are  founded  on  nothing 
but  our  own  shallow  ignorance  of  that  which  it  imports  us  so 
deeply  to  know  ;  and  that  the  more  thorough  and  the  more  ex¬ 
alted  our  views  are  both  of  God’s  nature  and  grace,  and  of  the 
whole  work  of  salvation  divinely  accomplished  in  us,  the  more 
certain  thev  are  to  be  true  in  themselves  and  realized  in  us. 

V 

4.  The  divine  concurrence  of  the  Persons  of  the  Godhead  in 
the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  was  such  as  to  produce  a  plan  of 
salvation  with  an  established  oeconomy,  as  between  those  divine 
Persons  :  an  administration — so  to  speak — not  of  the  whole  by 
each  person — but  of  a  certain  part  by  each,  with  the  constant 
presence  and  concurrence  of  all  :  as  has  been  heretofore  fully  ex¬ 
plained.  In  the  work  of  Sanctification,  the  same  thing  occurs. 
It  is  not  the  whole  of  Sanctification  by  each,  but  it  is  the  Sanc¬ 
tification  of  the  whole  man  by  the  sanctifying  power  of  each 
Person  of  the  Trinity,  and  by  the  Godhead  considered  absolutely 
• — In  each  case  with  reference  to  the  oeconomy  and  administration 
established  in  the  covenant  itself — and  with  reference  to  the  pre¬ 
sence  and  concurrence  of  each.  The  peculiarity  in  Sanctification 
is,  that  whereas  in  the  other  benefits  of  the  covenant,  the  work 
or  act  of  each  Person  is  distinct,  and  is  to  a  result  precise  and 
distinguishable  from  every  other  result  ;  in  this  benefit,  the  work 
of  each  Person  is  to  the  same  result,  namely,  one  and  a  complete 
Sanctification  of  the  whole  man  ;  and  in  that  one  complete  result 
it  is  not  distinguishable,  nor  capable  of  being  realized  in  thought, 
what  portion  of  the  perfect  holiness  of  the  sanctified  person  ap¬ 
pertains  to  one  or  to  another  divine  Person.  We  can  distinctly 
say  we  are  purchased  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  we  are  regenerated 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  are  justified  by  the  sentence 
of  the  Father.  Of  our  Sanctification,  we  must  speak  in  another 
way  ;  it  is  a  work  of  grace  accomplished  by  Jehovah — the 
Father — the  Son — and  the  Holy  Ghost — in  those  upon  whom  all 
separate  and  divine  acts  and  works,  preliminary  to  it,  have  been 
performed.  But  the  particular  object  of  this  statement  is,  to 
point  out  that  this  wonderful  working  in  our  Sanctification  is 
not  promiscuous,  nor  yet  total  of  each  :  but  is,  according  to  the 
divine  oeconomy  and  administration  of  the  Godhead  and  the  per¬ 
sons  thereof,  manifested  in  the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  Con¬ 
cerning  the  Godhead  considered  absolutely,  and  concerning  the 


224  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  what  has  been  said,  is  perhaps  suf¬ 
ficient  for  this  place.  Concerning  the  divine  Redeemer,  a  few 
words  of  further  explanation  are  necessary. 

5.  The  elect  were  chosen  by  God  to  salvation  through  Sanc¬ 
tification  of  the  Spirit ;  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  they 
were  chosen  in  Christ  that  they  should  be  holy,  and  they  were 
predestinated  to  he  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son.1  This 
Sanctification  of  the  Spirit  is  his  powerful  operation  applying 
the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ  unto  them — thereby  causing 
them  to  die  to  sin  and  to  live  to  righteousness — renewing  the 
whole  man  in  the  image  of  God.2  It  is  the  virtue  of  the  death 
of  Christ,  and  the  virtue  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  applied  to 
us  by  the  Holy  Ghost — and  the  virtue  of  the  risen  and  exalted 
Christ  passing  from  him  to  us — which  require  us  to  say,  not 
only  that  Christ  purchases  our  Sanctification  as  a  benefit  of  the 
covenant,  but  that  in  a  still  stricter  sense  he  is  the  author  of  it. 
The  position  covers  the  last  act  of  his  humiliation — the  first  of 
his  exaltation.  He  purged  our  sins  by  his  own  blood.3  How 
much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ  purge  your  consciences  f»i*om 
dead  works,  to  serve  the  living  God.4  He  has  not  only  redeemed 
us  and  reconciled  us  to  God  by  his  blood  ;5  but  that  blood  cleans- 
etli  us  from  all  sin — in  it  our  sins  are  washed  away,  and  by  it  we 
overcome  all  things.6  The  will  of  God  concerning  our  Sanctifi¬ 
cation,  which  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  execute,  and  by 
which  will  we  are  sanctified  through  the  offering  of  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ  once  for  all ;  was  so  accomplished,  that  by  one  of¬ 
fering  he  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified.7  And 
the  Scriptures  are  equally  decisive  concerning  the  power  of  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  and  the  virtue  of  the  life  of  Christ  im¬ 
parted  to  us.  Being  made  conformable  to  the  death  of  Christ, 
we  know  him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  as  well  as  the 
fellowship  of  his  sufferings  ;  and  so  we  may  apprehend  that  for 
which  also  we  are  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus.8  At  present,  we 
are  dead,  and  our  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God  ;  but  Christ, 
who  is  our  life,  will  appear  again,  and  then  shall  we  also  appear 
with  him  in  glory.9  Presently,  mortality  will  be  swallowed  up  of 
life  ;  and  he  who  hath  wrought  us  for  this  is  God  ;  and  in  the 

1  2  Thess.,  ii.  13  ;  Eph.,  i.  4 ;  Rom.,  viii.  29.  2  Rom.,  vi.  1-12. 

3  Heb.,  i.  3.  4  Heb.,  ix.  14.  6  Rom.,  y.  5,  10 ;  Rev.,  v.  9, 

6  Rev.,  i.  5;  xil  11 ;  1  John,  i.  7.  ?  Heb.,  x.  10,  14.  8  Phil.,  iii.  10,  12. 

9  Col.,  iii.  3,  4. 


CHAP.  XI.] 


SANCTIFICATION. 


225 


meantime  be  has  given  unto  us  the  earnest  of  his  Spirit.1  Planted 
together  in  the  likeness  of  the  death  of  Christ,  we  shall  he  also 
in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection  :  if  we  be  dead  with  him,  we 
shall  also  live  with  him.2  And  we  can  truly  say,  I  am  crucified 
with  Christ ;  nevertheless  I  live  ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in 
me  ;  and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith 
of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for  me.3  In 
all  these  passages,  the  particular  point  elucidated,  is  our  partici¬ 
pation  with  Christ,  both  in  what  he  endured  for  sin,  and  in  his 
absolute  triumph  over  it  along  with  death,  and  the  grave,  and 
hell :  and  the  consequent  participation  with  him,  and  from  him, 
of  the  virtue  of  both,  and  of  the  mind  and  Spirit  in  which  he 
accomplished  all.  Jesus  is  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith.4 
The  direct  effect  of  this  on  us,  is  our  increasing  Sanctification  ; 
and  this  is  the  way  of  Christ’s  direct  participation  in  our  Sancti¬ 
fication  ;  and  this  is  in  exact  accordance  with  his  relation  to  the 
Covenant  of  Kedemption,  and  to  the  oeconomy  of  that  covenant, 
as  between  the  Persons  of  the  Trinity.  What  is  not  disclosed 
specially  here,  and  what  remains  for  each  one  to  supply  for  him¬ 
self,  is  an  adequate  conception  of  the  sufferings  and  of  the  tri¬ 
umph  of  Christ ;  in  order  that  we  may  have  an  adequate  concep¬ 
tion  of  what  passes,  and  ought  to  pass,  in  our  own  souls — as  their 
Sanctification  is  advanced  by  increasing  conformity  both  to  the 
death  and  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  The  number  is  not 
great  of  those  in  whom  this  sublime  work  is  sufficiently  regarded, 
or  its  fruits  sufficiently  tasted  ;  and  so  not  many  understand  fully 
what  passed  in  Gethsemane  and  at  Calvary — without  which  it  is 
idle  to  expect  that  we  can  fully  appreciate  Christ’s  triumph  over 
the  powers  of  hell  and  the  horror  of  eternal  death.  It  is  only 
when  we  turn  to  the  Lord  with  all  our  heart,  that  the  veil  is 
taken  from  it.5 

6.  The  completeness  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation  seems  to  be  ab¬ 
solute.  The  adaptedness  of  all  its  parts  to  each  other,  and  to 
their  own  special  end — and  the  adaptedness  of  the  whole  and  of 
every  part,  to  the  great  end  of  all,  the  eradication  of  sin  and 
misery  ;  exhibits  a  subject,  the  greatest,  the  most  intricate,  and 
the  most  remote  of  all — in  a  manner  so  precise  and  clear  ;  that 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  even  if  they  had  no  grace  and  no  mercy  to 
offer  to  us  personally,  might  justly  challenge  the  very  highest 

2  Cor.,  v.  4,  5.  2  Rom,,  vi.  6,  8.  3  Gal.,  ii.  20.  4  Heb.,  xii.  2.  5  2  Cor.,  iii.  16. 

70U  II.  15 


1 


226 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


place  as  the  most  stupendous  monument  of  sublime  and  success¬ 
ful  thought.  What  then  ought  we  to  think  of  them,  when  all 
this  glorious  intelligence  is  merely  tributary  to  our  salvation  P 
The  end  of  this  infinite  completeness,  only  to  pour  into  our  pol¬ 
luted  and  thoughtless  hearts,  inexhaustible  supplies  of  grace — • 
that  we  may  be  extricated  from  a  condition  utterly  hopeless 
without  that  grace — and  be  brought  to  a  condition  unspeakably 
blessed  to  us  and  glorious  to  God  ?  Yet  this  is  the  overwhelming 
conclusion  to  which  every  just  consideration  of  them  forces  us  to 
come  ;  the  conclusion  to  which  the  imperfect  disclosure  which 
has  now  been  attempted,  of  a  single  point  in  this  divine  system, 
wholly  compels  us.  In  this  deep  conviction,  therefore,  and  as  the 
conclusion  of  all  that  has  now  been  advanced,  I  venture  to  define, 
that  Sanctification  is  a  benefit  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption — 
being  a  work  of  grace,  on  the  part  of  the  Triune  God,  wherein 
the  elect  who  have  been  Effectually  Called,  Regenerated,  Justi¬ 
fied,  and  Adopted,  are,  through  the  virtue  of  the  death  and 
resurrection  of  Christ,  by  the  indwelling  of  the  Word  and  Spirit, 
through  the  use  of  the  divine  ordinances,  and  by  the  power  of 
God  within  them,  enabled  more  and  more  to  die  unto  sin,  to  be 
renewed  in  the  spirit  of  their  mind,  and  to  live  unto  righteous¬ 
ness,  in  an  increasing  conformity  to  the  image  of  God,  to  his 
great  glory,  and  their  great  growth  in  holiness. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST  IN  GRACE  COMPLETE:  COMMUNION  WITH 

CHRIST  IN  GLORY  BEGUN. 

I.  1.  Conditions  of  our  Discipleship. — 2.  Nature  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. — 3.  Com¬ 
munion  with  Christ  in  Grace :  Origin,  Progress,  and  End  thereof. — 4.  Communion 
with  Christ  in  Glory:  First  Fruits  thereof,  in  this  Life. — II.  1.  Distinction  in  the 
Effects  of  Communion  with  Christ  in  Glory. — 2.  First  Fruits  of  Glory  enjoyed  in 
this  Life. — 3.  Origin,  Growth,  and  Reality  of  these  First  Fruits. — 4.  Nature  and 
Extent  of  Fitness  for  Eternal  Life — and  of  inward  enjoyment  of  God. — 5.  The 
Evidence  which  the  Soul  may  obtain  and  rest  upon. — 6.  Spiritual  Weakness — 
Distrust — Doubt — Indifference. — 7.  Self-Delusion — Backsliding — Perseverance — 
Assurance. — III.  1.  The  Saints  are  allowed,  in  this  Life,  a  foretaste  of  Heaven: 
Earnest  of  the  Spirit. — 2.  A  sense  of  God’s  Love :  Peace  of  Conscience :  Joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost :  Rejoicing  in  Hope  of  the  Glory  of  God. — 3.  In  Life,  Death,  the 
Separate  State  after  Death,  Resurrection,  Transfiguration,  Believers  have  Com¬ 
munion  with  Christ. — 4.  Relation  of  Death  to  the  Saints — and  to  the  Triumph  of 
the  Mediatorial  Kingdom. — 5.  Communion  with  Christ  in  Glory — at  the  Resur¬ 
rection  and  in  the  Judgment. — 6.  Progress  of  this  Enquiry :  and  the  Point 
reached. 


I. — 1.  Whosoever  will  come  after  me,  said  the  Lord,  em¬ 
phatically  to  the  people  whom  he  had  collected  unto  him  with 
his  disciples,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and 
follow  me.5  These  are  the  unalterable  conditions  of  our  disciple¬ 
ship.  Whoever  will  do  these  things,  is  the  disciple  of  Christ. 
Whoever  refuses  to  do  them  is  none  of  his.  Nothing  less  will 
suffice  :  nothing  more  is  possible.  Nor  is  his  yoke  a  hard  yoke  : 
nor  his  burden  a  heavy  burden.  Far  otherwise.  No  one  has  ever 
tasted  and  seen,  who  has  not  found  that  the  Lord  was  precious  ; 
who  has  not  seen  that  it  was  better  to  be  a  doorkeeper  in  his 
house,  than  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness.  How  blessed 
then  are  they  who  trust  him,  and  find  a  day  in  his  courts  better 
than  a  thousand  !  For  the  Lord  God  is  a  sun  and  a  shield  ;  the 
Lord  will  give  grace  and  glory  :  no  good  thing  will  he  withhold 
from  them  that  walk  uprightly.  0  Lord  of  hosts,  blessed  is  the 
man  that  trusteth  in  thee  !2 

1  Matt.,  vi.  24 ;  Mark,  viii.  34 ;  Luke,  ix.  23. 


2  Psalm  lxxxiv.  11,  12. 


228 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


2.  In  the  bestowment  of  the  grace  of  God  nothing  is  barren, 
nothing  remains  unfruitful.  Even  in  his  providence — how  much 
more  in  his  grace  richly  bestowed  on  his  children — all  things 
work — all  work  together — all  inwork  mutually  one  upon  another  : 
so  that  besides  accomplishing  that  which  is  its  immediate  de¬ 
sign,  every  thing  becomes  in  its  effect,  a  new  power,  constantly 
extending  in  depth  and  breadth.  There  is  no  mark  of  the  life 
of  God  in  the  soul  more  decisive  than  this  :  no  characteristic  of 
it  more  clearly  disclosed  by  him,  who  is  the  author  and  finisher  of 
our  faith.  A  woman  took  leaven  and  hid  it  in  three  measures  of 
meal,  till  the  whole  was  leavened.  A  man  took  a  grain  of  mus¬ 
tard  seed,  and  cast  it  into  his  garden  ;  and  it  grew  and  waxed  a 
great  tree  :  and  the  fowls  of  the  air  lodged  in  the  branches  of  it. 
This  is  the  way  in  which  God  works  :  this  is  the  very  nature  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God.1  This  is  the  process  and  result  of  the  work¬ 
ing  of  divine  grace  in  the  soul  of  the  believer :  one  of  the  mys¬ 
teries  of  the  kingdom,  hid  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  from 
all  carnal  understanding  :  plainly  revealed  by  the  Great  Teacher, 
and  clearly  understood  by  all  to  whom  it  is  given  to  know  those 
heavenly  mysteries.2 

8.  The  infinite  goodness  of  God,  directed  by  wisdom,  and 
sustained  by  power  infinite  as  itself,  when  addressed  to  the 
problem  of  delivering  the  universe  from  the  reign  of  sin,  resulted 
in  that  purpose  of  the  divine  will  which  finds  its  expression  in 
the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  This  is  the  form  in  which,  speak¬ 
ing  after  the  manner  of  men,  the  first  result  is  expressed.  The 
practical  outworking  of  this  covenant,  is  exhibited  in  the  entire 
mediatorial  work  of  Christ,  and  the  entire  application  thereof  to 
the  whole  universe,  and  especially  in  its  application  to  elect  sin¬ 
ners  of  our  fallen  race  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  this  process  they 
become  united  to  Christ  by  Faith  through  grace.  For  Christ 
has  purchased  redemption  for  the  elect :  and  all  the  promises  of 
God  in  him  are  yea,  and  in  him  are  amen,  unto  the  glory  of  God 
by  us.3  And  all  for  whom  Christ  has  purchased  redemption,  are 
made  partakers  of  the  benefits  he  has  purchased  for  them,  by  the 
application  thereof  to  them  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  which  is  begun 
in  their  Effectual  Calling,  wherein  they  are  united  inseparably 
to  Christ.  Thus  united  to  him,  they  have  communion  with  him 

1  Luke,  xiii.  18-22.  2  Matt.,  xiii.  11;  xi.  25-21. 

3  Heb.,  ix.  12;  2  Cor.,  i.  20. 


CHAP.  XH.] 


GRACE  AND  GLORY. 


229 


in  grace  and  in  glor}r.  And  thus  two  more  results  are  successively 
reached — each  following  the  other — and  all  three  bound  together, 
and  all  that  will  follow  knit  to  all  these,  and  to  each  other,  by 
the  infinite  force  of  the  divine  method  which  pervades  them  all 
with  a  living  power.  For  having  received,  in  this  union  with 
Christ,  a  divine  Regeneration  ;  the  communion  in  grace  which 
we  enjoy  with  him  is  our  partaking  of  the  virtue  of  his  media¬ 
tion,  in  our  Justification,  Adoption,  Sanctification,  and  whatever 
else  in  this  life  manifests  our  union  with  him.1  The  end  of  all 
is  the  complete  fitness  of  the  children  of  God  for  eternal  life, 
and  their  assured  possession  of  it.2 

4.  They  whose  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and  with  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  are  they  whom  the  Father  has  given  to  the 
Son,  and  concerning  whom  the  will  of  the  Son  declared  to  the 
Father  is,  that  they  should  be  with  him  where  he  is,  that  they 
may  behold  his  glory.3  It  is,  therefore,  not  in  grace  only,  but  also 
in  glory,  that  they  have  communion  with  the  Lord  Jesus.  Nor  is 
it  only  in  another  state  of  being  that  they  will  participate  of  the 
glory  of  Christ  ;  for  in  this  life  the  first  fruits  of  that  glory  are 
bestowed  on  them.  As  members  of  Christ,  they  are  interested 
in  that  glory  of  which  he  is  fully  possessed;  for  God,  who  is  rich 
in  mercy,  for  his  great  love  wherewith  he  loved  us,  even  when  we 
were  dead  in  sins,  hath  quickened  us  together  with  Christ,  (by 
grace  ye  are  saved,)  and  hath  raised  us  up  together,  and  made  us 
sit  together  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus  :  that  in  the  ages 
to  come  he  might  show  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace  in  his 
kindness  toward  us,  through  Christ  Jesus.4  And  here  we  have 
exhibited  to  us  in  forms  which  struggle  to  make  manifest  their 
power  and  fulness,  another  of  those  mighty  inworkings  of  which 
I  have  spoken  ;  another  of  those  glorious  manifestations  of  the 
vital  power  of  every  part  of  the  grace  of  God.  For  just  as  they 
who  are  effectually  called  are  made  partakers  in  succession  of 
the  unspeakable  blessings  and  benefits  of  Regeneration,  Justi¬ 
fication,  Adoption,  and  Sanctification  ;  so  they  who  have  been 
brought  that  far  in  the  Way  of  Life,  find  that  other  blessings, 
and  amongst  them  some  of  the  most  precious  benefits  of  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption,  accompany  and  flow  from  these  ;  and 
that  as  the  result  of  all,  the  confines  of  grace  overlap  the  con- 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  30 ;  Rom.,  viii.  30. 

s  John,  xvii.  24;  1  John,  i.  3. 


2  Eph.,  i.  passim. 
4  Eph.,  ii.  4-7. 


230  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IL 

fines  of  glory.  It  is  this  which  we  must  consider  more  particu¬ 
larly,  in  concluding  the  enquiry  to  which  this  Book  is  devoted, 
into  the  nature,  origin,  progress,  and  completion  of  the  life  of 
God  in  man,  during  his  mortal  state — his  state  of  begun  re¬ 
covery. 

II.* — *1.  Those  blessings  and  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Re¬ 
demption  which,  exceeding  the  effects  of  our  communion  with 
Christ  in  his  grace,  are  the  product  of  our  communion  with  him 
in  his  glory;  are  subject  to  a  very  precise  distinction,  founded  on 
the  periods  of  their  bestowment.  During  the  present  life,  where 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  there  is  liberty:  and  all  who  as  with  open 
face  behold  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into 
the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord.1  At  death  the  body  returns  to  earth  as  it  was,  and  the 
spirit  returns  to  God  who  gave  it.2  And  so  when  the  penitent 
malefactor  dying  by  the  side  of  the  dying  Saviour,  said  unto 
Jesus,  Lord,  remember  me  when  thou  comes t  into  thy  kingdom  : 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  Verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  To-day  shalt  thou 
be  with  me  in  Paradise.3  But  Paradise  is  the  place  where  God 
manifests  himself  in  unspeakable  glory.  For  it  was  to  it  that  Paul 
was  caught  up,  calling  it  the  third  heaven,  and  not  being  able  to 
tell  whether  he  was  in  the  body,  or  out  of  the  body,  heard  un¬ 
speakable  words  worthy  of  all  glorying,  but  which  it  is  not  lawful 
for  a  man  to  utter.4  And  John  informs  us,  that  Paradise  is  the 
place  in  the  midst  of  which  is  the  tree  of  Life,  of  which  the 
glorified  Redeemer  gives  to  every  victorious  saint  to  cat.6  There 
is,  concerning  the  future  state  of  man  nothing  more  clearly  re¬ 
vealed,  than  that  the  soul  of  the  impenitent  passes  to  hell  at  death, 
and  the  soul  of  the  believer,  when  released  from  the  body,  passes 
immediately  to  the  presence  and  fruition  of  the  Lord  ;  deliv¬ 
ered  wholly,  and  blessed  and  glorious  beyond  all  human  concep¬ 
tion.6  And  then  at  the  resurrection  and  the  day  of  judgment, 
the  communion  of  saints  with  Christ  in  glory  will  at  last  be  per¬ 
fected.7  We  have,  therefore,  the  means  of  determining,  not  only 
the  relations  of  those  states  which  result  from  our  communion 
with  Christ  in  grace,  to  those  which  result  from  our  communion 
with  him  in  glory  ;  but  we  have  the  means  also  of  determining 

1  2  Cor.,  iii.  17,  18.  2  Eccl.,  xii.  7.  3  Luke,  xxiii.  42,  43. 

4  2  Cor.,  xii.  1-5.  5  Rev.,  ii.  7.  6  Luke,  xvi.  19-31. 

7  1  Cor.,  xv.  50-58;  Matt,  xv.  31-46. 


CHAP.  XII.] 


GRACE  AND  GLORY. 


231 


the  relations  of  those  states,  which  occur  at  different  stages  of  our 
communion  with  him  in  glory,  to  each  other. 

2.  There  is,  even  in  this  life,  a  certain  anticipated  realization 
of  deserved  doom,  and  of  the  vengeance  of  God,  and  of  the  fear¬ 
ful  thing  it  is  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  A  certain 
fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation,  which  shall 
devour  the  adversaries.  Nor  are  such  things  unsuitable  to  those 
who  have  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  counted  the 
blood  of  the  covenant  wherewith  they  were  sanctified  an  unholy 
thing,  and  done  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace.1  Cain  bewailed 
his  punishment  as  greater  than  he  could  bear ;  and  Judas, 
full  of  horror  at  the  thought  of  the  innocent  blood  he  had  be¬ 
trayed,  laid  violent  hands  upon  himself ;  and  what  multitudes, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  encounter  the  shadow  of  eternal 
death  before  they  incur  its  endless  doom  !  No  one  questions  the 
reality  of  such  things — no  one  perceives  in  them  any  occasion  for 
surprise  that  the  death  which  sin  cannot  avoid  bringing  forth, 
should  manifest  in  this  terrible  manner  the  power  of  its  working. 
Why  should  it  be  thought  strange  that  they  who  seek  for  glory, 
honour,  and  immortality,  should  receive,  not  only  eternal  life  in 
another  world,  but  glory,  honour,  and  peace  in  this  world  ;  when 
it  is  manifest  that  tribulation  and  anguish,  indignation  and 
wrath,  are  rendered  to  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth  evil  ?2  As¬ 
suredly  they  for  whom  an  undefiled  inheritance  is  laid  up  in 
heaven,  and  who  are  already  invested  with  a  perfect  title  to  the 
whole  of  it,  and  are  wrought,  through  infinite  grace,  to  a  fitness 
for  the  enjoyment  of  it :  will  not  be  denied  by  the  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords,  whose  sons  and  heirs  they  are,  a  portion  of  the 
first  fruits  of  their  own  immeasurable  inheritance  to  support,  to 
bless,  yea,  and  to  adorn  them,  as  they  struggle  forward  to  their 
Father's  throne  ! 

3.  After  considering  the  nature  of  faith,  of  the  righteousness 
which  is  by  faith,  and  of  the  relation  of  both  to  our  salvation, 
the  Apostle  Paul  proceeds  thus:  Therefore  being  justified  by 
faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  J esus  Christ : 
by  whom  we  have  access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein  we 
stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God.  And  not  only  so, 
but  we  glory  in  tribulation  also  ;  knowing  that  tribulation  work- 
eth  patience  ;  and  patience,  experience  ;  and  experience,  hope  ; 

1  Heb.,  x.  27-29.  3  Rom.,  ii.  6-10. 


232  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed  ;  because  the  love  of  God  is  shed 
abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  given  unto  us.1 
See  this  distinct,  and  wonderful  process  !  Justified  by  faith — 
peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  through  faith 
in  whom,  also,  access  to  the  holiest  of  all — access  therefore  into 
this  grace  wherein  we  stand  fast  :  rejoicing  in  hope  of  the  glory 
of  God.  hTor  is  this  all  ;  rejoicing  in  tribulation,  knowing  that 
tribulation,  patience,  experience,  and  hope,  follow  in  succession, 
each  the  product  of  the  one  preceding,  and  the  hope  thus 
wrought  out  unfailing  :  as  the  great  result,  and  as  a  great  cause 
too,  the  love  of  God  copiously  poured  into  our  hearts  through 
the  Holy  Ghost  given  to  us  !  And  so  a  perpetual  growth  in 
grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  a  trustful  and  joyful  frui¬ 
tion  of  the  glory  of  God — and  assurance  of  God's  love,  and  the 
indwelling  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  are  the  satisfying  portion,  and 
the  habitual  state  of  the  soul.  It  is  hard  to  say  whether  it  is 
more  wonderful  that  so  much,  and  of  such  a  nature,  can  be  fully 
and  clearly  expressed  in  so  few  and  simple  words ;  or  that  any 
who  have  a  deep  interest  in  such  things,  and  a  sincere  desire  to 
understand  them,  should  err  concerning  them.  Continual  increase 
of  grace — the  certainty  of  perseverance  therein  to  the  end — and 
the  settled  conviction  therein  of  eternal  life  ;  are  the  assured 
portion  of  such  as,  in  this  life,  live  near  enough  to  God  to  enjoy 
intimate  communion  with  him.  These  things,  says  the  Apostle 
John,  have  I  written  unto  you  that  believe  on  the  name  of  the 
Son  of  God  ;  that  ye  may  know  that  ye  have  eternal  life,  and 
that  ye  may  believe — (or  rather,  ye  who  do  believe) — on  the 
name  of  the  Son  of  God.2  And  in  another  place,  Hereby  we  do 
know  that  we  know  him — (who  is  the  propitiation  of  our  sins) — 
if  we  keep  his  commandments.3  And  again,  He  that  keepeth 
his  commandments — (that  is,  God's) — dwelleth  in  him,  and  he 
in  him.  And  hereby  we  know  that  he  abideth  in  us,  by  the 
Spirit  which  he  hath  given  us  :4  and  he  had  just  said  that  the 
Special  commandment  of  God  is,  that  we  should  believe  on  the 
name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  one  another.  And  that 
Spirit  of  God  which  he  hath  given  to  us,  and  which  attests 
his  abiding  in  us  ;  even  that  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with 
our  spirits,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God  ;  and  if  children, 

1  Rom.,  v.  1-5.  2  l  John,  v.  13. 

3  1  John,  it  2,  3.  4  1  John,  iii.  24. 


CHAP.  XII.]  GRACE  AND  GLORY.  233 

then  heirs  ;  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ  ;  if  so 
he  that  we  suffer  with  him,  that  we  may  he  also  glorified 
together.1 

4.  After  all  it  may  he  asked,  and  is  continually  asked — What 
is  the  precise  nature  and  extent  of  this  inward  fitness  for  eternal 
life — and  of  this  inward  enjoyment  of  God  ?  The  former  ques¬ 
tion,  it  is  obvious,  covers  the  entire  effect,  and  combined  result, 
of  our  Effectual  Calling,  Kegeneration,  Justification,  Adoption, 
and  Sanctification.  Supposing  them  to  have  occurred,  the  fitness 
for  eternal  life  which  is  enquired  after,  is  the  sum  of  their  influ¬ 
ence  upon  us — neither  more  nor  less.  And  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  not  conceivable  that  they  should  be  what  I  think  I  have 
shown  they  are,  and  that  they  should  occur  and  operate  as  I 
think  I  have  shown  they  do,  without  producing  that  very  fitness 
which  is  enquired  for,  as  their  necessary  result;  a  fitness  for  eter¬ 
nal  life,  resulting  from  an  actual  conformity  to  God,  and  that  in 
the  highest  degree  of  which  each  human  being  is  capable,  in  our 
mortal  state,  and  under  our  actual  circumstances.  To  question 
this  fitness  for  eternal  life  of  those  who  resemble  God,  is  tanta¬ 
mount  to  questioning  the  fitness  of  God  to  be  God  :  and  has 
always  been  reckoned  by  him  amongst  the  most  heinous  insults 
to  his  divine  majesty.  It  was  because  of  this  outrage  in  Moab 
and  Seir,  saying,  Behold  the  house  of  Judah  is  like  unto  all  the 
heathen  :  that  God  blotted  them  out  from  being  remembered 
among  the  nations.2  As  to  the  second  question,  the  one  concern¬ 
ing  the  nature  and  extent  of  our  enjoying  of  God  in  this  life  ;  it 
is  obvious  that  if  we  admit  that  a  soul  can  be  born  again,  and 
can  live  in  the  flesh  by  the  life  of  the  Lord  from  heaven  imparted 
to  it ;  it  is  not  possible  to  doubt  that  thus  created  anew,  and 
thus  living,  this  divine  life  in  man — this  new  creation — can  be 
nourished,  can  be  developed,  can  be  consummated,  as  really  as 
any  other  form  of  vital  existence  :  and  that  this  must  occur 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  life  itself — the  means  brought  to 
bear  upon  it — and  the  purpose  of  its  divine  author.  Fitness  for 
the  enjoyment  of  God  is  of  itself  felicity  ;  and  is,  besides,  the 
very  measure  of  our  fitness  for  his  service,  because  both  of  them 
are  the  measure  of  our  likeness  to  him.  Unless  we  would  call  in 
question  the  infinite  blessedness  of  God,  we  cannot,  at  the  very 
least,  doubt  that  our  conformity  to  him  is  the  measure  of  our 

1  Rom.,  viii.  16,  17.  2  Ezek.,  xxv.  8-11. 


234  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

capacity  to  be  blessed :  and  then  we  must  question  his  infinite 
beneficence,  his  eternal  love,  and  his  unsearchable  richness  of 
grace,  in  order  to  exclude  his  children  from  the  highest  par¬ 
ticipation  of  his  grace  and  glory  to  which  they  are  competent. 
In  effect,  therefore,  the  enquiry  concerning  the  nature  of  our 
present  fitness  for  eternal  life,  is  merely  giving  a  personal  shape 
to  the  enquiry  concerning  the  nature  of  true  religion.  And  the 
enquiry  concerning  the  nature  of  our  present  enjoyment  of  God, 
is  merely  giving  a  personal  shape  to  the  enquiry  concerning  the 
actual  existence  of  true  religion. 

5.  The  enquiry  concerning  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
testimony,  upon  which  each  individual  may  assuredly  conclude 
as  to  his  own  condition  with  respect  to  these  great  realities,  is 
different  from  the  two  preceding,  hut  equally  capable  of  a  pre¬ 
cise  solution.  With  regard  to  the  sense  of  self-condemnation 
natural  to  fallen  man,  there  is  no  test  of  religion,  in  its  widest 
sense,  more  unerring,  than  that  all  false  religion  allays  this  just 
condemnation  of  the  natural  conscience,  or  else  directs  it  to 
false,  and  away  from  the  true  grounds  of  it ;  while  all  religion 
that  is  true,  and  all  in  proportion  to  its  truth,  stimulates  this 
righteous  judgment  of  the  soul,  enlarges  it,  and  directs  it  against 
its  proper  object.  In  its  best  condition,  this  natural  sense  of  self- 
condemnation  being  depraved,  is  incompetent:  and  the  first,  and 
invariable  effect  of  divine  grace  in  fallen  man,  is  to  awaken  us  to 
a  far  truer  and  deeper  sense  of  our  real  condition  ;  and  amongst 
all  the  causes  of  backsliding,  the  most  fruitful  one,  perhaps,  is 
inadequate  conviction  of  sin.  It  is  thus  apparent  why  false  re¬ 
ligions  are  usually  received  and  professed  by  the  mass  of  men  in 
regions  where  they  prevail ;  while  in  regions  where  God's  truth 
is  clearly  made  known,  the  great  majority  of  men,  though  they 
may  be  speculative  believers,  are  fully  aware  that  they  are  not 
the  subjects  of  the  renewing  grace  of  God.  As  to  them,  the 
present  enquiry  passes  them  by,  acknowledging  their  just  judg¬ 
ment  upon  themselves,  reached  in  the  manner  just  pointed  out : 
and  the  whole  case  ought  to  be  a  new  proof  to  them  of  the  truth 
of  the  religion  which  they  sinfully  neglect,  even  while  it  delivers 
them  from  the  refuges  of  lies  through  which  such  countless  mul¬ 
titudes  are  destroyed.  If  we  really  seek  for  indubitable  testimony 
whereby  we  may  resolve  anxious  doubts,  and  quiet  distressing 
perplexities,  God  offers  it  to  us  in  abundance.  In  the  first  place, 


CHAP.  XII.] 


GRACE  AND  GLORY. 


235 


there  is  the  testimony  of  the  facts  in  the  case — to  he  ascertained, 
marshalled,  considered,  and  decided,  justly  according  to  their 
own  nature.  Let  us  examine  the  Scriptures  and  see  what  they 
make  out  an  heir  of  God  to  he.  Let  us  examine  ourselves,  and 
see  what  we  actually  are.  Let  us  compare  one  result  fairly  with 
the  other,  and  render  upon  ourselves  a  righteous  judgment, 
founded  upon  a  righteous  comparison.  If  the  judgment  is  fa¬ 
vourable,  surely  the  testimony  on  which  it  rests,  and  which  is 
the  particular  object  of  our  scrutiny,  is  adequate  to  sustain  it : 
the  testimony,  namely,  of  God's  truth — of  our  self-knowledge — 
and  of  enlightened  reason  addressed  to  both.  In  the  second 
place,  our  moral  nature  may  now  distinctly  address  itself  to  the 
case  just  stated,  as  made,  pondered,  and  decided  upon  the  facts. 
Does  the  heart,  out  of  which  are  the  issues  of  life,  and  with 
which  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  approve  the  conclusion 
reached  before  as  just.  Does  it  approve,  also,  the  state  in  which 
the  conclusion  declares  it  to  be,  as  right  and  good  ?  Does  it 
rejoice  in  the  fruition  of  that  state,  as  at  once  its  own  blessed¬ 
ness,  and  God's  gracious  work  P  Here  is  additional  and  con¬ 
clusive  testimony,  adding  a  second  foundation  on  which  our 
decision  may  rest  unshaken  :  the  testimony  of  our  conscience — 
the  very  life  of  our  soul — bearing  us  witness.  In  the  third  place,  • 
there  is  that  divine  Witness — the  Spirit  of  God  himself.  That 
Spirit  which,  from  our  first  awakening  onward  till  our  commun¬ 
ion  with  Christ  in  grace  begins  to  merge  in  our  communion  with 
him  in  glory,  has  dwelt  in  our  hearts,  and  with  divine  power  led 
us  thus  far.  Now  he  testifies  that  we  are  sons  and  heirs  of  God, 
and  that  we  shall  he  glorified  with  Christ :  and  as  in  every  pre¬ 
vious  testimony,  so  in  this — he  gives  us  tokens  of  the  sublime 
verity  he  attests.  He  puts  us  in  possession  of  an  Earnest  of  the 
inheritance  of  glory  !  If  we  can  ever  believe  the  Spirit  of  God 
at  all,  we  can  believe  him  in  this,  because  here  he  gives  direct 
testimony  himself:1  and  then  he  adds  a  threefold  divine  assur¬ 
ance,  each  one  of  which,  like  his  own  testimony,  is  infallible. 
For  we  receive  the  Spirit  of  Adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba, 
Father  :‘J  we  are  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise  :s  and 
we  receive  into  our  hearts  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance.4  The 

i  1  John,  v.  6 ;  Rom.,  viii.  16.  2  Rom.,  viiL  15 ;  GaL,  iv.  6. 

3  Eph.,  i.  13 ;  iv.  30. 

4  2  Cor.,  i.  22;  v.  5;  Rom.,  viii.  23  ;  Eph.,  i.  14;  iv.  30. 


236  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

sum  of  it  is,  that  the  testimony  of  our  consciousness,  and  the 
manifold  testimony  of  God’s  Spirit,  are  added  to  the  previous 
testimony  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  attested  and  approved  by 
the  word  of  God,  by  our  rational  nature,  and  by  our  moral  na¬ 
ture — that  is,  by  faith,  by  reason,  and  by  conscience.  If  we 
cannot,  by  these  means,  arrive  at  assurance  concerning  our  con¬ 
dition  before  God,  it  is  perfectly  evident  that  there  are  no  other 
means  by  which  any  thing  can  be  made  credible  :  and  human 
nature  is  reduced  to  a  condition  of  imbecility,  in  which  neither 
belief,  nor  knowledge,  nor  salvation,  has  any  particular  signifi¬ 
cance. 

6.  It  is  often  asserted  with  great  confidence  that  very  few 
believers  arrive  at  this  state  of  communion  with  Christ  in  glory, 
in  this  life.  Probably  it  would  be  far  more  correct  to  say,  that 
very  few  enjoy  this  as  their  habitual  state.  For  the  truth  prob¬ 
ably  is,  that  all  sincere  followers  of  Christ  have,  at  times,  a 
glimpse  and  fruition  of  the  glory  that  is  laid  up  for  them  ;  par¬ 
ticipation  more  or  less  frequent,  and  more  or  less  distinct,  of 
those  first  fruits  of  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,  which  ap¬ 
pertain  to  the  children  of  the  kingdom  in  this  life.  It  will  be 
often  found  that  they  who  seem  to  cultivate  a  sort  of  distrust,  as 
if  it  were  true  humility — need  only  to  vary  a  little  the  usual  cur¬ 
rent  of  their  thoughts,  to  reveal  a  far  deeper  hold  on  divine  thirjgs 
than  they  habitually  suppose  they  possess.  Ask  such  persons, 
what  would  induce  them  to  surrender  the  small  and  uncertain 
hope  they  have  in  Christ  ?  The  answer  would  be,  Not  all 
worlds  !  It  is  true,  however,  we  must  go  forward  if  we  would 
avoid  the  risk  of  being  left  behind.  We  must  live  near  to  God 
if  we  would  have  constant  fruition  of  him  :  we  must,  in  our  fol¬ 
lowing  of  Christ,  keep  close  enough,  at  least,  to  touch  the  hem 
of  his  garment,  if  we  would  never  lose  the  healing  virtue  which 
proceeds  from  him.  There  is  indeed  a  progress  made  towards 
heaven  with  our  heads  bowed  down  like  bulrushes,  and  with  sack¬ 
cloth  spread  under  us.  But  there  is,  also,  a  return  to  Zion  with 
songs  of  everlasting  joy,  and  triumph  upon  our  heads.  There  is 
a  way  to  be  saved,  as  it  were,  by  fire :  and  there  is  a  way  in 
which  an  entrance  shall  be  ministered  to  us  abundantly,  into 
the  everlasting  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.1 
In  like  manner  the  frequent  uncertainty  of  believers  about  their 

1  2  Peter,  i.  1-11. 


CHAP.  XII.]  GRACE  AND  GLORY.  237 

actual  state  in  the  sight  of  God,  will  probably  be  found  to  arise 
from  the  small  attention  they  pay  to  the  subject,  to  their  own 
soul,  and  to  God  ;  rendering  it  well  nigh  impossible  for  them  to 
come  to  any  certain,  much  less  any  comfortable  conclusion. 
Moreover,  what  attention  they  do  give  to  these  supreme  affairs, 
is  often  misdirected ;  habitually  averting  their  thoughts  from 
Christ,  who  would  give  them  light,  and  strength,  and  peace  ; 
and  fastening  them  only  on  themselves,  from  whence  only  shame 
and  sorrow  can  come.  And  after  all,  the  low  attainments  with 
which  the  professed  followers  of  Christ  are  prone  to  content 
themselves,  and  the  conformity  to  this  world  in  which  they  allow 
themselves,  may  justify  very  grave  doubts  as  to  the  real  state  of 
many  of  them — and  remove  all  surprise  at  their  occasional  appre¬ 
hension  of  that  which  is  so  likely  to  be  true.  ' 

7.  That  men  should  be  found  capable  of  deceiving  themselves 
about  the  state  of  their  souls,  no  more  shakes  the  certainty  that 
men  need  not  be  deceived  ;  than  it  shakes  the  certaintv  of  our 
ability  to  arrive  at  positive  truth  on  any  other  subject,  to  know 
that  we  and  others  are  liable  to  deceive  ourselves  about  it.  In¬ 
deed  such  self-delusions  are  always  in  the  face  of  the  most  over¬ 
whelming  proof,  capable  of  being  positively  known  to  us.  God 
has  written  with  perfect  clearness,  that  the  wicked  shall  be 
turned  into  hell  ;  from  which  just  condemnation  there  is  no 
escape,  except  by  Repentance  toward  God  and  Faith  toward 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  no  possibility  of  fatal  delusion 
which  does  not  involve  one  or  the  other  of  these  points  :  and  how 
it  could  occur  upon  either  of  the  two,  might  well  appear  impos¬ 
sible,  if  the  Scriptures  did  not  teach  us  the  contrary — and  daily 
observation  confirm  their  solemn  statements.  Nay,  we  must  not 
conceal  that  the  danger  arising  from  the  desperate  wickedness 
of  our  hearts  and  their  deceitfulness  above  all  things,  presses  us 
even  in  a  higher  form,  and  presses  us  even  to  the  end.  Our  Lord 
has  taught  us,  that  the  seed  which  the  sower  scattereth  is  the 
Word  of  God  ;  and  that  there  is  only  one  portion  out  of  four 
which  falls  into  good  and  honest  hearts,  that  having  heard  the 
word,  keep  it,  and  bring  forth  fruit  with  patience.  Of  the  rest, 
one  portion  is  taken  away  by  the  Devil,  out  of  the  hearts  that 
received  it ;  one  portion,  having  no  root,  withered,  like  those  who 
fall  away  in  time  of  temptation  ;  and  one  portion  is  choked  by 
the  thorns  which  spring  up  spontaneously  in  our  own  hearts.2 

1  Luke,  viii.  4-15  ;  Matt.,  xiii.  1-23. 


238 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  II. 


When  we  consider  the  malice  of  Satan,  the  corrupting  influence 
of  this  sinful  world,  and  the  plague  of  onr  own  hearts  ;  our  errors, 
our  defections,  and  our  backslidings  are  sufficiently  accounted 
for,  even  if  our  attainments  in  the  divine  life  were  far  greater 
than  they  commonly  are.  If  we  will  consider  what  testimony 
God  himself  has  borne  to  his  servant  David  r1  and  then  consider 
what  David  himself  did  in  the  matter  of  Uriah  the  Hittite  :2  and 
then  what  the  Lord  said  and  did,  both  to  punish  and  reclaim  his 
servant,  upon  whom  he  had  set  his  love  :3  we  shall  understand 
better  our  own  perils  and  weakness,  the  anger  of  God  at  the 
backsliding  of  his  children,  and  the  certainty  with  which  he  turns 
their  sins  into  their  punishment.  Assuredly,  the  final  perseve¬ 
rance  of  the  saints  of  God  and  their  assurance  of  grace  and  sal¬ 
vation — no  more  depend  upon  their  own  strength,  or  ability,  or 
merit — than  that  eternal  life  to  which  God  will  certainly  bring 
them  does.  The  unchangeable  love  of  God  and  the  everlasting 
covenant  of  God  :4  the  inseparable  union  of  the  saints  with  Christ 
and  his  continual  intercession  for  them  :5  the  Spirit  and  seed  of 
eternal  life  abiding  in  them  :G  these  are  the  grounds  upon  which 
their  final  perdition  may  be  confidently  said  to  be  effectually  pro¬ 
vided  against  by  God.  And  they  who  sincerely  believe  in  Christ, 
and  walk  in  all  good  conscience  before  him  ;7  may,  by  faith 
grounded  on  the  truth  of  the  promises  of  God,  and  by  discerning 
in  themselves  through  the  Spirit  of  God,  those  graces  to  which 
the  divine  promises  are  made  ;8  and  by  the  Spirit  itself  bearing 
witness  with  their  spirit  ;9  be  infallibly  assured,  nay,  for  such 
are  the  very  words  of  God — may  know  that  they  have  eternal 
life.10 


III. — 1.  The  Spirit  which  God  has  given  to  his  children  is  not 
the  spirit  of  fear,  but  of  power,  and  of  love,  and  of  a  sound  mind.11 
And  the  very  Kingdom  of  God  itself,  is  righteousness,  and  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.12  The  children  of  this  kingdom  par¬ 
ticipating  of  that  Spirit — possess  every  thing  only  by  means  of 
their  union  and  communion  with  the  Lord  Jesus,  their  Head  and 
Redeemer.  Complete  in  their  participation  of  grace  by  means 


I  1  Kings,  xiv.  8 ;  xv.  4,  5. 

3  2  Samuel,  xii.  1-23  ;  xiii. — xix 
5  1  Cor.,  i.  8 ;  Heb.,  vii.  25. 
i  1  John,  ii.  3. 
s  Rom.,  viii.  16;  Eph.,  L  13. 

II  2  Tim.,  i.  7. 


4  2  Samuel,  xl  passim. 

4  Jer.,  xxxi.  3;  2  Sam.,  xxiiL  5. 

6  1  John,  iii.  9;  ii.  27. 

8  1  Cor.,  ii.  12  ;  1  John,  iii.  14-24;  iv.  13-16. 
10  1  John,  v.  13. 

13  Rom.,  xiv.  17. 


GRACE  AND  GLORY. 


239 


CHAP.  XII.] 

of  that  communion  with  him — it  remains  to  explain  more  par¬ 
ticularly  their  participation  of  glory  with  him — especially  in 
this  life.  That  this  actually  occurs,  has  been  shown  already  ; 
for  indeed  it  is  expressly  written,  that  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
changes  us  into  the  image  of  his  glory,  as  we  all  with  open  face 
behold  as  in  a  glass  that  glory  of  the  Lord  ;  and  the  manner 
and  extent  of  the  change  is  intimated,  by  saying  it  is  from  glory 
to  glory.1  Calling  to  mind  what  I  have  pointed  out  in  the  for¬ 
mer  Treatise,  concerning  the  significance  of  the  Doxology  at  the 
close  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  as  given  by  the  Apostle  Matthew  : 
this  remarkable  use  of  the  term  glory ,  with  reference  to  the  in¬ 
creasing  participation  by  Christ's  people  of  his  image  in  this  life, 
discloses  to  us  how  much  the  Apostle  Paul  intended  to  express 
in  the  passage  just  quoted,  and  how  deeply  the  truth  I  am  un¬ 
folding  is  laid  in  the  plan  of  salvation.  Until  the  adoption, 
that  is  the  redemption  of  the  body — in  other  words  till  the  glo¬ 
rious  resurrection  or  transfiguration  of  the  righteous,  at  the 
coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  ;  the  condition  of  God's  children  on 
earth  can  rise  no  higher  than  one  of  groaning  within  themselves, 
while  they  wait  for  that  redemption — possessing,  at  the  same 
time,  the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit.2  These  first  fruits  of  glory,  be¬ 
yond  which  we  cannot  rise  while  we  are  in  that  estate  of  flesh 
and  blood,  which  is  incompatible  with  the  full  inheritance  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God,3  are  three  times  designated  by  a  very  peculiar 
word,  which  in  our  English  version  is  rendered  earnest*  Thus  : 
Now  he  which  establisheth  us  with  you  in  Christ,  and  hath 
anointed  us,  is  God  ;  who  hath  also  sealed  us,  and  given  us  the 
earnest  of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts.4  Again,  when  speaking  with 
confidence  of  our  having  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens — of  our  groaning  in  our  earthly  tabernacle — and 
of  our  earnest  desire  to  be  so  clothed  upon  with  our  house  which 
is  from  heaven  that  mortality  might  be  swallowed  up  of  life  ;  the 
Apostle  adds,  Now  he  that  hath  wrought  us  for  the  self-same 
thing  is  God,  who  also  hath  given  unto  us  the  earnest  of  the 
Spirit.5  And  again,  the  same  Apostle  speaking  of  the  inherit¬ 
ance  to  which  the  saints  were  predestinated,  of  the  Redeemer 
through  whom  they  obtain  it,  and  of  the  means  by  which  they 

1  2  Cor.,  iii.  18.  2  Rom.,  via.  23. 

*  AppaflCiva — v.n-tf — arrhabo — earnest  money. 

5  2  Cor.,  y.  5. 


3  1  Cor.,  xv.  50. 

4  2  Cor.,  i.  21,  22. 


240  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

are  fitted  for  it ;  adds,  Ye  were  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
promise,  which  is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance,  until  the  re¬ 
demption  of  the  purchased  possession,  unto  the  praise  of  his 
glory.1  Nothing  could  therefore  be  more  distinctly  taught,  than 
that  the  saints  are  invested  in  this  life  with  a  foretaste  of  that 
fruition  of  God,  which  will  he  their  portion,  their  reward,  and 
their  inheritance  in  the  life  to  come.  It  is  the  first  fruits  of  their 
communion  in  glory  with  Christ  :  it  is  the  earnest  of  all  that  is 
to  follow  :  not  only  a  pledge  of  it — but  a  pledge  of  that  peculiar 
sort,  that  delivers  to  us,  in  advance,  a  portion  of  what  is  to  come. 

2.  These  first  fruits  of  glory  with  Christ,  communicated  to 
the  saints  in  this  life  in  the  form  of  this  earnest  of  their  future 
and  complete  participation  of  the  glory  of  which  he  is  fully  pos¬ 
sessed,  and  in  which  they  are  eternally  interested  ;  are  declared 
to  be  from  God  and  wrought  by  him — to  be  through  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  promise — and  to  be  in  our  hearts.  It  is  wonderful  how 
the  Scriptures  insist  upon  this  heart  work  !  Here  at  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  glory,  it  is  the  pure  in  heart  who  possess  God,  just  as 
it  is  the  pure  in  heart  who  shall  at  last  see  God — and  just  as,  at 
the  very  first,  it  was  with  the  heart  we  believed  unto  righteous¬ 
ness,  and  all  through  our  progress  the  love  of  God  was  shed 
abroad  in  our  heart  !  And  the  effects  which  are  produced  on  us, 
are  precisely  analogous  to  this  mode  of  viewing  and  treating  the 
whole  case — precisely  such  effects  as  are  incapable  of  being  pro¬ 
duced  in  any  other  way.  We  sit  together  in  heavenly  places 
with  Christ  Jesus.2  There  is  begotten  in  us  a  sense  of  God's 
love.3  Peace  of  conscience — that  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all 
understanding,  is  given  to  us.4  Joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  is  diffused 
through  the  soul.5  And  it  rejoices  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God.6 
All  depends  upon  the  transcendent  excellence  of  what  is  good, 
what  is  pure,  what  is  holy.  All  illustrates  the  overwhelming 
truth,  that  supreme  felicity  is  founded  on  the  union  of  supreme 
sanctity  with  supreme  love.  All  has  relevancy  to  that  aspect  of 
God,  wherein  we  are  sealed  unto  him  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
Promise.  First  it  was  Faith — then  it  was  Assurance' — then  an 
Earnest  sealed  with  the  Spirit  of  Promise.  Always  it  is  trust 
in  God ;  confiding,  loving,  hoping,  rejoicing,  adoring  trust  in 
God  !  Higher  than  this,  flesh  and  blood  may  not  pass.  To  do  so, 

1  Eph.,  i.  14.  2  Eph.,  ii.  6.  8  Rom.,  v.  5. 

4  Phil.,  iv.  7.  5  Bom.,  xiv.  17.  e  Bom.,  y.  2.. 


GRACE  AND  GLORY. 


241 


CHAP.  XII.] 

this  corruption  must  put  on  incorruption — this  mortal,  immor¬ 
tality. 

3.  The  stages  of  our  existence  are  very  different  from  each 
other  :  but  all  of  them  are  distinctly  explained  to  us  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures.  Our  first  period  is  passed  on  this  earth,  in  its 
present  condition,  with  our  immortal  spirit  and  our  mortal  body 
so  united  as  to  form  one  living  but  mortal  creature.  And  the 
highest  estate  we  can  attain  here,  is  one  in  which  the  sanctified 
soul  dwells  in  a  body  wholly  corrupt  and  under  sentence  of  death. 
The  second  period  of  our  existence  is  that  in  which  the  soul  and 
the  body  have  been  separated  by  the  stroke  of  death  ;  the  one 
returning  to  the  dust  as  it  was — the  other  to  God  who  gave  it. 
And  the  third  period  of  it  commences  with  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  in  incorruption  and  glory,  and  its  reunion  with  the  soul; 
after  which  is  an  endless  existence  of  glory  and  blessedness  to  all 
the  redeemed  of  the  Lord.  The  Lord  Jesus  took  flesh  and  blood, 
because  his  brethren,  the  children  whom  God  had  given  him, 
were  partakers  thereof :  and  the  great  principle  on  which  that 
was  done,  is  declared  to  be,  that  in  all  things  it  behooved  him  to 
be  made  like  unto  his  brethren.1  He  took  no  human  person — 
and  therefore  no  personal  defects  :  he  took  no  pollution — for  none 
was  original  and  inherent  in  human  nature  as  created;  and  more¬ 
over,  it  was  impossible  for  him,  either  as  God  or  Mediator,  to 
take  pollution.  But  he  did  take  whatever  was  original  and  in¬ 
herent  in  human  nature  ;  namely,  a  human  body,  and  a  rational 
soul' — both  of  which  he  united  to  his  divine  person  as  the  Son  of 
God,  the  second  Person  of  the  Trinity.  And  thus  fully  qualified 
to  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest — he  not  only  made 
reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the  people,  but  in  all  things  per¬ 
taining  to  God,  he  was  at  once  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of 
our  profession,  and  faithful  to  him  that  appointed  him.2  He 
passed  through  all  the  conditions,  just  explained,  through  which 
his  brethren  pass — life,  death,  resurrection — like  unto  them  in 
all :  without  which  we  could  have  no  communion  with  him,  in 
any  condition  passed  through  by  us,  but  not  by  him.  So  exact 
was  this  similitude,  and  so  deep  was  the  principle  which  made  it 
becoming  in  him  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren  in  all  things;3 
that  Christ  was  transfigured  before  he  tasted  death.4  And  thus 
when  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout, 

2  Heb.,  iii.  1,  2.  3  Heb.,  ii.  17.  4  Matt.,  xvii.  1-9. 

1 


1  Ileb.,  ii.  14-11. 
VOL.  II. 


242  THE  KNOWLEEGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  the  trump  of  God  ;  the 
dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first ;  and  then  we  which  are.  alive  and 
remain  shall  be  caught  up  together  with  them  in  the  clouds  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air.1  But  instantly,  in  the  twinkling  of 
an  eye,  at  the  last  trump,  and  as  soon  as  the  dead  who  sleep  in 
Jesus  are  raised — we  who  shall  not  sleep,  that  is  who  shall  be 
alive  at  the  coming  of  the  Lord — shall  be  changed.2  And  the 
precise  nature  and  cause  of  the  change  are  explained  to  us  ;  the 
Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus,  when  he  comes,  shall  change  our  vile 
body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious  body,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subdue  all 
things  to  himself.3  In  life,  in  death,  in  the  state  of  separation 
of  the  soul  and  body,  in  the  resurrection,  in  transfiguration  ;  the 
Scriptures  leave  us  no  room  to  doubt  that  we  have  communion 
with  Christ,  whether  in  grace  or  glory ;  and  that  in  all  these 
wonders,  the  similitude  of  Christ  to  his  brethren — his  having 
passed  where  they  have  to  pass,  and  been  what  they  are  to  be,  is 
the  foundation  of  that  communion,  and  of  all  their  blessedness 
therein.  As  bearing  upon  this  general  subject,  I  have  on  a  for¬ 
mer  occasion  called  attention  to  the  very  remarkable  period  and 
estate  of  Christ,  between  his  resurrection  and  his  final  taking  up 
into  heaven  from  the  immediate  presence  of  his  Apostles  near  to 
Bethany,  on  Mount  Olivet,  forty  days  after  his  passion.4  If  this 
was  a  state  not  relevant  to  things  pertaining  to  God  in  the  me¬ 
diatorial  work  of  Christ,  and  through  which  his  brethren  are  not 
to  pass,  and  in  which  they  are  to  have  no  communion  with  him  : 
it  is,  in  all  these  respects,  unique  in  the  whole  dispensation  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  If  otherwise,  it  has  a  most  important  bearing  upon 
the  question  touching  the  condition  of  the  saints  immediately 
following  the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  :  and  appears 
to  teach  that  we  are  to  expect  then  a  new  and  very  glorious  dis¬ 
pensation  of  the  risen  and  changed  saints,  but  that  it  will  not  con¬ 
stitute  the  final  and  eternal  state  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

4.  It  might  be  thought  strange  that  the  saints  of  God  die  at 
all ;  and  the  fact  that  two  of  them — Enoch  and  Elijah — have 
been  translated  without  tasting  death,  might  appear  to  embarrass 
the  matter  still  further.5  But  the  Scriptures  set  the  point  in  a 

i  1  Thess.,  iv.  16,  IT.  2  1  Cor.,  xv.  50-52. 

3  Phil.,  iii.  20,  21.  4  Luke,  xxiv.  50-52;  Acts,  i.  1-12. 

5  Gen.,  v.  24;  2  Kings,  ii.  11. 


CHAP.  XII.] 


GRACE  AND  GLORY. 


243 


very  clear  light.  Death  is  the  wages  of  sin  i1  and  as  all  men 
have  sinned,  death  has  passed  upon  all.2  It  is  appointed  unto 
men  once  to  die  :  not  to  every  man,  hut  to  men.3  For  though 
death  has  passed  upon  all  men,  the  living  saints  who  will  be 
changed  in  a  moment  at  the  appearing  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  his 
glory,  will  incur  that  sentence  in  that  peculiar  way.  So  won¬ 
derful  is  the  accuracy,  and  so  great  are  the  resources  of  the 
divine  word.  Moreover,  the  righteous  are,  at  last,  wholly  deliv¬ 
ered  from  death — which  is  the  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed, 
and  whose  destruction  by  the  glorified  Saviour  will  be  the  signal 
for  his  delivery  up  of  the  Kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father.4 
Even  when  the  saints  endure  its  stroke,  its  sting  and  curse  are 
taken  away  ;  and  it  is  by  means  of  it  that  they  are  set  perfectly 
free  from  sin  and  misery,  and  made  capable  of  perfect  commu¬ 
nion  with  Christ  in  glory.5  For  at  death,  the  souls  of  believers 
are  made  perfect  in  holiness.6  The  disembodied  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect,  see  God  as  he  is,  and  are  like  him.7  Those 
vile  bodies — that  sinful  flesh  in  which  no  good  thing  dwelt, 
must  wait  in  the  grave  for  their  full  redemption  ;8  certain  to  be 
brought  to  glory  with  Jesus  in  whom  they  sleep  ;9  and  to  be  re¬ 
united,  in  their  resurrection,  each  to  its  own  glorified  soul — they 
themselves  being  spiritual,  incorruptible,  and  for  ever  victorious 
over  death. 

5.  In  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  and  the  eternal  judgment 
which  will  follow  it,  and  the  delivery  up  of  the  Kingdom  to  God, 
even  the  Father;  everything  that  manifests  the  perfect  com¬ 
munion  of  the  believer  with  Christ  in  glory,  will  flow  to  him  as 
a  benefit  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption  ;  and  will  result  like 
all  the  fruits  of  his  communion  with  Christ  in  glory  previously 
bestowed  on  him,  whether  in  his  mortal  or  his  separate  state, 
from  his  original  union  with  Christ  through  the  virtue  of  his 
mediation,  and  his  subsequent  communion  with  him  in  grace 
and  glory,  as  the  Redeemer  of  God's  Elect.  I  do  not  propose, 
in  this  place,  to  enter  upon  the  consideration  of  these,  which 
may  be  justly  called  the  Last  Things  :  whose  treatment  belongs 
to  another  place.  It  is  enough  to  have  pointed  out  how  the  un¬ 
speakable  blessings  to  whose  consideration  so  many  chapters 


1  Rom.,  vi.  23.  2  Rom.,  v.  12.  3  Heb.,  ix.  27. 

s  Rom.,  xiv.  13  ;  Eph.,  v.  27 ;  Luke,  xxiii.  43 ;  Phil.,  i.  23. 
6  Heb.,  xii.  23.  7  John,  iii.  2.  8  Rom.,  viii.  23. 


1  Cor.,  xv.  24-26. 
1  Thess.,  iv.  14. 


8 


244  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  II. 

have  been  devoted  ;  are  fruitful  through  eternity,  as  well  as  in 
life  and  at  death  ;  how  it  is  Christ  through  whom  they  are  made 
effectual  in  both  worlds  ;  and  how  the  very  beginnings  of  grace 
in  a  penitent  soul  here  below,  involve  the  very  end  of  all  glory  to 
all  eternity  !  Let  it  suffice  to  add,  that  the  Scriptures  distinctly 
teach  that,  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  believers  will  be 
raised  up  in  glory  by  the  glorified  Redeemer  i1  that  in  the  Day 
of  Judgment  they  will  be  openly  acknowledged  by  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead:2  will  be  made  perfectly  blessed  in 
the  full  and  eternal  enjoyment  of  God  :3  and  will  be  delivered 
up  on  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life,  along  with  the  glorified  King¬ 
dom  of  which  they  are  the  members,  by  the  Son  to  God,  even  the 
Father,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all.4 

6.  Let  us  not  lose  sight  for  a  moment  of  the  sublime  thought 
of  God — of  the  extent  to  which  we  have  traced  it — and  of  the 
position  we  have  now  reached.  The  First  Book  of  this  Treatise 
was  occupied  in  determining  the  condition  of  the  universe,  the 
ends  proposed  by  God,  the  means  to  those  ends,  and  their  divine 
working  until  now.  In  this  Book  it  is  the  actual,  direct,  effective 
dealings  of  God  with  individual  men — in  the  salvation  of  the 
soul,  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  explain,  to  classify,  and  to 
demonstrate.  Upon  such  subjects  the  thing  to  be  most  carefully 
avoided  is,  all  attempts  to  invent  any  thing — to  originate  any 
thing  :  the  thing  to  be  most  carefully  done  is,  to  follow  exactly 
and  completely  the  thought  of  God,  in  all  its  light  and  all  its 
power,  to  the  utmost  capacity  of  our  frail  nature.  In  propor¬ 
tion  as  we  succeed  in  these  two  endeavours,  the  science  of  all 
sciences,  the  science  of  God  in  what  he  is  and  what  he  does, 
emerges  from  the  chaos  of  human  conceits,  and  from  the  pro¬ 
found  darkness  of  human  ignorance  ;  and  grows  into  a  form  in¬ 
finitely  distinct,  and  becomes  a  force  divinely  effectual.  And 
thus  every  step  we  take  makes  the  next  step  more  sure,  and 
makes  us  more  competent  to  take  it.  We  must  not  allow  our¬ 
selves  to  suppose  that  these  things  are  beyond  our  reach  :  they 
are  revealed  to  our  Faith — and  they  are  a  light  and  a  power 
unto  us  :  even  by  the  divine  grace,  the  power  of  God  unto  sal¬ 
vation  to  every  one  that  believeth.  Yet  we  must  not  presume 
that  they  are  things  which  open  their  divine  nature  to  our 


1  1  Thess.,  iv.  16,  17 ;  1  Cor.,  xv.  51-53. 
3  Ps.  xvl  11 ;  Rev.,  vii.  14-17. 


2  Matt.,  xxv.  33. 

4  1  Cor.,  xv.  24-28. 


CHAP.  XII.]  GRACE  AND  GLORY.  245 

careless,  fickle,  and  shallow  enquiries.  It  is  they  who  wait  on 
the  Lord,  that  renew  their  strength.  It  is  in  his  light  that 
we  see  light.  It  is  when  God  has  opened  our  eyes  that  we 
behold  wondrous  things,  not  only  in  his  law,  hut  in  our  own 
souls,  and  upon  the  earth  around  us,  and  in  the  heavens 
above  us. 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD, 

SUBJECTIVELY  CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  THIRD  BOOK. 

This  Third  Book  completes  the  exhibition  of  the  direct  work  of  divine 
grace  in  man,  considered  individually  and  with  reference  to  this  life.  Its  aim 
is  to  point  out  with  absolute  certainty,  the  operation  of  the  New  Life  implanted 
by  God  in  the  renewed  soul :  the  uniform  operation  of  that  life  in  every  child 
of  God,  individually  considered.  For,  however  various  the  experience  of  re¬ 
newed  souls  may  be,  there  are  particulars,  and  they  fundamental,  in  which  their 
experience  is  necessarily  identical :  and  this  Book  attempts  to  disclose  the  matter 
of  the  vital  operation  of  the  individual  soul  renewed  by  God,  in  the  way  of  all 
Christian  Offices  considered  with  direct  reference  to  our  personal  Union  and 
Communion  with  Christ.  All  Christian  Offices  which  result  indirectly  from  our 
Union  and  Communion  with  Christ,  namely,  all  such  as  depend  upon  the  Com¬ 
munion  of  Saints  with  each  other,  in  consequence  of  their  mutual  Communion 
with  Christ,  are  omitted  here,  and  will  be  fully  considered  afterwards.  And  the 
word  Offices  is  used  because  it  is  not  only  the  most  comprehensive  of  all,  but 
because  no  other  single  word  adequately  expresses  the  nature  of  these  opera¬ 
tions  of  the  New  Life  of  Christian  souls,  resulting  from  their  communion  with 
Christ.  For  these  are  services — duties,  so  high,  that  practical  Christianity  con¬ 
sists  in  their  performance ;  so  peculiar,  that  their  habitual  omission  is  the  distinct 
evidence  that  we  are  not  Christians  at  all :  and  though  they  are  duties — services 
so  decisive — yet  they  spring  up  spontaneously  in  the  renewed  soul,  as  if  they 
were  only  its  delights,  and  that  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  power  of  its  own 
New  Life :  and  still,  it  is  only  through  divine  grace  that  they  can  be  performed 
at  all,  or  that  the  desire  to  perform  them  exists.  They  are  the  effects  produced 
by  the  action  of  that  New  Life,  which  is  itself  produced  and  perfected  in  the 
manner  pointed  out  in  the  immediately  preceding  Book,  and  the  ground  and 
method  for  the  production  of  which  were  explained  in  the  First  Book  of  this 
Treatise.  First,  Divine  Grace  redeeming  us — secondly,  Divine  Grace  in  its 
saving  work  upon  our  souls — and  now,  thirdly,  Divine  Grace  manifesting  itself 
through  us,  in  the  immediate  and  necessary  operation  of  this  New  Life.  Faith 
towards  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  Repentance  towards  God,  are,  therefore, 
first  discussed,  they  being  the  two  fundamental  and  universal  Offices  of  all  re- 


248 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  THIRD  BOOK. 


newed  souls — and  of  Christianity  itself.  To  the  first  of  these  two,  Saving  Faith, 
the  Thirteenth  Chapter,  which  is  the  First  of  this  Third  Book,  is  devoted :  and 
its  threefold  aspect  as  a  condition  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption — as  a  special 
grace  of  the  Divine  Spirit — and  as  a  peculiar  and  permanent  habit  of  the  re¬ 
newed  soul — is  considered — and  its  whole  nature,  use,  and  effect  attempted  to 
be  explained:  incidentally,  various  topics  of  great  importance,  amongst  them 
the  spiritual  helplessness  and  moral  bondage  of  man,  and  the  futility  of  all 
attempts  to  rob  this  great  distinctive  mark  of  the  New  Creature  of  its  super¬ 
natural  character — are  discussed;  the  object  of  all  being  to  exhibit  the  New  Life 
in  its  chief  aspect,  as  one  of  Faith  in  the  Divine  Redeemer.  The  Fourteenth 
Chapter,  which  is  the  Second  of  this  Book,  is  occupied  in  discussing  the  second 
great  Christian  Office,  namely,  Repentance  unto  Life — which  is  indissolubly 
connected  with  Saving  Faith — being  competent,  indeed,  only  to  a  believing 
soul,  as  Faith  is  competent  only  to  a  renewed  soul :  the  relations  between  which 
two  fundamental  graces  and  the  New  Obedience  are  pointed  out — as  well  as 
those  mutually  subsisting  between  Spiritual  Life — Righteousness — and  Repent¬ 
ance  :  the  whole  doctrine  of  our  moral  nature,  and  moral  judgments,  and  moral 
sense,  is  attempted  to  be  unfolded — in  its  relations  to  the  spiritual  system  dis¬ 
closed  in  the  Scriptures — and  to  the  spiritual  system  involved  in  every  form  of 
unbelief :  the  nature  of  true  Repentance,  in  its  origin,  progress,  and  results,  is 
explained,  together  with  the  acts  and  states  of  the  penitent  soul,  with  reference 
to  God,  to  sin,  to  duty,  to  holiness,  and  to  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ:  and 
the  characteristic  peculiarity  of  this  perpetual  habit  of  the  believing  soul,  together 
with  the  wide  connection,  the  simplicity,  the  certainty,  and  the  amazing  efficacy 
of  the  whole  doctrine  herein  asserted,  is  attempted  to  be  demonstrated.  The 
three  following  Chapters,  namely,  the  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth, 
are  devoted  to  those  great  and  universal  Christian  Offices,  which  are  expressed 
by  the  terms  New  Obedience,  Good  Works,  and  Spiritual  Warfare — one  Chap¬ 
ter  to  each :  Offices  which  are  as  inseparable  from  the  exercise  of  Repentance 
toward  God  and  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  exercise  of  these 
fundamental  graces  is  from  Union  and  Communion  of  the  New  Creature  with 
the  Divine  Redeemer.  The  Fifteenth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Third  of  this  Book, 
is  occupied  with  an  enquiry  into  the  Nature,  Fruits,  and  End  of  the  New  Obe¬ 
dience  of  the  New  Creature : — wherein  those  Offices  which  it  owes  and  renders 
immediately  to  God,  are  distinguished  from  those  it  owes  and  renders  more  par¬ 
ticularly  to  its  fellow-creatures,  and  the  nature,  exercise,  and  influence  of  the 
former,  are  disclosed :  amongst  the  Offices  of  the  New  Obedience,  due  and  ren¬ 
dered  especially  to  God  by  the  New  Creature — Prayer,  Fasting  and  Watching, 
Thanksgiving,  Vows  and  Lawful  Oaths,  are  considered:  and  the  gracious  and 
the  natural  aspect  of  these  distinguishing  peculiarities  of  the  Christian  life — and 
the  condition  of  human  nature  when  thoroughly  influenced  by  them,  is  exhib¬ 
ited.  In  the  Sixteenth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Fourth  of  this  Book,  the  Doctrine 
and  Nature  of  Good  Works  is  attempted  to  be  developed :  wherein  it  is  shown 
that  they  embrace  all  duty  due  by  us  as  followers  of  Christ,  to  our  fellow-men, 
that  they  are  the  fruits  of  our  New  Obedience  rendered  to  God  through 
Christ,  that  they  are  regulated  absolutely  by  the  will  of  God,  are  incompetent 
in  their  scriptural  sense  to  any  but  a  child  of  God,  and  are  diligently  and  joyfully 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  THIRD  BOOK. 


249 


performed  by  us,  in  proportion  to  the  power  of  the  life  of  God  in  us :  some  of 
those  chiefly  insisted  on  in  the  Scriptures,  such  as  Charity  and  Almsgiving,  are 
particularly  set  forth,  in  themselves,  in  their  relations  to  Christ  and  to  all  Chris¬ 
tian  Offices,  and  in  their  effects:  the  connection  of  Good  Works  with  our  holi¬ 
ness,  our  happiness,  and  our  usefulness — their  bearing  upon  our  endeavours  to 
glorify  God  and  adorn  the  doctrine  we  profess,  and  their  special  relation  to  our 
judgment  in  the  great  day  are  disclosed :  the  bearing  of  the  whole  doctrine  and 
practice  upon  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  and  upon  Christian  life,  and  upon  many 
incidental  questions,  such  as  Christian  Liberty,  and  Liberty  of  Conscience,  im¬ 
plicit  Faith  and  tender  Consciences,  the  power  of  the  Civil  Magistrate  in  things 
Sacred,  and  the  Spiritual  Authority  of  Councils  and  Synods,  is  explicated :  and, 
in  the  end,  a  brief  and  thorough  analysis  and  summary  of  the  whole  matter  is 
attempted.  The  Seventeenth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Fifth  of  this  Book,  is  devo¬ 
ted  to  the  consideration  of  that  Spiritual  Warfare  which  every  penitent  and 
believing  follower  of  the  Son  of  God  must  wage  through  a  life  of  New  Obe¬ 
dience  and  Good  Works,  that  is,  of  conformity  to  God,  and  beneficence  towards 
man — with  the  Flesh,  the  World  and  the  Devil,  up  to  the  very  gate  of  heaven ; 
wherein  the  nature,  necessity,  grounds,  progress,  and  result  of  this  Warfare  are 
explained :  its  absolute  connection  with  our  witness-bearing  for  Christ,  our 
working  together  with  God,  and  our  suffering  together  with  Jesus,  is  disclosed : 
its  immediate  connection  with  the  means  of  Grace,  with  the  progress  of  the  life 
of  God  in  our  soul,  and  with  our  endeavours  to  bless  our  fellow-men  and  to 
glorify  God,  is  pointed  out :  and  the  certainty  and  glory  of  our  final  victory, 
through  Christ  Jesus,  is  demonstrated.  Having  thus  explained  in  successive 
Chapters,  the  aspects  of  the  divine  life  as  it  manifests  itself  in  those  in  whom  it 
is  begotten  and  established ;  namely,  that  our  fives  are  fives  of  Faith  toward 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  Repentance  toward  God,  that  these  result  neces¬ 
sarily  in  fives  of  New  Obedience  toward  God,  of  which  all  Good  Works  toward 
our  fellow-men  are  the  necessary  fruits,  and  that  the  whole  of  this  Christian 
Life  involves  and  produces  in  us  a  perpetual  Spiritual  Warfare  against  all  the 
enemies  of  the  Captain  of  our  Salvation  and  of  our  own  souls :  what  remains  is, 
to  point  out  with  clearness  and  certainty  an  Infallible  Rule  whereby  such  a  fife 
may  be  directed  and  sustained  in  all  things.  The  Eighteenth  Chapter,  there¬ 
fore,  which  is  the  Sixth  and  last  of  this  Book,  is  devoted  to  the  demonstration 
of  the  necessity  of  such  a  Rule  of  Faith  and  Obedience,  and  of  its  actual  exist¬ 
ence  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  inspired  and  revealed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  wherein 
the  nature,  origin,  restoration,  and  universal  obligation  of  the  Moral  Law  is  set 
forth — the  infallible  Knowledge  of  God  unto  the  salvation  of  sinners  is  shown 
to  be  revealed  to  our  Faith — the  relation  of  Faith  and  true  Righteousness  to  each 
other — that  of  both  to  the  Saviour — that  of  all  three  to  the  sacred  Scriptures — 
and  that  of  the  whole  to  our  Salvation  by  Grace,  is  disclosed :  and  the  reality, 
completeness,  and  efficacy  of  the  written  word  of  God  as  the  only  and  Infallible 
Rule  of  all  that  man  ought  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  all  that  God  requires 
of  man  is  established ;  and  so  it  is  shown  that  man  possesses  in  them,  and  in 
them  alone,  the  perfect  Knowledge  of  the  chief  end  of  his  existence,  in  glorify¬ 
ing  God  and  enjoying  him  for  ever.  In  a  field  of  discussion  so  vast,  and  in  the 
midst  of  such  sublime  chains  of  thought  disclosed  by  God  himself,  if  it  may  be 


250 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  THIRD  BOOK. 


allowed  to  suggest  and  define  for  each  of  the  six  Chapters,  one  truth  which  may 
be  considered  Supreme,  and  then  to  connect  these  fundamental  truths  into  one 
general  and  compact  statement,  having  the  force  of  a  great  argument,  while 
containing  themes  for  multiplied  discussions :  perhaps  it  may  be  thought  that 
these  demands  are,  in  some  degree,  met  in  the  statement  of  the  truths  which 
follow,  as  being  the  capital  truths  explicated  in  this  Third  Book.  Namely — 
That  by  a  direct  act  of  the  renewed  soul,  convinced  of  its  sin,  misery,  and  im¬ 
potence,  and  believing  and  trusting  God,  it  habitually  accepts  and  rests  on 
Christ  crucified  for  Salvation ;  the  nature  of  this  great  act  and  habit  of  the  soul 
being,  that  it  is  the  fundamental  and  perpetual  manifestation  of  the  New  Crea¬ 
ture;  its  use  being  to  establish  the  Union  and  to  perpetuate  the  Communion 
between  the  crucified  Saviour  and  the  renewed  sinner ;  and  its  effect  being  to 
advance  the  soul  continually  in  all  fitness  for  salvation  and  to  secure  that  salva¬ 
tion;  this  being  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  considered  as  the  first  of 
all  Christian  Offices : — That  in  the  exercise  of  the  second  great  Office  of  true 
religion,  which  is  Repentance  toward  God,  the  renewed  soul  habitually  appre¬ 
hends  the  evil  of  all  sin  and  of  its  own  sins  in  particular,  and  also  apprehends  the 
mercy  of  God  in  Christ  to  believing  sinners ;  and  so  with  grief  and  hatred  for 
sin  and  for  itself  on  account  of  sin  it  turns  penitently  to  God  from  all  sin,  with 
set  purpose  after  New  Obedience ;  this  vital  manifestation  of  the  life  of  God  in 
all  believers,  this  habit  of  the  renewed  soul,  being,  like  the  preceding  grace, 
wrought  in  God’s  children  by  his  Word  and  Spirit,  for  the  merits’  sake  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  being  constantly  exercised  by  them  in  endeavours  to  overcome  all 
sin,  and  to  obey  the  perfect  law  of  God : — That  the  habitual  condition  of  the 
Believing  and  Penitent  Soul  toward  God,  is  one  of  true,  willing,  and  joyful 
Obedience  to  his  Will,  exactly  in  proportion  to  its  own  full  and  stedfast  Com¬ 
munion  with  Christ,  and  the  completeness  of  its  own  restoration  to  the  image 
of  God;  and  that  this  New  Obedience  considered  as  rendered  immediately  to 
God,  is  especially  manifested  and  nourished  in  the  diligent  keeping  of  the  heart, 
the  earnest  exercise  and  growth  of  grace,  and  the  careful  and  habitual  use  and 
enjoyment  of  those  offices  and  means  divinely  appointed  for  the  mortification  of 
sin,  for  the  comfort  and  edification  of  the  soul,  and  for  the  promotion  of  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  sanctification  of  his  saints: — That  the  heart  which  is  right 
in  the  sight  of  God  manifests  its  Communion  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in 
strong  and  habitual  desire  and  endeavour  to  perform  all  Good  Works;  which 
are  the  fruits  of  its  New  Obedience  exhibited  in  sincere  and  continual  endea¬ 
vours  after  the  comfort  and  edification  of  every  human  being,  according  to  their 
several  relations  and  necessities,  and  to  our  opportunities  and  obligations,  as 
followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  according  to  his  word  and  for  the  promotion  of  his 
glory  and  our  own  salvation ;  we  being  prompted  thereto  by  love  for  him  and 
for  our  felknw-men,  and  sustained  therein  by  the  grace  of  God : — That  the 
Christian  Life  of  Faith,  Repentance,  New  Obedience,  and  Good  Works,  neces¬ 
sarily  involves  and  produces  a  Spiritual  Warfare  in  us  as  followers  of  Christ  the 
Captain  of  our  Salvation,  against  the  Flesh,  the  World,  and  the  Devil,  who  are 
implacable  enemies  of  our  Lord  and  of  our  souls ;  wherein  by  perpetual  fidelity  to 
him  through  divine  grace,  the  true  soldiers  of  his  cross  have  constant  experience 
of  his  infinite  sufficiency  and  of  their  own  vileness  and  nothingness ;  and 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  THIRD  BOOK. 


251 


whereby  they  are  at  last  brought  off  more  than  conqueror  through  him  that 
loved  them : — That  the  Word  of  God  which  is  contained  in  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  is  the  Infallible  Rule  of  Faith,  Repentance,  New 
Obedience,  Good  Works,  and  Spiritual  Warfare;  God  having  revealed  therein 
all  that  man  ought  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  all  that  God  requires  of 
man,  in  order  to  eternal  life ;  whereby  the  chief  end  of  our  existence  in  glorify¬ 
ing  God  and  enjoying  him  for  ever,  is  made  known  to  us  with  divine  certainty 
and  divine  authority ;  and  the  Saviour  and  the  Spirit  which  they  reveal,  make 
the  means  of  grace  instituted  in  them,  effectual  towards  us,  by  the  power  of 
God. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FAITH  TOWARD  THE  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST. 

I.  1.  Third  Step  in  the  Subjective  Disclosure  of  Salvation:  The  two  great  Offices  of 
Christianity. — 2.  The  Act  of  the  Soul  which  we  call  Faith,  and  the  State  of  the 
soul  exercising  it,  peculiar  to  the  New  Creature. — 3.  The  Work  of  Divine  Grace  in 
Man:  neither  properly  Miraculous,  nor  properly  Natural — but  Supernatural. — 
4.  Every  Exercise  of  Faith  an  Act  and  Manifestation  of  the  New  Life  in  Mau. — 
II.  1.  Divine  Definition  and  Illustration  of  Faith. — 2.  Faith  is  the  Substance  of 
Things  hoped  for. — 3.  Faith  is  the  Evidence  of  Things  not  seen. — 4.  Faith  is  a 
Grace  of  the  Spirit :  With  the  Heart  Man  believeth  unto  Righteousness. — 5.  To 
be  Effectual,  Faith  must  be  what  the  Scriptures  make  it  out. — III.  1.  The  three¬ 
fold  Aspect  of  Saving  Faith — as  a  Condition  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption — as 
a  special  Grace  of  the  Spirit — as  a  peculiar  Habit  of  the  Renewed  Soul. — 2.  Na¬ 
ture,  Use,  and  Effect  of  Faith. — 3.  The  Divine  Saviour  and  the  Revelation  of 
him,  the  exclusive  Objects  of  Faith. — 4.  Faith  is  neither  an  Efficient,  nor  a  Meri¬ 
torious  Cause. — IV.  1.  Relation  of  Faith  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  to  the  Means 
of  Grace :  Results  thereof. — 2.  Assurance  of  Faith  real :  but  not  of  the  Essence 
of  Faith. — 3.  The  Spiritual  Helplessness  of  the  Natural  Man. — 4.  The  Moral 
Bondage  of  the  Natural  Man. — 5.  Boundless  Compass  of  Faith. 


I. — 1.  The  great  thought  of  God  which  I  have  traced  through 
two  stages  of  its  manifestation  in  the  two  preceding  Books,  now 
requires  us  to  advance  another  step  in  our  attempt  to  follow  the 
Way  of  Life.  In  the  First  Book  of  this  Treatise  I  have  en¬ 
deavoured  to  determine  the  exact  circumstances  and  manner  in 
which  the  knowledge  of  God  is  subjectively  applied  to  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  men  :  that  knowledge  of  God  to  the  demonstration  of 
which  as  mere  knowledge,  the  First  Port  of  Theology  was  de¬ 
voted.  The  Second  Book  of  this  Treatise  I  have  devoted  to  the 
actual  application  of  that  knowledge  of  God,  practically  and  per¬ 
sonally  to  man  in  his  salvation  ;  and  in  its  successive  chapters  I 
have  traced  and  laid  open  the  work  of  God  toward  man,  and  the 
progress  of  man  under  that  divine  working,  from  the  moment  of 
our  first  awakening,  to  the  completion  of  grace  and  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  glory  in  this  life.  In  both  the  preceding  Books,  fol¬ 
lowing  the  method  of  the  inspired  writers,  I  have  kept  strictly 


254  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

to  the  pursuit  of  the  main  subject,  as  from  point  to  point  it 
opened  itself  alike  to  human  thought  and  in  human  experience, 
under  the  method  disclosed  by  God.  One  necessary  effect  of 
this  simple  and  strict  way  of  treatment,  was  the  exclusion  of 
whatever  was  not  directly  involved  in  the  divine  conception  I 
was  striving  to  trace  ;  and  even  the  exclusion  of  whatever  was 
incidentally  involved  in  it,  from  any  further  treatment  than  was 
demanded  by  the  great  and  immediate  enquiry.  In  salvation 
every  thing  depends  on  our  union  with  Christ.  Out  of  that 
springs  our  communion  with  him  both  in  grace  and  in  glory. 
Out  of  that  also  springs  our  communion  with  each  other  in  Love. 
And  so  all  social  as  well  as  individual  idea  of  God's  saving  work 
amongst  men — every  conception  of  the  individual  Christian — 
every  conception  of  the  Church  of  God — is  grounded  there.  This 
communion  with  each  other  resulting  from  our  mutual  union 
with  Christ,  we  are  not  yet  prepared  to  discuss  :  for  as  yet  the 
individual  aspect  of  the  matter  is  not  complete,  till  we  shall  have 
disclosed  the  individual  working  of  this  new  life  wrought  in  man, 
under  the  power  of  this  subjective  knowledge  of  God  unto  salva¬ 
tion.  It  has  been  carefully  shown  how  this  new  life  is  begotten, 
sustained,  and  advanced  ;  and  how  it  will  finally  result.  We 
must  now  observe  more  particularly  how  it  acts,  how  it  manifests 
itself,  what  are  its  duties,  its  endeavours,  its  offices,  its  fruits,  its 
trials,  and  its  triumphs.  This  is  that  third  step  which  I  have 
just  said  we  must  now  take,  in  disclosing  our  salvation  considered 
as  strictly  practical  and  individual  :  disclosing  it  in  the  personal 
offices  more  immediately  relevant  to  God,  which  are  inseparable 
from  the  existence  of  that  new  life  which  all  who  are  united  to 
Christ  share  with  him.  This  is  the  subject-matter  of  this  Third 
Book.  And  I  commence  it  with  a  more  complete  develojnnent 
than  it  has  yet  been  proper  to  attempt,  of  the  two  great  offices 
of  Christianity — the  two  fundamental,  characteristic,  and  uni¬ 
versal  graces,  duties,  and  manifestations  of  the  New  Creature. 
Saving  Faith  will  be  discussed  in  this  Chapter,  Repentance  unto 
Life  in  the  next. 

2.  Faith  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  mere  belief  on  testimony. 
An  act  of  the  mind  not  different,  in  itself;  when  applied  to  spir¬ 
itual  and  divine  things,  from  similar  acts  of  the  mind  when  ap¬ 
plied  to  other  things  :  the  difference  being  exclusively  in  the 
nature  of  the  things  believed,  and  in  the  nature  of  the  testimony 


CHAP.  XIII.] 


SAYING  FAITH. 


255 


on  which  they  are  believed.  The  term  saving  added  to  Faith  is, 
according  to  this  mode  of  viewing  the  subject,  merely  intended 
to  signify  that  the  particular  Faith  thus  designated,  has  the 
word  of  God  for  the  testimony  on  which  it  rests,  and  those  things 
which  immediately  concern  salvation  as  its  object.  If  this  is  the 
whole  account  of  the  matter,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  Faith  can 
be  truly  called  a  grace  of  the  Spirit  :  nor  how  the  state  of  mind 
out  of  which  it  proceeds,  is  in  the  least  degree  different  from  its 
natural  and  ordinary  state  :  nor  how  any  quality  or  condition  of 
the  soul  beyond  such  as  all  men  naturally  possess,  can  be  neces¬ 
sary  in  order  to  the  exercise  of  Saving  Faith.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  this  account  of  Faith  is  intended  to  apply,  exclusively,  to 
acts  of  the  renewed  mind,  and  to  belief  of  the  testimony  of  God 
concerning  spiritual  things  :  then,  in  the  first  place,  the  whole 
object  of  this  method  of  explaining  the  matter  is  defeated,  as 
soon  as  any  one  demands  an  explanation  of  that  supernatural 
renewal  of  the  mind,  which  enabled  it  to  believe  thus  :  and,  in 
the  second  place,  even  on  the  supposition  of  the  renewal  of  the 
mind,  the  explanation  is  neither  true  nor  sufficient — since  the 
gracious  acts  of  Faith  of  the  renewed  mind  are  essentially  differ¬ 
ent  from  its  natural  acts  of  belief.  The  gracious  act  of  Saving 
Faith  by  which  the  New  Creature  rests  on  the  divine  Redeemer 
crucified  for  him,  and  whereby  he  receives  peace  and  grows  in 
holiness ;  is  not  identical  with,  nor  even  similar  to,  the  natural 
act  of  belief  by  which  the  same  person  in  his  unrenewed  state, 
gave  credit  to  the  story  of  Christ,  on  the  divine  testimony  of  its 
truth,  and  thereby  merely  increased  in  knowledge.  And  all 
glosses  which  tend  to  show  that  such  acts  of  the  renewed  and 
the  unrenewed  mind,  result  either  from  the  same  state  or  the 
same  exercise  of  that  mind,  are  founded  in  a  denial  of  the  regene¬ 
ration  of  man. 

3.  It  is  as  idle  as  it  is  irreverent  in  us  to  handle  the  mystery 
of  God’s  grace  deceitfully,  in  the  vain  expectation  of  reconciling 
the  Spirit  and  the  flesh,  and  satisfying  cavils  whose  foundation 
lies  in  that  very  pollution  which  that  grace  proposes  to  cleanse. 
The  Scriptures  teach  us  in  the  plainest  manner,  the  ruin  of  man 
and  the  absolute  necessity  of  his  new  creation.  They  do  not 
permit  us  to  doubt  that  the  means  provided  in  the  plan  of  sal¬ 
vation.  are  precisely  adapted  to  the  work  of  our  complete  resto¬ 
ration  to  God.  That  work  in  us  is  not  properly  miraculous ; 


‘256  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

because  it  proceeds  continually  by  the  intervention  between  God 
and  the  result,  of  means  which  are  appropriate  to  that  result. 
Neither  is  the  work  properly  natural ;  because  the  means  used 
are  not,  of  themselves,  efficacious  in  the  production  of  the  result, 
after  the  manner  in  which  means  are  naturally  efficacious — but 
are  made  efficacious  only  in  a  supernatural  manner.  The  whole 
work  of  God's  grace  in  man  has  a  distinct  character  of  its  own, 
neither  properly  miraculous  nor  properly  natural ;  but  combining 
elements,  some  of  which  are  divine  and  some  of  which  are  human 
— the  work  itself  is  properly  supernatural,  and  the  effects  are 
supernatural.  When  this  work  is  finally  complete  in  us,  though 
our  nature,  and  our  self-conscious,  identical  existence  have  been 
preserved  throughout ;  we  are  as  utterly  changed  from  what  we 
were  in  our  natural  estate,  as  we  were  different  in  that  estate 
from  the  perfect  condition  of  our  original  creation.  That  man 
could  fall  by  natural  means,  and  yet  cannot  recover  himself  by 
natural  means,  is  an  ultimate  necessity  of  dependent  existence 
itself :  because  in  one  case,  infallible  dependent  existence  is  im¬ 
possible — being  self-contradictious :  and  because  in  the  other, 
spontaneous  good  out  of  evil,  or  truth  out  of  falsehood,  is  impos¬ 
sible,  being  self-contradictious.  Now  at  every  stage  of  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  this  wonderful  transformation  of  man,  from  darkness  to 
light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God  ;  means  exist  of 
ascertaining  the  reality  of  the  progress,  and  of  distinguishing  the 
stage  reached.  Vital  manifestations  continually  occur  :  evidence 
of  the  existence  and  growth  of  the  new  life,  perpetually  disclose 
themselves.  The  earliest,  the  most  constant,  and  the  most  deci¬ 
sive  of  them  all,  is  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.1 

4.  Every  act  of  Faith  by  us,  is  an  act  of  the  New  Creature. 
Let  the  act  be  performed  as  it  may,  if  it  be  gracious  it  is  an  act 
of  the  New  Creature.  All  these  acts  are,  no  doubt,  our  acts  ;  as 
much  as  any  other  acts  we  perform.  But  if  that  expressed  the 
whole,  or  even  the  chief  part  of  the  matter,  these  acts  of  Faith 
could  have  no  more  effect  upon  our  spiritual  condition,  and  could 
afford  no  more  evidence  of  our  spiritual  state,  than  any  other 
mental  act  of  ours.  Indeed,  less,  by  far,  than  most  others  ; 
since  what  a  man  will  do  or  forbear  to  do,  depends  directly  on 
his  will — -while  what  he  will  believe  or  disbelieve,  what  he  will 
love  or  hate,  depends  upon  his  will  only  very  indirectly.  To  see 

1  Heb.,  xi.  passim. 


SAYING  FAITH. 


257 


CHAP.  XIII.] 

the  distinction  between  truth  and  falsehood,  between  good  and 
evil — to  be  real — is  simply  our  own  act  :  an  act  natural  to  man — 
and  the  whole  of  that  matter  is  uttered  in  saying  that.  But  to 
realize  the  untruth  of  our  own  nature,  and  to  abhor  ourselves  on 
account  of  our  pollution  :  to  realize  the  infinite  mercy  of  God  in 
Christ,  and  to  embrace  him  and  his  salvation  as  the  supreme 
good  ;  while  they  are  also  our  acts — are  acts  very  far  from  being 
natural  to  man — and  very  far  from  being  explained  by  simply 
calling  them  our  acts.  Throughout  God's  universe,  as  far  as  we 
have  knowledge,  every  created  thing,  animate  and  inanimate, 
physical  and  spiritual,  is  endowed  with  qualities  peculiar  to  its 
own  nature,  and  acts  by  laws  impressed  upon  that  particular  na¬ 
ture,  by  the  creative  power  of  God.  Now  he  who  is  born  again — 
who  is  renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost- — in  one  word  the  New  Creature, 
is  as  really  a  creature  of  God  as  any  thing  else  in  the  universe  is  : 
and  upon  a  most  obvious  scale  of  classification  it  is  as  exact  to 
say  that  Faith  is  the  characteristic  mark  of  the  New  Creature, 
as  that  reason  is  of  the  natural  man,  or  that  instinct  is  of  the 
brute  creation,  or  that  the  inanimate  creation  throughout  its 
multiplied  divisions  has  characteristic  marks  distinguishing  its 
several  classes.  Nor  is  any  one  of  all  these  characteristic  marks 
of  all  these  multiplied  classes  of  the  inanimate  creation  :  nor  is 
instinct  in  the  brute,  nor  is  reason  in  the  natural  man  ;  more 
absolutely  a  part  of  these  existences  respectively,  more  completely 
a  quality  bestowed  by  God  in  their  creation,  more  infallibly  a 
proof  that  the  creature  exists  and  that  God  is  its  author  :  than 
Faith,  in  the  New  Creature  is,  that  he  has  been  born  again,  and 
that  of  God.  We  have  been  created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus : 
therefore  Saving  Faith  manifests  itself  in  us.1  We  have  been 
renewed  in  the  spirit  of  our  mind  :  therefore  we  embrace  Jesus 
Christ  offered  to  us  in  the  Gospel.2 

II. — 1.  God,  by  the  mouth  of  his  Apostle,  has  given  to  his 
people  a  precise  definition  of  this  great  grace  :3  a  thing  very  un¬ 
usual  in  the  sacred  writings.  This  definition  is  immediately  fol¬ 
lowed  by  the  statement  of  numerous  personal  examples  of  the 
eminent  exercise  of  Faith,  extending  from  Abel  to  David  :  and 
to  these  are  added  numerous  classes  of  persons,  and  descriptions 
of  numerous  acts  and  events  illustrative  of  their  Faith.  So  that 
the  definition  itself  is  completely  and  variously  illustrated  by  a 

1  Eph.,  ii.  4-10.  2  Eph.,  iv.  20-24.  3  Heb.,  xL  1.. 


258  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

divine  treatise  concerning  Faith,  covering  the  whole  career  of  the 
Church  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  to  the  coming  of 
Christ.1  Let  it  be  remembered  that  all  these  illustrious  examples 
are  intentionally  selected  by  the  Apostle  from  amongst  saints,  of 
whom  he  twice  remarks  that  they  had  not  actually  received  the 
promises,  hut  only  saw  them  afar  off ;  God  having  provided  some 
better  thing  for  us,  that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made 
perfect.2  Thus  contemplated,  defined,  and  illustrated,  there¬ 
fore,  this  is  the  Faith  by  which  the  just  live,  and  by  which  they 
believe  to  the  saving  of  their  soul.8  In  its  absolute  nature,  Faith 
is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for ,  the  evidence  of  things  not 
seen }  As  if  to  put  the  matter  wholly  at  rest,  the  same  Apostle 
has  declared,  in  another  place,  that  as  there  is  but  one  God  and 
Father  of  all,  but  one  Lord,  one  Spirit,  one  Church,  one  hope  of 
our  calling,  one  baptism  ;  so  also  there  is  but  one  Faith,  whereby 
we  can  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  we  are  called,  or 
keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.6 

2.  This  one  and  only  Faith  through  which  the  soul  can  be 
saved,  and  by  which  the  just  live  ;  is,  in  the  first  place,  The 
substance  of  things  hoped  for  ;  and  is,  in  the  second  place,  The 
evidence  of  things  not  seen.*  It  is  that  grace  which  concerns 
itself  especially  with  realities  which  are  unseen — that  is,  which 
are  spiritual  and  eternal  :6  and  amongst  these  unseen  things, 
those  with  which  it  concerns  itself  are  those  for  which  the  re¬ 
newed  soul  earnestly  longs.  With  reference  to  these  things, 
considered  as  hoped  for,  Faith  is  the  substance  of  them  to  the 
renewed  soul :  with  reference  to  them  considered  as  unseen, 
Faith  is  the  evidence  of  them,  to  the  renewed  soul.  Such  is  the 
divine  exposition  of  this  great  grace  of  the  Spirit — this  decisive 
vital  manifestation  of  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  that  is  born  from 
above.  We  may  indeed  confuse  and  perplex  ourselves  by  putting 
curious  significations  upon  the  words  substance  and  evidence ;  or 
rather,  perhaps,  upon  the  words  thus  rendered  into  English. 
But,  unless  we  do  so,  the  matter  is  perfectly  clear.  The  nature 
of  the  New  Creature  is  such,  the  state  of  the  renewed  soul  is 
such,  that  it  can  realize  as  actual  every  thing  to  which  it  has 
title  by  the  promise  of  God  ;  and  can  realize  as  actually  possessed 

i  Heb.,  xi.  passim.  2  Heb.,  xi.  13,  39,  40.  3  Heb.,  x.  38,  39. 

4  Heb.,  xi.  1.  5  Eph.,  iv.  1-5. 

*  E?,Tn£opevuv  vKooramc,  n payfiaruv  eZeyxog  ov  3?.enou£vuv.  e  2  Cor.,  iv.  18. 


SAYING  FAITH. 


259 


CHAP.  XIII.] 

and  enjoyed  by  it,  so  much  of  its  promised  inheritance  as  is  be¬ 
stowed  upon  it  in  this  life.  Substantially,  its  state  and  nature 
now  in  its  begun  restoration  to  God,  are  what  they  will  be  when 
the  full  fruition  of  these  great  and  precious  promises  is  reached  : 
and  the  things  promised  and  now  partially  possessed,  and  the 
things  to  be  fully  possessed  hereafter  are  substantially  the  same. 
That  act  of  the  renewed  nature  which  realizes  and  appropriates 
the  promises  of  God,  is  Saving  Faith.  It  is  the  things  promised 
by  God  to  his  children  which  are  the  specific  objects  of  the  hopes 
of  the  renewed  soul :  these  are  the  very  things  hoped  for — of 
which  the  divine  definition  asserts  that  Faith  is  the  substance. 
For,  says  the  same  Apostle,  the  mystery  which  hath  been  hid 
from  ages  and  from  generations,  but  now  is  made  manifest  to  his 
saints,  if  they  continue  in  the  faith  grounded  and  settled,  and  be 
not  moved  away  from  the  hope  of  the  Gospel ;  this  mystery  of 
God  among  the  Gentiles,  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  which  he 
would  make  known  to  his  saints  ;  what  is  it,  but  Christ  in  you 
the  hope  of  glory  P1  This  is  the  hope  by  which  the  same  Apos¬ 
tle  says  we  are  saved.2  United  to  Christ  by  Faith,  resting  on 
Christ  by  Faith,  receiving  every  thing  from  Christ  and  receiving 
Christ  himself  by  Faith  :  it  is  through  Faith  that  every  tiling- 
gracious  is  realized  by  the  renewed  soul.  Faith  is  the  substance 
of  things  hoped  for. 

3.  But  there  is  more.  Faith  is  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen. 
Of  the  existence  and  nature  of  the  outward  world — sense  is  the  evi¬ 
dence  provided  by  God.  We  see,  and  feel,  and  touch,  and  taste, 
and  smell :  and  we — not  the  senses — but  ice ,  by  them,  realize  all 
things  of  which  they  take  cognizance.  Of  the  things  which  pass 
within  us,  our  consciousness  is  the  evidence  :  we  realize  things  of 
which  consciousness  is  the  evidence.  Of  unseen — of  spiritual — of 
eternal  things — of  Gods  purpose  of  saving  sinners — of  God’s  way 
of  saving  sinners — of  the  infinite  and  endless  salvation  itself:  what 
evidence  have  we  or  can  we  have  ?  Twofold  :  first ,  their  revela¬ 
tion  by  God  to  us  ;  secondly ,  their  revelation  by  God  in  us — that 
is,  the  occurrence  in  us  of  a  supernatural  regeneration,  by  which, 
being  born  again  of  the  Spirit,  we  have  become  personally  cogni¬ 
zant  of  these  revealed  things,  are  made  capable  of  apprehending 
them,  and  have  actually  realized  them.  That  vital  act  of  the  New 
Creature,  in  which  it  apprehends  and  realizes  these  unseen  things 

2  Rom.,  viii.  24. 


1  CoL,  L  21-27. 


260  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

— these  infinite,  spiritual,  eternal  realities — is  Saving  Faith. 
And  so  Faith  is  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen.  Upon  the  data, 
it  is  an  evidence  perfectly  overwhelming:  to  gainsay  which  is 
wholly  impossible,  except  we  deny  the  revelation  of  God  to  us — 
or  the  revelation  of  God  in  us.  Christian  people  ought  to  see 
that  the  true  representation  of  this  vital  subject,  is  also  the  im¬ 
pregnable  representation  of  it :  and  that  all  paltering  with  it, 
casts  doubt  over  the  whole  revelation  of  God  both  to  us  and  in 
it.  They  ought  also  to  understand  that  the  evidence  of  sense 
and  of  consciousness  concerning  the  outward  and  inward  things 
to  which  they  respectively  relate,  is  neither  more  clear  in  itself, 
more  decisive  in  its  nature,  nor  more  secure  from  unbelieving 
cavils,  than  the  evidence  of  Faith  is  concerning  the  unseen  things 
to  which  it  relates.  They  ought  to  know  that  the  same  scepti¬ 
cism  which,  under  the  abused  name  of  Philosophy,  assails  the 
trustworthiness  of  their  Faith,  assails  alike  the  trustworthiness 
of  their  consciousness  and  of  their  senses.  So  far,  at  least,  such 
unbelievers  are  right,  that  judging  God  unworthy  to  be  trusted, 
we  can  have  little  reason,  afterwards,  to  trust  any  thing  else. 

4.  Thus  defined,  the  intimate  nature  of  this  perpetual  mani¬ 
festation  of  the  new  life  of  the  soul,  is  still  further  opened  to  us 
by  the  Scriptures.  In  order  to  be  saved,  the  belief  which  we 
must  exercise  concerning  Jesus  Christ,  is  a  belief  in  the  heart. 
The  word,  said  Moses,  is  very  nigh  unto  thee,  in  thy  mouth,  and 
in  thy  heart.1  Paul  quotes  this,  and  adds,  That  is,  the  word  of 
faith  which  we  preach  :  that  if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath 
raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For  with  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth 
confession  is  made  unto  salvation.3  This  is  the  same  decisive 
truth  which  Philip  announced  to  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  when  he 
baptized  him  on  the  way  that  goeth  down  from  Jerusalem  unto 
Gaza  :  If  thou  believest  with  all  thine  heart,  thou  mayest.3  Nor 
is  the  statement  of  the  case  more  distinct,  than  the  reason  of  it 
is.  That  which  is  decisive  of  our  moral  condition,  cannot  pos¬ 
sibly  restrict  itself  to  our  mental  condition  :  the  presence  or  the 
absence  of  Faith  in  Christ,  is  decisive  of  our  moral  state  :  it  is 
therefore  idle  to  speak  of  a  Saving  Faith  which  relates  only  to 
the  understanding.  On  the  contrary,  that  Faith,  the  end  of 

1  Deut.,  xxx.  14.  2  Rom.,  x.  8-10.  3  Acts,  viii.  37. 


SAVING  FAITH. 


261 


CHAP.  XIII.] 

which  is  the  salvation  of  the  soul,1  and  the  effect  of  which  is  vic¬ 
tory  over  the  world  :2  is  a  Faith  which  works  by  love,3  and  which 
so  working  purifies  the  heart.4  And  thus  we  see  that  without 
Faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.5  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
not  only  impossible  for  the  world  by  wisdom  to  know  God,  but 
this  impossibility  is  directly  connected  with  the  wisdom  of  God:6 
for  it  is  of  the  very  essence  of  salvation  that  it  must  be  by  grace; 
and  if  by  grace,  not  only  that  it  should  be  through  Faith,  but 
that  Faith  should  stand,  not  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the 
power  of  God.7  Saving  Faith,  therefore,  cannot  be  any  mere  ex¬ 
ercise  of  the  human  understanding — any  mere  act  of  the  mind 
of  man,  in  which  it  believes  any  testimony,  even  that  of  God, 
about  every  thing — even  salvation.  But  it  is  a  grace  of  the 
divine  Spirit,  whereby  the  New  Creature  receives  and  rests  upon 
Christ  crucified,  as  he  is  offered  to  us  in  the  Gospel,  for  salva¬ 
tion.8 

5.  In  effect,  the  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  God  considered 
as  our  Creator,  still  more  considered  as  our  Saviour,  makes  it  in¬ 
conceivable  how  Faith  could  be  any  thing  else  than  what  the 
Scriptures  represent  it  to  be  ;  or  how  it  could  be  effectual  in  our 
salvation,  if  it  were  any  thing  but  what  it  is.  His  absolute  do¬ 
minion  over  us  as  Creator  and  Saviour,  and  our  absolute  depen¬ 
dence  on  him  as  creatures  and  sinners,  beget,  as  the  unavoidable 
result,  a  condition  on  our  part  in  which  a  believing,  loving, 
hoping,  confiding,  rejoicing  trust  in  him,  is  our  very  highest  con¬ 
ceivable  estate  here  below.  And,  perhaps,  that  very  order  is 
not  far  from  the  exact  progress  of  our  increasing  Faith.  In  like 
manner,  the  nature  even  of  our  intellectual  powers  is  such,  that 
knowledge  itself  takes  its  rise,  not  from  any  process  of  the  reason, 
but  from  an  unshaken  belief— trust — in  the  ultimate  truths — 
the  fundamental  data  of  consciousness.  So  that,  considering 
human  nature  in  whatever  light,  the  more  thoroughly  we  under¬ 
stand  ourselves,  the  more  grand  and  simple  does  that  sublime 
truth  of  God  appear,  which  in  its  glorious  proportion  involves  all 
other  truth,  and  which — if  Philosophy  were  worthy  of  such  an 
association — I  would  call  a  divine  Philosophy.  How  futile  then, 
must  those  pretensions  be,  which  attribute  to  the  mere  will  of 
man,  things  which  sotransc  end  the  soul  itself  to  which  the  will 

1  1  Peter,  i.  9.  2  1  John,  v.  4.  3  Gal.,  v.  6.  4  Acts,  xv.  9. 

6  Heb.,  xi.  6.  6  1  Cor.,  L  21.  U  Cor.,  ii.  5.  8  Phil.,  iii.  9,  10. 


262  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

is  subject,  that  they  demand  the  power  of  God  !  No  one  pre¬ 
tends  that  man  has  more  than  one  soul.  All  his  powers,  mental 
and  moral,  are  hut  faculties  of  that  one  soul — manifestations  of 
its  life  and  qualities.  When  it  was  pure,  so  were  they  :  when  it 
is  depraved,  so  are  they :  when  it  is  restored,  so  are  they.  The 
powers  of  life  all  combined,  cannot  exceed  life  itself.  To  allege 
that  any  particular  power  exceeds  the  force  of  the  whole  soul,  is 
self-contradictious.  The  will  and  the  understanding  can  effect 
nothing  which  transcends  the  force  of  the  other  faculties  with 
which,  under  which,  or  over  which  they  can  he  supposed  to  ope¬ 
rate  :  much  less  which  transcends  the  whole  force  of  them  all 
united,  and  of  the  soul  itself.  Nay,  if  the  will  and  understanding 
are  faculties  of  the  soul,  and  if  the  soul  is  depraved  ;  it  is  simply 
a  contradiction  in  terms  to  say,  the  will  or  understanding  could, 
even  if  it  would,  or  that  it  would  even  if  it  could,  do  any  thing 
whatever,  so  long  as  the  soul  continued  depraved,  which  was  in¬ 
consistent  with  that  depravity.  The  harrier  of  nature  cannot  he 
surmounted  except  under  a  force  which  transcends  nature.  We 
cannot  extricate  ourselves  from  the  pollution  of  sin,  and  from 
the  impotence  which  that  pollution  begets,  except  by  the  grace 
of  God.  The  sacrifice  of  Christ,  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  the 
word  of  God,  the  means  of  grace  :  these  are  the  remedy.  And 
Faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  proof  that  they  are  effectual.1 

III. — 1.  In  a  preceding  chapter  (chap,  iv.,  Book  I.,)  when 
explaining  the  special  conditions  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemp¬ 
tion,  considered  as  special  obligations  binding  upon  sinners  for 
whom  God  has  provided  a  Saviour,  it  became  necessary  to  dis¬ 
cuss  generally,  and  to  exhibit  summarily,  the  nature  of  Saving 
Faith  and  of  Repentance  unto  life,  with  the  Scripture  proofs  of 
both.  I  shall  not  repeat  here  what  I  have  advanced  in  that 
chapter.  In  general,  Faith  has  immediate  relevancy,  first ,  to 
Christ  who  is  the  author  and  finisher  of  it,  and,  secondly ,  to 
divine  truth  as  the  remedy  for  the  diseased  soul :  while  Repent¬ 
ance  has  immediate  relevancy,  first,  to  the  disease  of  the  soul 
itself,  and,  secondly ,  to  our  Creator  who  is  outraged  by  it,  and 
to  our  Saviour  who  heals  it.  The  two  graces  cover  the  whole 
case,  in  its  ruin,  in  its  remedy,  and  in  its  actual  cure.  Consid¬ 
ered  subjectively,  that  is,  as  wrought  in  us,  and  considered  sav¬ 
ingly,  that  is,  as  having  Christ  crucified  for  its  object,  Faith  is 

1  2  Cor.,  x.  4,  5. 


CHAP.  XIII.] 


SAVING  FAITH. 


263 


to  be  viewed  under  several  distinct  aspects,  if  we  would  escape 
confusion  in  our  conception  of  its  whole  scope,  (a)  It  is  a  con¬ 
dition  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  without  which  salvation 
through  grace  is  not  only  impossible,  but  inconceivable  :  and,  in 
like  manner,  is  not  only  a  duty,  but  the  first  and  constant  duty 
of  every  sinner  of  the  human  race,  to  whom  the  knowledge  of 
the  divine  Saviour  comes,  (h)  It  is  the  particular  grace  of  the 
divine  Spirit,  by  the  exercise  of  which  the  renewed  soul  is  united 
to  Christ  in  its  Effectual  Calling  ;  by  the  exercise  of  which  it 
receives,  in  its  Justification,  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed 
to  it ;  and  by  the  exercise  of  which  the  virtue  of  Christ  as  Medi¬ 
ator,  flows  to  all  those  thus  united  to  him,  and  having  this  com¬ 
munion  with  him.  (c)  It  is  a  gracious  habit  of  the  renewed  soul, 
produced  in  all  penitent  and  believing  sinners,  by  the  Spirit  and 
word  of  God  :  a  habit  of  soul  peculiar  to  them — being  a  vital 
manifestation  of  their  New  Creation:  a  habit  of  which  the  whole 
soul  is  the  seat — by  means  whereof  every  Christian  grace  is 
strengthened — and  the  work  of  Gfod  within  us  carried  on  to  per¬ 
fection.  It  is  the  first  of  these  three  aspects  which  has  been 
particularly  considered,  in  the  chapter  before  referred  to  :  the 
second  aspect  has  been  particularly  treated  several  times:  (chap¬ 
ters  vi.,  vii.,  viii.,  ix.,  Book  II. :)  and  the  third  aspect  of  it  has 
been  constantly  involved  in  all  the  subjects  discussed  in  the  sec¬ 
ond  Book,  and  is  more  especially  fundamental  in  the  enquiries 
pursued  in  the  last  three  chapters  of  it,  (chapters  x.,  xi.,  xii., 
Book  II.) 

2.  This  gracious  habit  of  the  renewed  soul,  and  this  bearing 
of  Faith  towards  all  other  Christian  graces,  and  towards  the 
whole  work  of  God  within  us,  and  all  the  acts  of  God  toward 
us :  all  combine  to  point  out  to  us  with  great  clearness,  the  na¬ 
ture,  use,  and  effects  of  this  grace  itself.  The  same  thing  is 
true,  if  extending  the  enquiry  we  consider  its  relation  to  each 
person  of  the  Godhead,  its  dependence  upon  the  word  of  God, 
its  connection  with  the  means  of  grace,  and  its  relevancy  to  the 
New  Creature.  The  result  of  a  survey  of  that  description — the 
details  of  which  make  up  so  large  a  part  of  all  evangelical  preach¬ 
ing — maybe  summarily  and  briefly  stated — for  the  present  neces¬ 
sity.  (a)  The  nature  of  Saving  Faith  is,  that  it  is  the  primeval, 
continual,  and  characteristic  manifestation  of  the  New  Creature: 
the  fundamental  evidence  of  the  commencement  and  continuance 


264  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

of  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  a  regenerated  sinner.  ( b )  Its 
use  is,  to  unite  the  renewed  soul  to  the  divine  Redeemer,  who 
was  crucified  for  it ; — to  enable  the  soul  thus  united  to  him  to 
have  communion  with  him  in  this  life,  both  in  grace  and  in  glory, 
and  communion  through  him  with  the  saints  of  God  in  love;  and 
to  enable  it,  in  this  communion  with  Christ  in  this  life,  to  receive 
from  him  and  through  him,  every  blessing  and  every  benefit  of 
the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  (c)  Its  effect  is,  that  we  receive 
the  salvation  of  our  soul — which  is  the  very  end  of  our  Faith  : 
being  completely  prepared  thereto  by  continual  growth  in  grace, 
through  the  use  and  increase  of  Faith  in  our  communion  with 
Christ :  the  saving  light  in  our  understanding,  the  knowledge 
and  apprehension  of  saving  mysteries,  the  inclining  of  our  will 
to  God,  and  the  conforming  of  it  unto  him,  the  purification  of 
our  desires,  the  sanctification  of  our  conscience,  and  the  mov¬ 
ing  of  our  heart  and  soul  unto  God,  being  all  advanced  and  per¬ 
fected  more  and  more  :  God,  who  wrought  Faith  at  first  in  our 
heart,  working  by  it  in  the  heart  afterwards,  and  causing  the 
renewed  heart  itself  to  work  by  it  towards  God.1  Can  any 
thing  be  more  simple,  more  complete,  more  effectual,  more 
gracious  ? 

3.  The  object  of  God's  revelation  to  sinful  men  is,  that  we 
may  know  the  infinite  evil  of  our  condition — may  be  shown  the 
way  of  deliverance — and  may  be  actually  delivered.  Christ 
Jesus,  the  sole  and  perfect  cause  of  the  salvation  revealed  to  us, 
is  therefore  the  sum  of  the  revelation  of  God  :  and  Faith  in  his 
name  is  the  only  way  whereby  we  can  obtain  the  salvation  re¬ 
vealed  in  him.  It  is  perfectly  manifest,  therefore,  that  this  Sa¬ 
viour  and  this  revelation  of  him,  are  the  exclusive  objects  with 
which  this  Faith  is  concerned;  and  that  with  both  these  its  con¬ 
cern  is  incessant.  We  objectify  the  substance  of  this  blessed 
revelation,  and  call  it,  the  Faith ;  but  in  doing  so  it  is  at  our 
peril,  that  we  add  nothing,  and  that  we  take  nothing  away.  We 
also  subjectify  that  great  system  of  divine  truth,  and  apply  the 
word  Faith  to  the  whole  inward  condition  of  the  soul,  answer¬ 
ing  to  that  whole  revealed  salvation;  but  again,  it  is  at  our  peril, 
that  herein  we  must  so  act  as  to  have  the  answer  of  a  jrood  con- 
science  toward  God.  The  knowledge  and  conviction  of  the  reality 
of  our  sins,  and  of  the  truth,  goodness  and  faithfulness  of  God 

i  Eph.,  i.  19— ii.  8;  Phil.,  i.  29;  Ezek.,  xxxvi.  26;  Rom.,  x.  10;  John,  vi.  44. 


SAYING  FAITH. 


265 


CHAP.  XIII.] 

in  his  proposals  of  deliverance  to  us,  are  manifestly  at  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  our  Faith  in  Christ  as  our  Saviour.  Upon  this  the 
Scriptures  continually  insist.1  Nor  are  that  knowledge  and  that 
conviction,  however  indispensable  they  may  he  and  however  real, 
sufficient  of  themselves.  To  he  saved,  we  must  actually  embrace 
the  salvation,  which  we  know  we  need,  and  which  we  know  to 
be  attainable.2  Nay,  we  must  embrace  it  and  him  who  bestows 
it  on  us,  as  the  only  salvation  and  the  only  Saviour  :  resting  on 
him  alone,  believing  in  him  alone  ;  confidently,  joyfully  risking 
our  souls  upon  him.  We  may,  if  it  pleases  us,  call  the  knowledge 
and  conviction  of  which  I  have  spoken,  the  first  act  of  Faith  ; 
the  embracing  the  offered  salvation  the  second  ;  and  the  unre¬ 
served  and  exclusive  resting  on  Christ,  the  third.  Many  do  so. 
That  last,  however,  is  true  Faith  ;  the  direct  act  of  the  renewed 
soul,  which  convinced  of  its  sin,  misery,  and  impotence — believ¬ 
ing  and  trusting  God — receives  and  rests  upon  Christ  alone  for 
salvation.3  Did  Christ  ever  cast  out  any  who  came  thus  to 
him  P  He  said  he  would  in  no  wise  do  it! 4 

4.  Intimate  as  the  connection  is  between  Faith  and  the  exis¬ 
tence  and  growth  of  other  Christian  graces  ;  and  between  Faith 
and  righteousness,  both  imputed  and  inherent ;  it  is  far  from 
being  true  that  Faith  is  the  efficient  cause  of  the  existence  or  the 
growth  of  any  other  grace — or  of  the  growth  of  the  soul  in  grace  ; 
far  from  being  true  that  Faith  itself  is  the  righteousness  we  need, 
or  that  it  is  imparted  to  us  as  if  it  were  that  righteousness,  or 
that  it  produces  that  righteousness.  None  of  these  things  are 
true  :  nor  is  it  possible  to  accept  either  of  them  as  true,  without 
subverting  Faith  itself,  and  rendering  the  whole  work  of  divine 
grace  in  man  inexplicable.  The  soul  of  man  is  renewed  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  :  the  cause  of  the  renewal  of  that  particular  soul,  is 
that  Christ  has  redeemed  it  by  his  most  precious  blood  :  the 
manner  of  the  renewal  is,  the  application  to  it  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  virtue  of  Christ's  Mediation.  Being  renewed,  its  new  life 
manifests  itself  in  Faith  towards  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  all  other 
Christian  graces  :  and  the  threefold  aspect  of  Faith,  and  the  na¬ 
ture,  use,  and  effect  of  Faith,  have  all  been  carefully  explained. 
All  Christian  graces  are  fruits  of  the  Spirit — all  are  vital  mani¬ 
festations  of  the  New  Creature — all  are  results  of  our  communion 

1  Is.,  liii.  11 ;  Jno.,  xvii.  13 ;  1  Pet.,  iii.  15.  3  Jno.,  iii.  33  ;  Matt.,  xi.  28 ;  Col.,  ii.  6. 

3  Gal.,  ii.  20;  Heb.,  iv.  16;  Eph.,  iii.  12.  4  John,  yi.  37. 


266  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

with  Christ — all  are  products  of  the  virtue  of  his  Mediation. 
Their  existence  and  their  growth,  and  the  growth  of  the  soul  in 
grace,  depend  upon  Christ  as  the  cause,  and  upon  the  Spirit  as 
the  agent,  and  upon  the  word  of  God  and  the  instituted  means 
of  grace  as  instruments,  so  far  as  any  instruments  are  used  : 
Faith  as  it  is  a  grace  itself,  ranking  with  the  rest — and  as  it  is  a 
grace  having  peculiar  functions,  which  have  been  explained,  acting 
according  to  them.  With  regard  to  righteousness,  the  right¬ 
eousness  we  need,  whether  imputed  or  inherent,  is  the  righteous¬ 
ness  of  Christ,  not  the  pretended  righteousness  of  our  Faith: 
the  righteousness  of  Christ’s  person  as  Immanuel — the  righteous¬ 
ness  of  the  Mediator’s  obedience  and  that  of  his  sacrifice  as  Im¬ 
manuel.  And  the  relevancy  of  our  Faith  thereto  is,  that  being 
related  by  it  to  Christ,  as  repeatedly  explained,  by  means  of  it 
that  righteousness  is  both  imputed  to  us  and  wrought  in  us  by 
God.  In  some  important  respects  Good  Works  mayindeed.be 
said  to  be  the  product  of  our  Faith.  But  Good  Works  are  really 
such,  only  when  performed  by  those  already  regenerated  and  jus¬ 
tified  :  that  is,  of  those  who  have  participated  in  the  righteous¬ 
ness  of  Christ,  both  imputed  and  inherent.  And  even  then  these 
Good  Works,  even  with  the  help  of  the  Faith  which  prompted 
them,  so  far  from  supplying  the  place  of  the  divine  righteousness 
we  need,  do  themselves  need  to  be  considered  as  performed  by  us  in 
Christ,  before  God  can  accept  them  at  all.  If  the  New  Birth 
taught  throughout  the  Scriptures,  and  declared  by  Christ  to  be 
the  foundation  of  eternal  life,  is  accepted  as  a  divine  reality  ; 
then  every  thing  is  clear  concerning  Faith,  as  well  as  every  other 
Christian  grace.  If  that  divine  regeneration  is  denied,  then  all 
gracious  exercises  of  the  soul,  in  the  sense  of  the  Scriptures,  are 
impossible  ;  and  all  imaginations  that  would  supply  their  place, 
whether  by  outward  rites,  or  mental  acts,  or  any  combination  of 
both,  are  wholly  futile. 

IY. — 1.  The  relation  of  Faith  to  the  word  of  God  and  to  the 
means  of  grace,  is  as  distinct  as  its  relation  to  Christ,  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  to  the  New  Creature.  The  Lord  Jesus  as  Mediator,  is 
no  less  really  our  Prophet,  than  he  is  our  Priest,  and  our  King  : 
and  however  indispensable  it  may  be  that  he  should  redeem  us, 
and  that  he  should  subdue  us  unto  himself,  it  is  no  less  so  that 
he  should  cause  us  to  know  God,  and  to  know  him  with  a  divine 
and  infallible  knowledge  unto  salvation.  Under  every  dispensa- 


SAVING  FAITH. 


267 


CHAP.  XIII.] 

tion  the  great  principle  has  always  been,  that  whosoever  will 
call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.1  But  to  call  on  him, 
men  must  believe  in  him  ;  and  to  believe  in  him,  they  must  be 
taught  concerning  him  ;  and  that  teaching  must  be  divinely 
competent  and  divinely  authorized.  And  such  is  the  exposition 
given  by  God  ;  and  so  Faith  comes  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by 
the  word  of  God,  is  the  divine  conclusion  drawn.2  And  with  this 
all  Scripture  accords.  It  is  in  this  aspect  of  the  matter,  that  we 
readily  see  the  cause  of  the  differences  in  the  degree  of  Faith  in 
different  persons,  and  in  the  same  person  at  different  times  ;  the 
explanation  of  the  growth  and  decay  of  Faith,  and  of  the  im¬ 
mense  variety  of  emotions  and  of  acts  resulting  from  the  exercise 
of  Faith,  as  one  or  other  divine  truth  is  its  special  object.  In  a 
word,  as  soon  as  we  accept  the  idea  that  Faith  is  every  way  af¬ 
fected  by  means — and  as  soon  as  we  know  exactly  what  those 
means  are :  then — as  in  every  other  part  of  our  salvation — jthese 
conditions  must  be  estimated,  if  we  would  know  the  whole  truth. 
Thus,  while  Faith  is  a  grace  universal  in  all  believers,  and  so 
fundamental  that  the  sinner  cannot  be  saved  without  it,  nor  the 
New  Creature  exist  without  manifesting  it ;  yet  it  exists  in  very 
different  degrees,  it  is  liable  to  be  many  ways  assailed,  it  may  be 
greatly  obscured,  and  it  may  be  exceedingly  strengthened.3  The 
whole  movement  and  action  of  it  is  supernatural,  through  special 
means  :  not  miraculous,  nor  yet  merely  natural.  Yet  in  the 
midst  of  all  vicissitudes  and  perils,  the  true  believer  has  an  anchor 
of  the  soul,  both  sure  and  stedfast,  which  entereth  into  that 
within  the  veil.4  And  he  has  the  shield  of  Faith,  wherewith  he 
shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked.5  And 
so  whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh  the  world  :  and  this  is 
the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our  Faith.6 

2.  I  have  several  times  had  occasion  to  point  out,  that  full 
assurance  of  Faith  and  hope  was  the  privilege  of  every  true  be¬ 
liever,  in  this  life  ;  after  which  every  one  ought  to  hunger  and 
thirst,  and  in  the  habitual  enjoyment  of  which,  every  one  should 
strive  to  live.  To  this  end,  the  Apostle  expresses  the  strong 
desire  that  every  one,  leaving  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  should  go  on  to  perfection  ;  showing  all  diligence  to  the 

1  Joel,  ii.  32;  Acts,  ii.  21 ;  Rom.,  x.  13.  3  Rom.,  x.  14-lY. 

8  Ileb.,  v.  13,  14;  Rom.,  iv.  19,  20;  Matt.,  yi.  30;  viiL  10;  Luke,  xxii.  31,  32. 

<  Heb.,  vl.  19.  5  Epli.,  vi.  16.  6  1  John,  v.  4. 


268  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

full  assurance  of  hope  unto  the  end.1  The  just  ought  not  only 
to  live  by  Faith  ;  but  they  ought  to  draw  near  to  God  with  a 
true  heart  in  full  assurance  of  Faith.2  For  the  true  way  to  be 
made  partakers  of  Christ,  is  to  hold  fast  the  beginning  of  our 
confidence  stedfast  unto  the  end  :  and  then  it  is  that  Christ 
dwells  in  us,  when  we  thus  hold  fast  the  confidence  and  rejoicing 
of  the  hope  unto  the  end.3  We  ought  to  be  fully  persuaded  that 
what  God  has  promised,  he  is  able  also  to  perform  :  which  is  pre¬ 
cisely  the  state  of  soul  in  which  Abraham  received  the  promise, 
through  the  righteousness  of  Faith,  and  was  strong  in  Faith, 
giving  glory  to  God.4  And  thus  the  hearts  of  God’s  saints 
would  be  comforted,  being  knit  together  in  love,  and  unto  all 
riches  of  the  full  assurance  of  understanding,  to  the  acknowledge¬ 
ment  of  the  mystery  of  God,  and  of  the  Father,  and  of  Christ  ; 
in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.5 
The  .Scriptures,  however,  do  not  teach  that  this  full  assurance 
of  grace  and  salvation  so  belongs  to  the  essence  of  Faith,  as  that 
true  believers  must  immediately  receive  it,  or  always  enjoy  it. 
What  justifies  us  is  not  Faith  in  justification,  but  Faith  in  Christ. 
The  object  of  Faith  is  Christ  himself — not  any  separate  work  of 
bis,  much  less  any  act  or  quality  in  us.  We  must,  assuredly,  be 
really  justified,  before  we  can  have  any  gracious  assurance  that 
we  are  justified  ;  we  must,  undoubtedly,  have  Faith,  before  we 
can  have  any  divine  assurance  that  we  have  it.  It  is  manifest, 
therefore,  that  assurance  cannot  be  of  the  very  essence  of  Faith. 
Moreover,  it  is  impossible  to  assert,  that  God  cannot  perform  for 
us,  any  act  outward  as  to  us — as  for  example  the  acts  justifying 
us  and  adopting  us — without  our  having  an  infallible  inward 
conviction  that  he  has  done  so.  What  is  not  so  obvious,  but 
what  seems  equally  true,  is  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  God  can¬ 
not  perform  inward  works  upon  the  soul — as  for  example,  Ke- 
generation,  and  progressive  Sanctification — without  begetting  in 
the  soul,  at  the  same  time,  an  infallible  and  permanent  assurance 
that  he  has  done  so.  The  believer  shall  be  saved  :  I  am  a  be¬ 
liever  :  I  shall  be  saved  :  I  have  full  assurance  of  Faith  :  I  have 
full  assurance  of  salvation.  Now  it  is  very  obvious  that  the  sec¬ 
ond  and  fourth  statements  are  not  identical,  and  that  the  third 
and  fifth  are  not  identical.  The  Scriptures  everywhere  recognize 

1  Heb.,  vi.  1-11.  2  Heb.,  x.  22,  38.  3  Heb.,  iii.  6,  14. 

4  Rom.,  iv.  13,  20,  21.  5  Col.,  li.  2,  3. 


CHAP.  XITI.] 


SAVING  FAITH. 


269 


the  difference,  and  urge  us  to  press  forward  to  the  highest  attain¬ 
ments,  to  covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts,  to  labour  diligently  for 
crowning  tokens  of  (rod’s  love.  Nevertheless,  our  Master,  who 
gently  leads  the  feeble  members  of  his  flock,  and  bears  the  lambs 
of  it  in  his  own  bosom,  is  far  from  rejecting  the  weary  and  heavy 
laden  who  struggle  after  him,  even  far  off  ! 

3.  There  is  no  aspect  of  true  religion  which  exposes  it  more 
distinctly  to  the  great  and  all  prevailing  cavil,  against  the  do¬ 
minion  of  God  and  the  dependence  of  man,  than  any  just  pre¬ 
sentation  of  the  nature  of  Saving  Faith  necessarily  must.  The 
moral  and  psychological  and  ethical  systems  of  unbelief,  are 
irreconcilable  with  those  revealed  in  the  Scriptures.  This  view 
of  Faith,  it  is  alleged,  puts  man,  in  his  natural  state,  in  a  con¬ 
dition  of  utter  spiritual  helplessness,  and  in  doing  so  assails  also 
his  moral  freedom.  We  encounter  these  cavils  everywhere,  as 
soon  as  salvation  by  grace  is  clearly  exhibited.  Let  us  answer 
them  once  more.  If  natural  men  are  able  to  save  themselves,  let 
them  do  it :  and  then,  besides  the  great  advantage  they  will  se¬ 
cure,  they  will  more  effectually  confute  the  religion  of  Jesus  than 
they  can  ever  do  it  by  reasoning.  In  that  case,  the  word  of  God 
is  a  mighty  imposture;  and  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  is  either  a  pure 
fiction,  or  an  act  of  atrocious  folly.  If,  however,  they  mean  that 
they  can  save  themselves  only  under  the  plan  of  salvation,  and 
by  virtue  of  the  Mediation  of  Christ,  so  explained  as  to  respect 
human  nature  ;  it  is  very  obvious  that  what  this  means  is,  the 
denial  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  his  regenerating  work :  and  if 
they  can  save  themselves  that  way,  let  them  do  it.  Or,  if  what 
is  meant  is,  not  wholly  to  deny  the  divine  Spirit,  hut  to  allege 
that  through  him,  God  for  Christ’s  sake  gives  some  grace  to  all 
men,  and  that  they  who  use  it  aright  receive  more,  and  so  are 
saved  :  it  is  obvious  that  in  this  way  the  sinner,  at  the  crisis, 
saves  himself  by  his  right  use  of  grace  given  equally  to  all  hut 
only  improved  by  the  saved  ;  and  so  God,  and  Christ,  and  the 
Spirit,  do  not  save  sinners,  hut  do  only  help  them  to  save  them¬ 
selves.  But  the  Scriptures  teach  in  the  clearest  manner,  and 
human  experience  and  reason  confirm  their  teachings,  that  we 
need  divine  grace  to  enable  and  incline  us  to  improve  grace 
already  given  to  us,  as  really  as  we  needed  the  grace  first  given  ; 
and  that  at  whatever  point,  and  whatever  moment,  we  are  left 
to  ourselves,  there  we  fail,  and  there,  if  no  more  help  comes,  we 


270  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

perish.  To  say  the  help  will  come,  is  simply  to  retract  the  cavil, 
and  admit  the  efficacy  of  sovereign  grace.  We  must  save  our¬ 
selves  :  or  God  must  save  us.  There  is  no  middle  way,  by  doing 
part  ourselves,  and  letting  God  do  part :  because  the  part  we  do, 
if  of  any  avail  is  gracious,  and  if  not  gracious  is  no  part  of  sal¬ 
vation.  If  God  saves  sinners,  it  must  be  by  grace  through  Faith. 
If  sinners  save  themselves,  it  must  be  by  works.  The  whole 
question  is,  by  which  covenant  is  salvation  for  sinners  attaina¬ 
ble — and  under  which  are  we  ?  If  we  need  infinite,  efficacious, 
.  sovereign,  free  grace  to  save  us,  then  we  are  helpless  sinners, 
and  must  cry  to  God  for  mercy.  If  we  do  not  need  either  divine 
mercy  or  divine  grace,  neither  have  we  any  need  of  Faith  ;  be¬ 
cause  Faith  is  simply  the  middle  term  between  a  gracious  God 
and  helpless  sinners.  To  object,  therefore,  that  sinners  should 
be  accounted  helpless  in  the  matter  of  salvation,  is  simply  to 
deny  that  they  need  salvation,  or  to  deny  that  they  are  sinners, 
or  both. 

4.  As  to  the  moral  freedom  of  man,  and  the  efficacy  of  that 
freedom  unto  salvation,  I  repeat  what  I  have  said  above.  Let 
the  sinner  save  himself  by  means  of  his  moral  freedom  ;  and  his 
blessedness  and  the  triumph  of  his  cavil  will  be  complete.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  word  of  God,  and  the  consent  of  all  penitent 
sinners,  the  renewal  of  the  will,  as  well  as  the  sanctification  of 
the  conscience,  the  change  of  the  heart,  and  the  enlightening  of 
the  understanding  of  the  sinner,  are  indispensable  to  his  salva¬ 
tion  :  nor  is  it  possible  to  conceive  how  it  could  be  otherwise,  if 
his  nature  is  depraved,  and  if  his  will  is  any  part  of  his  nature. 
But  if  the  renewal  of  the  will  is  indispensable,  then  the  sinner 
must  renew  his  own  will — or  God  must  renew  it.  But  everv  one 

V 

knows,  and  God  plainly  teaches  us,  that  we  cannot  renew  our 
will :  and,  moreover,  it  cannot  be  renewed  at  all  without  renew¬ 
ing  our  nature,  and  we  cannot  do  that.  But  if  the  renewal  of 
the  will  by  God  is  incompatible  with  the  moral  freedom  of  man, 
then  obviously  the  freedom  of  the  will  is  incompatible  with  sal¬ 
vation  ;  because  its  renewal  by  God  is  indispensable  to  salvation, 
and  its  renewal  by  God  is  incompatible  with  its  freedom.  The 
cavil,  therefore,  is  absurd  in  the  form  of  it;  it  is  still  more  ab¬ 
surd  in  the  matter  of  it.  For  it  holds  for  freedom,  aversion  to 
God  and  bondage  to  sin  ;  and  it  holds  for  bondage,  likeness  to 
God  and  freedom  from  sin;  which,  in  both  cases,  and  in  the  very 


CHAP.  XIII.] 


SAVING  FAITH. 


271 


nature  of  things,  is  self-contradictious.  It  follows,  necessarily, 
that  the  renewal  of  the  will  of  man  by  the  Spirit  of  God  is  not 
inconsistent  with  human  freedom  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  the 
deliverance  of  the  will  of  man  from  fatal  bondage,  and  the  resto¬ 
ration  of  it  to  the  freedom  wherein  it  was  created.  It  follows, 
moreover,  that  from  the  natural  state  of  bondage  of  the  will  of 
fallen  man,  nothing  can  flow  that  is  spiritually  good ;  and  by 
consequence,  that  every  system  built  on  the  contrary  supposi¬ 
tion,  must  be  contrary  to  truth  and  holiness.  And,  finally,  it  is 
manifest  that  the  view  of  Faith  and  the  manner  of  its  produc¬ 
tion  and  action,  which  requires  us  to  contemplate  the  will  of 
man  as  already  in  bondage  to  sin,  and  which  proposes  its  re¬ 
newal  in  holiness  by  God's  Spirit,  is  in  precise  accordance  with 
the  only  idea  of  the  moral  freedom  of  man,  which  is  consistent 
with  itself,  with  the  nature  of  things,  or  with  the  word  of 
God.  This  cavil,  therefore,  as  well  as  the  one  before  consid¬ 
ered,  is  directed,  in  fact,  against  the  entire  spiritual  system  of 
God,  of  man,  of  sin,  and  of  salvation  disclosed  in  the  Scriptures  ; 
and  is  founded  on  views  wholly  erroneous,  as  to  all  of  them. 

5.  Flow  high  this  great  grace,  the  gift  of  God  wrought  in 
the  soul  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  may  rise — what  glorious  evidences 
may  attend  it — what  inestimable  fruits  it  may  produce — what 
mighty  acts  it  may  perform  :  these  are  topics  which  require  the 
meditations  of  God's  people,  and  the  practical  enforcement  of 
God's  ministers  continually,  rather  than  the  condensed  and 
systematic  statement  of  a  Treatise  like  this.  On  the  other 
hand,  how  low  and  how  limited  may  be  the  state  of  divine 
knowledge,  with  which  it  may  be  found  powerfully  associ¬ 
ated,  in  simple  and  earnest  hearts ;  and  how  fervently  it 
may  work  in  them,  with  a  very  few  of  the  great  truths  of 
God,  unto  a  mighty  height  of  grace  :  this  is  neither  the  place 
nor  the  way  to  determine.  So  much  at  least  may  be  asserted, 
that  any  just  exhibition  of  the  true  nature,  and  use,  and  effect 
of  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  must  disclose  sufficient 
reason  for  the  great  place  it  occupies  in  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
and  the  perpetual  urgency  of  all  Christian  people  concerning 
it.  There  is  no  marvel  that  in  the  judgment  of  God,  and  by  the 
consent  of  all  who  have  sought  his  favour  in  a  way  acceptable 
to  him,  it  should  be  ranked  as  the  first  of  the  two  chief  offices 
of  true  religion. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


REPENTANCE  TOWARD  GOD. 

I.  1/  Connection  between  Repentance  and  Faith. — 2.  Faith  competent  only  to  restored 
sinners. — 3.  Repentance  competent  only  to  believing  sinners. — 4.  New  Obe¬ 
dience  :  Relation  of  Faith  and  Repentance  thereto. — 5.  Life,  Righteousness,  Re¬ 
pentance:  Relations  between  them. — II.  1.  The  Knowledge  of  Good  and  Evil  in 
Man:  Relation  thereof  to  his  Fall  and  Recovery. — 2.  Moral  Judgments  and  Feel¬ 
ing:  Effect  of  Regeneration. — 3.  Indissoluble  connection  between  our  Moral 
Judgments  and  Feeling:  Effects  of  Divine  Grace. — 4.  Relation  of  the  Moral  Na¬ 
ture  of  Man  to  the  Spiritual  System  of  the  Scriptures ;  and  to  that  of  Atheism. — 
5.  Self-condemnation  of  the  Natural  Conscience:  Sense  of  Blameworthiness  of  the 
Renewed  Conscience :  Standard  of  each. — 6.  Ilealthfulness  of  Conscience — Divine 
Grace — Repentance. — III.  1.  The  Law  of  God :  Relation  of  the  Natural  Man 
thereto. — 2.  The  Satisfaction  of  Christ :  His  Relation  therein  to  Sinners :  theirs  to 
him  through  Faith  and  Repentance. — 3.  Acts  of  the  Penitent  Soul:  Grief  and 
Hatred  for  Sin:  Turning  from  it  unto  God:  Purpose  of  New  Obedience. — 
4.  States  of  the  Penitent  Soul:  Sense  of  the  true  Nature  of  Sin:  Apprehension 
of  the  Mercy  of  God  in  Christ. — 5.  Intimate  Nature  of  Repentance :  Definition 
of  it. — IY.  1.  Perpetual  Necessity  of  Repentance. — 2.  Great  Peculiarity  of  Re¬ 
pentance. — 3.  Love  and  Faithfulness  of  Christ. — 4.  Wide  Connection,  Simplicity, 
and  Certainty  of  the  Doctrine  taught. 

1.  — 1.  The  sacred  Scriptures  continually  unite  Repentance 
toward  God  and  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  in 
one  of  the  most  affecting  incidents  of  his  wonderful  ministry,  the 
great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  told  the  Elders  of  the  Church  at 
Ephesus,  that  they  had  personal  knowledge  from  his  first  coming 
into  Asia,  that  he  had  kept  back  nothing  that  was  profitable, 
because  he  had  testified  continually  these  two  truths,  which  in  a 
manner  sum  up  the  Gospel.1 2  Saving  Faith — Repentance  unto 
Life  :  the  very  terms  that  qualify  them,  show  their  indissoluble 
union. 

2.  In  his  perfect  state  man  was  perfectly  bound  to  believe 
God,  and  was  far  more  capable  of  doing  so  than  in  his  fallen 
state.  Nevertheless,  no  idea  can  be  formed  of  man  in  his  perfect 
state,  which  presents  him  to  us  as  capable  of  exercising  what  the 

1  Acts,  xx.  18-21. 


CHAF.  XIV.]  REPENTANCE  UNTO  LIFE.  273 

Scriptures  intend  by  Saving  Faith.  Because  this  is  a  state  of 
soul  peculiar  to  man,  both  after  he  has  fallen  and  been  restored : 
and  in  it,  the  cause,  the  nature,  and  the  manner  both  of  that 
fall  and  that  restoration,  are  involved.  The  Saviour  of  believing 
sinners  is  the  very  cause,  and  the  quickener  and  comforter  of 
penitent  sinners  is  the  very  agent,  and  the  divine  word  by  which 
believing  and  penitent  sinners  are  begotten  again  is  the  very  in¬ 
strument,  which  make  the  whole  matter  at  once  intelligible  and 
real :  and  without  the  whole  of  which  it  is  neither  possible  nor 
intelligible. 

3.  All  this  is  equally  true  of  Repentance,  as  of  Faith.  That 
also,  in  its  very  nature  and  in  every  complete  view  which  it  is 
possible  to  take  of  it,  is  a  state  of  soul  peculiar  to  a  sinner  who 
has  both  fallen  and  been  restored.  As  Faith  is  concerned  chiefly 
with  the  cause  and  the  manner  of  the  recovery,  so  Repentance  is 
concerned  chiefly  with  the  malady  itself  and  the  means  and  pro¬ 
gress  of  the  recovery.  Christ  and  salvation  are  the  great  objects 
of  the  believing  soul  :  God  and  our  sins  are  the  great  objects  of 
the  penitent  soul.  It  is  perfectly  obvious  that  a  soul  which  was 
never  lost  and  therefore  never  had  need  of  a  Saviour,  never  couLl 
exercise  Saving  Faith  in  Christ ;  and  equally  so,  that  a  soul 
never  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  could  never  turn  from  sin  or  unto 
God,  with  Repentance  unto  Life.  And  so  the  Lord  plainly  said, 
I  am  not  come  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance.1 
And,  so  also,  Repentance  unto  Life  is  everyway  impossible  under 
the  Covenant  of  Works.  Impossible  if  that  covenant  were  per¬ 
fectly  fulfilled  by  us  ;  because,  in  that  case,  we  already  had  life 
by  obedience,  and  had  no  sin  to  repent  of.  Impossible  after  we 
have  broken  that  covenant,  because  its  condition  was  not  repent¬ 
ance  but  obedience,  which  condition  being  broken,  the  covenant 
was  at  an  end  as  a  means  of  life  ;  and,  moreover,  even  if  it  could 
have  remained  as  a  covenant  of  life  after  its  breach,  it  contained 
no  remedy  for  transgression  but  punishment,  and  in  its  very  na¬ 
ture  could  contain  no  other. 

4.  The  Covenants  of  Works  and  Grace  are  the  most  impres¬ 
sive  form  in  which  God  gives  expression  to  the  counsel  of  his 
will  concerning  man.  It  is  through  them  especially  that  he 
makes  manifest  his  infinite  goodness,  under  all  the  forms  in  which 
it  is  most  distinctly  exhibited  towards  man.  The  will  of  God,  in 

1  Matt.,  ix.  13. 

VOL.  II.  18 


274 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


whatever  manner  it  may  be  made  known,  must  give  expression 
to  his  infinite  nature.  When  made  known  in  the  form  of  law, 
that  law  is  a  middle  term  which  necessarily  embraces,  on  one 
side  the  infinite  author  of  it,  and  on  the  other  those  subject  to 
it :  and  in  its  own  nature  it  necessarily  embraces  such  sanctions 
as  are  appropriate  to  itself,  to  its  author,  and  to  those  subject  to 
it.  Otherwise  we  might  call  it  instruction,  advice,  or  persuasion; 
but  not  law.  But  when  the  will  of  God  is  propounded  to  us  in 
the  form  of  covenant — and  the  idea  of  a  reward  arises,  there  is 
superadded  to  the  majesty,  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness  of  the 
Infinite  Ruler  of  the  universe,  the  expression  of  his  love,  his 
truth,  and  his  faithfulness.  So  that  not  only  by  the  whole  glory 
of  God's  being,  but  by  all  else  that  is  immutable  added  thereto, 
his  covenants  must  have  way  in  all  they  command,  in  all  they 
threaten,  and  in  all  they  promise  ;  immutable  and  irresistible 
alike  in  their  stipulations  and  in  their  sanctions.  Wherefore 
God,  willing  more  abundantly  to  show  unto  the  heirs  of  promise 
the  immutability  of  his  counsel,  confirmed  it  by  an  oath:  that  by 
two  immutable  things,  in  which  it  was  impossible  for  God  to  lie, 
we  might  have  a  strong  consolation,  who  have  fled  for  refuge  to 
lay  hold  upon  the  hope  set  before  us  :  which  hope  we  have  as  an 
anchor  of  the  soul,  both  sure  and  stedfast,  and  which  entereth 
into  that  within  the  veil:  whither  the  forerunner  is  for  us  entered, 
even  Jesus,  made  a  high  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chizedek.1  Now  the  Covenant  of  Grace  stipulates  for  righteous¬ 
ness  on  condition  of  Faith  and  Repentance,  and  has  for  its  sanc¬ 
tion  on  that  side,  the  promise  of  eternal  life  :  whence  it  follows 
that  believing  and  penitent  sinners  must  be  saved,  or  the  highest 
expression  ol  God's  will  must  fail.2  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Covenant  of  Works  stipulated  for  righteousness  on  condition  of 
obedience  at  once  perfect  and  personal,  and  had  for  its  sanction 
on  that  side,  the  threat  of  eternal  death :  whence  it  follows  that 
the  disobedient  under  that  covenant  can  have  no  refuse  in  Faith 
or  Repentance,  and  no  hope  of  escaping  perdition.3  But  in  every 
possible  relation  ol  a  dependent  creature  to  its  Creator,  right¬ 
eousness  is  inconceivable  except  in  connection  with  obedience  : 
and  salvation  in  sin  is  the  concealed  poison  which  lurks  in  every 
system  ol  false  religion.  In  the  nature  of  the  case,  therefore,  a 
New  Obedience  is  as  directly  involved  in  Faith  and  Repentance, 

IIob.f  vi.  17-20.  2  John,  iii.  16 ;  Luke,  xiii.  3-5.  3  Gen.,  ii.  15-17. 


REPENTANCE  UNTO  LIFE. 


275 


CHAP.  XIV.] 


as  a  New  Covenant  and  a  New  Creature  are.  It  is  through 
Faith  toward  Christ  that  the  New  Creature  is  concerned  with 
the  cause  and  manner  of  this  New  Obedience  :  it  is  through  Re¬ 
pentance  toward  God  that  the  process  of  perfecting  the  New 
Creature  therein,  is  actually  carried  on  in  the  soul.1 

5.  I  have  explained  in  another  place  the  great  truth,  that  the 
life  which  any  righteousness  can  secure  can  only  be  as  full  and 
as  enduring  as  the  righteousness  by  which  it  is  obtained  ;  so  that 
we  must  have  an  everlasting  righteousness  if  we  would  have 
eternal  life  ;  and  as  this  everlasting  righteousness  can  be  obtained 
only  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so  eternal  life  is  attainable 
only  through  him.2  Nay  the  very  name  whereby  he  was  pre¬ 
dicted  from  of  old  was,  The  Lord  our  Righteousness .*3  What  I 
then  taught  was  only  a  corollary  from  a  broader  and  deeper  * 
truth — to  which  we  now  come.  In  every  spiritual  sense  Right¬ 
eousness  is  the  very  expression  of  life — precisely  as  sin  is  the  very 
expression  of  death.  Spiritual  death — death  in  sin,  is  not  only 
a  terrible  reality,  but  it  is  the  cause  both  of  the  death  of  the  body, 
and  of  the  eternal  death  of  the  soul  and  body.  Spiritual  life  is 
not  only  a  glorious  reality,  but  to  fallen  man  the  very  expression 
of  it  both  in  its  nature  and  its  power,  is  the  participation  with 
our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  in  grace  and  in  glory,  of  the  life  and 
the  immortality  he  has  brought  to  light  through  the  Gospel.4 
Salvation  by  grace,  which  expresses  the  peculiar  form  of  the  spir¬ 
itual  and  eternal  life  bestowed  on  men  by  Christ,  is,  therefore,  in 
the  nature  of  the  case,  impossible;  unless  by  grace,  through  Faith 
and  Repentance,  we  are  put  in  actual,  personal,  and  eternal  pos¬ 
session  of  a  righteousness  commensurate  with  the  salvation  be¬ 
stowed  on  us.  The  very  term  salvation  not  only  involves  the 
idea  of  a  life  which  is  spiritual,  and  eternal ;  but  also  that  the 
holiness  of  that  life  is  commensurate  with  its  spirituality  and  its 
eternity.  Hundreds  of  times  the  Scriptures  use  merely  the  word 
life,  to  express  all  this  ;  as  if  no  other  form  of  human  existence 
was  worthy  of  being  called  life.6  So  far  are  the  Scriptures  from 
countenancing  any  idea  that  salvation  and  holiness  may  be  sepa¬ 
rated — that  even  after  they  have  revealed  and  opened  unto  us 
an  infinite  Righteousness  through  the  Son  of  God  ;  they  dis- 


i  Psalm  cxix.  Ill,  112. 

*  rr.m — Jehovah  our  Righteousness. 

•i  2  Tim.,  i.  9,  10. 


2  Dan.,  ix.  24;  Heb.,  ix.  12. 

3  Jer.,  xxiii.  6 ;  xxxiii.  16 ;  1  Cor.,  i.  30. 

5  John,  vi.  53;  xi.  25;  xx.  31. 


276  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

tinctly  warn  us  that  if  our  Faith  were  to  make  the  law  void — 
nay,  if  it  did  not  establish  the  law — it  would  be  a  fatal  objection 
to  our  Faith.1  And  yet  even  that  righteousness  of  the  law,  thus 
scrupulously  respected,  is  not  the  righteousness  which  is  through 
the  faith  of  Christ ;  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  Faith, 
which  they  possess  who  know  Christ  and  the  power  of  his  resur¬ 
rection  and  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  being  made  conform¬ 
able  unto  his  death.2  In  all  the  Scriptures  it  is  the  merit  of 
Works  and  the  righteousness  of  Faith  which  are  contrasted  :  true 
righteousness  and  saving  grace  are  never  set  in  opposition,  nor 
can  they  be  ;  since  the  former  is  always  the  product  of  the 
latter — and  to  fallen  men  can  be  the  product  of  nothing  else. 
The  difference  is  immeasurable  between  saying  that  no  right- 
-  eousness  of  the  law  or  of  works  can  save  a  sinner — and  saving 

4/  O 

that  a  sinner  can  be  saved  without  any  righteousness  at  all :  and 
no  pest  of  Christianity  has  been  more  insidious  than  that,  which 
would  substitute  any  thing — -no  matter  what — for  holiness  of 
heart  and  life.  Except  your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the  right¬ 
eousness  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  said  our  Lord,  ye  shall  in 
no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.3  Blessed,  said  he,  are 
the  pure  in  heart :  for  they  shall  see  God.4  From  which  it  is  a 
fearful  and  necessary  inference,  that  without  holiness  no  man 
shall  see  the  Lord.5  It  is  in  Christ  Jesus  the  Saviour  of  the 
world  that  everlasting  righteousness  is  provided  for  lost  men.  It 
is  through  divine  grace  that  this  infinite  Righteousness  is  be¬ 
stowed  on  penitent  sinners.  The  very  highway  of  the  upright  is 
to  depart  from  evil :  and  Repentance,  of  a  truth,  is  the  King's 
highway  of  holiness.0  This  gate,  though  it  be  strait — this  way, 
though  it  be  narrow — leadeth  unto  life.  Alas  !  that  there 
should  be  few  that  find  it.7 

II- — 1-  The  shock  which  the  fall  of  man,  and  the  loss  of  the 
image  of  God,  produced  upon  our  nature,  is  not  capable  of  being 
completely  appreciated  by  us.  We  have  much  certain  knowledge 
on  the  subject  revealed  to  us  by  God  :  we  have  also  the  means, 
in  our  knowledge  of  ourselves,  both  in  our  natural  state  and  in 
our  begun  recovery  here  on  earth — of  many  reasonable  conjec¬ 
tures,  perhaps  some  positive  certainty — concerning  the  original 
condition  of  our  nature.  It  is  precisely  in  the  spot  where  the 

Rom.,  iii.  31.  2  Pliil.,  iii.  9,  10.  3  Matt.,  v.  20. 

s  Heb.,  xii.  14.  «  Prov.,  xvi.  17.  7  Matt.,  vii.  13,  14. 


4  Matt.,  v.  8. 


CHAP.  XIV.]  REPENTANCE  UNTO  LIFE.  277 

present  enquiry  finds  us,  that  complete  knowledge  would  be  the 
most  satisfying — and  complete  ignorance  the  most  fatal.  The 
only  prohibition  to  Adam  under  the  Covenant  of  Works  was, 
that  he  should  not  eat  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil.  The  penalty  annexed  by  God  to  sustain  this  prohibition, 
was  the  most  immense  that  could  be:  forfeiture,  on  the  one  side, 
of  all  the  blessings  promised  to  obedience,  and,  on  the  other  side, 
the  certainty  of  death.1  In  the  degree  that  we  are  now  able, 
with  the  word  of  God  in  our  hands,  and  the  experience  of  the 
whole  life  of  the  human  race,  to  appreciate  the  fatal  effects  of 
the  fall  of  Adam,  we  are  able  in  the  like  degree  to  appreciate  the 
unsuitableness  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  to  the  nature 
of  man  in  his  original  state  of  innocence  and  conformity  to  God. 
How  immeasurable  is  the  difference,  then,  between  his  state  and 
ours — and  how  inadequately  do  we  appreciate  what  man  has  lost 
of  good,  and  incurred  of  evil,  by  the  foil  ?  For  this  knowledge 
of  good  and  evil  which  was  wholly  incompatible  with  our  prim¬ 
eval  estate — -and  in  the  attainment  of  which  we  become  unfit  for 
the  service  and  enjoyment  of  God  :  is,  for  us,  the  very  point 
within  us  upon  which  all  the  processes  of  salvation  practically 
turn.  If  to  know  good  and  evil  be,  in  man,  inseparable  from  his 
being  depraved  in  the  sight  of  God,  it  is  also  inseparable  from 
his  possible  salvation.  For  salvation  is  only  for  sinners,  only  for 
believing  and  penitent  sinners.  But  Repentance  and  Faith  are 
both  inconceivable,  except  as  acts  of  a  fallen  and  restored  sinner 
who  has  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  How  wonderful,  even 
in  the  most  rigidly  scientific  aspects,  are  those  divine  harmo¬ 
nies  at  which  weak  Christians  sometimes  tremble — and  shal¬ 
low  infidels  habitually  cavil  ?  We  have  the  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil — a  fatal  inheritance — and  yet  by  the  infinite  grace  and 
wisdom  of  God,  this  mark  of  ruin  may  be  turned  into  a  method 
of  restoration  to  God.  If  it  were  not  that  we  have  this  sense  of 
good  and  evil,  all  idea  of  sin  and  of  holiness  would  appear  to  be 
impossible,  in  such  beings  as  we  now  are  ;  and  all  increase  in 
either  would  appear  to  be  inconceivable.  To  a  perfect  nature, 
fallen — this  sense  of  good  and  evil — real,  but  obscure  and  de¬ 
praved — is  an  absolute  part  of  its  moral  constitution.  God  so 
declares — our  nature  so  testifies.  But  let  us  not  forget  the  limi¬ 
tations  with  wThich  God  and  our  nature  alike  testify,  that  this 

1  Gen.,  it  17. 


278  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

sense  of  good  and  evil  is  surrounded.  It  is  the  sense  of  a  fallen 
being  ;  it  is  of  the  nature — neither  higher  nor  lower— better  nor 
worse  :  it  is  impotent  to  surmount  the  barrier  of  that  nature — 
impotent,  like  all  the  rest  of  that  depraved  nature,  to  perform  its 
part  otherwise  than  as  depraved.  We  know  that  the  distinction 
between  good  and  evil  is  real  and  ineffaceable,  just  as  certainly 
as  we  know  that  the  distinction  between  true  and  false  is  real 
and  ineffaceable.  But  we  do  not  know  with  certainty  which 
things  are  good  and  which  are  evil,  any  more  than  which  are  true 
and  which  are  false.  We  are  depraved,  and  have  lost  the  image 
of  God  in  knowledge,  in  righteousness,  and  in  holiness.  But 
though  depraved,  we  are  still  both  rational  and  moral — and, 
blessed  be  God,  capable,  through  divine  grace,  of  a  glorious 
restoration. 

2.  Connected  with  this  sense  of  good  and  evil,  in  all  our 
practical  exercises  of  it,  there  is  a  feeling  of  approbation  and 
satisfaction  towards  that  which  we  perceive  and  recognize  as 
good,  whether  it  is  manifested  in  ourself,  or  in  others  ;  a  feeling 
of  aversion  and  condemnation  towards  whatever  appears  to  us 
to  be  evil,  whether  in  ourself  or  others.  If  our  moral  judgments 
were  infallible,  our  approval  and  our  aversion  would  necessarily 
be  directed  always  to  the  proper  objects  ;  that  is,  if  our  sense  of 
right  and  wrong  never  erred,  our  feeling  responsive  to  that  sense 
could  never  be  directed  amiss.  On  the  other  hand,  if  our  moral 
judgments  always  erred,  our  approval  and  our  disapprobation 
would  always  be  directed  amiss.  In  temporal  and  common 
things,  neither  of  these  states  of  our  moral  nature  exists  :  as  to 
them,  our  moral  judgments  are  sometimes  right  and  sometimes 
wrong,  and  by  consequence,  our  feeling  of  satisfaction  and  of 
aversion  is  sometimes  just  and  sometimes  misdirected.  With 
regard  to  spiritual  things  connected  with  grace  and  salvation,  the 
second  of  the  two  states  above  defined  is  universal  in  the  natural 
man,  considered  as  depraved  ;  that  is,  the  moral  judgments  and 
the  consequent  feeling  ot  the  natural  man,  are  always  different 
from  those  of  God — always  wrong  on  those  subjects.  The  nature 
of  man  is  extricated  from  this  terrible  condition  by  a  divine  Re¬ 
generation,  and  in  the  degree  it  is  sanctified  through  divine  grace 
it  approximates  the  first  of  the  two  conditions  defined  above  : 
but  as  it  never  attains  perfect  deliverance  from  the  remains  of 
indwelling  sin  in  this  life,  it  never  arrives  at  a  condition  in  which 


CHAP.  XIV.]  REPENTANCE  UNTO  LIFE.  279 

its  moral  sense  and  moral  feeling  are  absolutely  just  with  regard 
to  spiritual  things.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  precise  state 
of  the  moral  nature  of  man  before  his  fall,  and  therefore  before 
he  had  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  as  we  have  it  in  the  de¬ 
praved  condition  of  our  nature  :  this  much  we  know  with  cer¬ 
tainty,  namely,  that  the  mere  fallibility  of  his  perfect  nature  was 
sufficient  to  lead  him  fatally  astray  in  his  moral  judgment,  and 
by  consequence  in  the  feeling  connected  with  it.  It  may  help  to 
guide  our  enquiries  into  the  cause  of  that  catastrophe,  and  into 
the  principle  upon  which  it  rests,  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  sin 
of  Adam  was  not  spontaneous,  but  was  the  result  of  most  subtle 
temptation  and  deceit ;  and,  moreover,  that  his  particular  trans¬ 
gression  had  reference  to  a  positive  command  concerning  that 
which,  independently  of  the  command,  had  no  moral  quality. 
Situated  as  we  are,  naturally  polluted  and  also  destitute  of 
grace,  it  is  wholly  impossible  for  us  either  to  judge,  or  feel,  or 
act,  in  a  manner  perfectly  consonant  with  any  rule  of  rectitude: 
while  it  is  equally  impossible  to  estimate  the  greatness  of  the 
departures  which  we  might  finally  make  from  every  such  rule. 

3.  The  connection  between  our  moral  approbation  and  our 
sense  of  the  goodness  of  that  which  we  approve,  and  between 
our  moral  disapprobation  and  our  sense  of  the  evil  of  that  which 
we  condemn,  is  so  deeply  seated  in  our  nature  ;  that  it  is  impossi¬ 
ble  for  these  feelings  to  arise  independently  of  the  moral  judg¬ 
ments  which  precede  them — and  impossible  for  them  to  be 
contrary  to  those  judgments.  Our  passions  may  cany  us  away — 
and  the  violence  of  temptation  may  overcome  us — and  the  heart 
mav  be  utterly  hardened  and  the  understanding  wholly  darkened 
— and  the  conscience  completely  seared.  Nevertheless,  so  long 
as  we  perceive  that  there  is  a  difference  between  right  and  wrong 
— and  determine  any  thing  in  particular  to  be  right — we  are  to¬ 
tally  incapable  of  disapproving  it  as  right,  while  we  consider  it 
right.  We  may  err  in  our  moral  judgment' — call  good  evil  and 
evil  good  :  the  real  question  as  to  the  feeling  which  will  be  be¬ 
gotten  in  us  is,  not  whether  we  judge  correctly,  but  how  do  the 
things  of  which  we  judge  appear  to  our  moral  sense  ?  The 
phenomena  will  follow  in  every  case.  We  may  hate  good,  but 
this  is  because  it  appears  to  us  to  be  evil :  we  may  love  evil,  but 
this  is  because  evil  appears  to  us  good.  We  often  do  what  we 
judge  to  be  wrong :  but  never  without  a  sense  of  self-condemna- 


280  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IIL 

tion  :  and  that  sense  of  condemnation  may  be  most  acute,  when 
our  moral  judgment  is  utterly  mistaken.  Whatever  the  con¬ 
science  declares  the  thing  to  be,  that  it  must  necessarily  be  to 
us,  so  far  as  our  approval  or  disapproval  is  concerned,  and  so  far 
as  a  feeling  of  satisfaction  or  aversion  is  begotten  in  us  thereby. 
A  depraved  moral  sense  is  as  real  and  as  comprehensible,  as  any 
other  depraved  faculty  or  power  in  human  nature  :  and  the  phe¬ 
nomena  it  exhibits  give  us  clear  views  of  the  manner  in  which 
divine  truth  is  made  instrumental  in  the  sanctification  of  the 
conscience.  Nor  can  there  be  any  more  doubt  that  the  dictates 
of  conscience  should  be  followed,  than  that  the  dictates  of  reason 
should  be,  each  iu  its  own  sphere.  Even  our  sinful  nature  revolts 
at  our  doing  what  appears  to  it  to  be  wrong  :  and  never  ceases 
to  chide  us  for  so  doing,  until  the  conscience  is  deadened  by  this 
very  process  of  disobeying  its  admonitions.  It  is  equally  idle  to 
assert  that  the  moral  judgment  is  right  merely  because  it  seems 
to  us  to  be  right :  and  to  assert  that  we  are  to  disregard  its  deci¬ 
sions,  because  others  know  them  to  be  erroneous.  This  is  our 
fatal  condition  as  fallen  creatures.1  Of  ourselves,  we  may  mitigate 
it  to  a  certain  degree  :  but  the  grace  of  God  and  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  the  only  cure  :  and  the  prime  end  of  the  Know¬ 
ledge  of  God  and  of  all  the  means  of  grace  whereby  that  know¬ 
ledge  is  made  effectual,  is  the  sanctification  of  the  conscience, 
the  healing  of  the  moral  nature  of  man.  Nor  is  there  any  poison 
of  all  false  religion  more  deadly,  nor  any  impotence  of  it  all  moro 
fatal,  than  its  uniform  tendency  to  misdirect  our  moral  sense,  its 
total  inability  to  rectify  our  moral  judgments.  The  scriptural 
method  of  dealing  with  this  transcendently  important  aspect  of 
our  fallen  nature,  is  expressed  by  the  phrase,  Kepentance  toward 
God. 

4.  Upon  the  supposition  that  the  scriptural  account  of  the 
being  and  perfections  of  God — of  the  work  of  creation  and  grace 
of  the  nature,  fall,  and  present  condition  of  man — is  true;  then 
all  these  characteristics  of  our  being  are  completely  accounted 
for  and  the  effects  of  sin  and  of  grace  upon  us  are  perfectly 
comprehensible.  For  an  infinite  standard  of  all  good  is  erected 
in  the  universe— the  ineffaceable  distinction  between  good  and 
evil  exterior  to  us  is  firmly  established— the  capacity  of  a  fallen 
soul  created  in  the  image  of  God  to  perceive  and  to  be  affected 

1  Prov.,  xiv.  12— xy.  25. 


CHAP.  XIV.]  REPENTANCE  UNTO  LIFE.  281 

bv  that  eternal  distinction,  without  being  able  to  apply  it  truly 
and  justly,  ceases  to  be  a  marvel, — and  its  capacity  to  be  restored 
by  divine  grace,  becomes  obvious  in  the  very  statement  of  the 
case.  The  moral  nature  of  man  is  an  immense  truth  whose 
existence  cannot  be  denied — because  it  is  more  certain  to  man 
than  any  thing  can  be  which  can  be  brought  forward  to  disprove 
it.  But  considered  apart  from  the  idea  of  the  existence  of  an 
infinite  Creator  and  moral  Ruler  of  the  universe,  that  moral  na¬ 
ture  of  man  is  the  grossest  of  all  absurdities.  It  is  the  perpetual 
testimony  of  the  only  being  capable  of  discerning  truth,  to  the 
greatest  of  all  imaginable  falsehoods,  namely,  that  right  and 
wrong  are  eternal  realities — when  no  such  things  exist.  What 
is  still  more  monstrous,  it  is  the  invincible  assertion  of  nature 
in  her  highest  form — the  human  soul — that  the  highest  satisfac¬ 
tion  and  the  acutest  misery  are  the  product  of  that,  namely, 
moral  good  and  evil,  which  nature  knows  perfectly  well  has  no 
existence.  And  to  crown  the  whole,  if  the  soul  itself  does  not 
exist — which  manifestly  it  cannot  do  if  there  is  no  God — then  a 
fortuitous  organization  of  matter,  which  we  call  man — being 
without  a  soul  and  without  a  Creator — is  endowed  with  the  very 
attributes  with  which  God — if  there  was  a  God — would  endow  a 
soul,  if  he  could  create  one  :  and  all  to  no  end  but  the  demon¬ 
stration  that  effects  exceed  their  proper  cause,  which  is  axiom- 
atically  impossible. 

5.  There  is  no  state  of  the  human  soul  which  more  uniformly 
attends  every  part  of  our  progress,  from  our  state  of  ruin  to  a 
state  of  endless  blessedness,  than  the  sense  of  our  own  blame¬ 
worthiness.  I  have  shown  how  a  sense  of  disapprobation  arises 
in  the  natural  heart,  when  we  do  what  appears  to  our  moral 
sense  to  be  wrong.  The  very  earliest  gracious  operations  of  God’s 
Spirit  in  our  hearts,  awaken  us  to  a  sense  of  our  guilt  and  danger 
in  his  sight.  This  is  one  of  the  multiplied  instances  in  which 
there  is  a  certain  resemblance,  between  the  operations  of  the  soul 
when  naturally  and  when  graciously  affected.  That  men  should 
habitually  do  what  the  natural  heart  condemns, — and  that  even 
they  who  are  born  again  should  be  in  constant  peril  of  back¬ 
sliding  ;  are  proofs  of  the  impotence  of  our  moral  nature — not 
less  signal  than  our  inability  to  distinguish  clearly  what  particu¬ 
lar  things  are  good  and  what  evil.  Nor  is  there,  in  our  whole 
being,  any  thing  more  decisive  and  remarkable  than  this  natural 


282  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

sense  of  self-condemnation — and  this  gracious  sense  of  blame¬ 
worthiness.  In  the  former  case,  nature  herself  furnishes  the 
standard  of  our  moral  judgment — that  law  written  by  God  upon 
the  heart  of  man  at  his  creation,  and  summed  up  by  him  twenty- 
five  centuries  afterwards  upon  tables  of  stone  at  Sinai.  It  is 
thus  that  we  are  a  law  unto  ourselves,  our  conscience  also  bear¬ 
ing  witness,  and  our  thoughts  the  meanwhile  accusing  or  else 
excusing  one  another.1  But  this  gracious  sense  of  blameworthi¬ 
ness  in  us,  must  have  a  better  standard  than  our  fallen  nature, 
by  which  its  judgment  must  be  regulated.  The  higher  and 
purer  that  standard  is,  the  deeper  and  keener  will  our  sense  of 
our  shortcomings  be.  So  that  in  the  penitent  sinner,  this  sense 
of  his  blameworthiness  is  in  proportion  to  the  sum  of  three  forces ; 
namely,  his  knowledge  of  God,  the  perfect  rule  of  Righteousness  ; 
his  knowledge  of  himself,  concerning  whom  the  judgment  of 
self-condemnation  is  to  be  passed  ;  and  the  healthful  state  of  the 
conscience,  whose  disapprobation  is  the  very  judgment  which  is 
passed.  That  judgment  is,  that  our  heart  is  not  right  in  the 
sight  of  God  :  and  if  our  heart  condemns  us,  God  is  greater  than 
our  heart,  and  knoweth  all  things.3  It  is  manifest  that  all  three 
of  the  elements  just  enumerated,  which  enter  into  the  sense  of 
blameworthiness  of  a  penitent  sinner,  ought  to  increase  continu¬ 
ally;  and,  therefore,  our  sense  of  blameworthiness  would  itself 
increase  continually,  unless  we  ourselves  increased  continually  in 
holiness,  that  is,  in  conformity  to  God.  If  our  conscience  bear 
us  witness  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  we  do  thus  increase  in  holi¬ 
ness,3  then,  indeed,  having  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward 
God,4  we  may  well  and  truly  rejoice  in  this  testimony  of  our  con¬ 
science.5  But  inasmuch  as  we  can  never  attain  to  perfect  holiness 
in  this  life,  we  can  never  cease  to  feel  a  sense  of  blameworthiness 
at  every  just  survey  of  our  actual  condition.  To  which  it  must 
be  added,  that  upon  every  survey  of  our  past  life,  the  renewed 
soul  will  deplore  its  past  offences  more  and  more  deeply,  at  every 
step  of  its  progressive  sanctification. 

6.  The  root  of  the  matter  is  the  healthful  state  of  the  con¬ 
science  itself.  And  to  every  spiritual  intent  touching  grace  and 
salvation,  there  is  no  state  of  the  conscience  which  can  be  called 
healthful,  except  that  state  of  it  which  exists  in  the  New  Crea- 

1  Rom.,  ii.  14,  15.  3  1  John,  iii.  20. 

4  1  Pet.,  iii.  21.  6  2  Cor.,  i.  12. 


3  Rom.,  ix.  1. 


CHAP.  XIV.]  REPENTANCE  TJNTO  LIFE. 


283 


ture.  This  we  express  with  reference  to  the  matter  now  under 
consideration,  by  the  phrase — Repentance  unto  Life  :  it  is  a  grace 
of  God's  Spirit — an  act  of  the  renewed  soul.  It  is  only  when  the 
soul  has  been  quickened  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  its  spiritual 
judgments  concerning  good  and  evil  are  trustworthy.  '  It  is  only 
in  such  a  quickened  soul  that  divine  truth  is  so  perceived,  that  it 
can  be  made  an  infallibly  just  standard  of  approbation  or  con¬ 
demnation.  It  is  only  as  that  quickened  soul  advances  in  holi¬ 
ness,  by  means  of  this  life-giving  Spirit  and  this  divine  truth, 
that  it  is  wrought  more  and  more  perfectly  into  a  condition  of 
complete  healthfulness.  Then  it  is  that  its  judgment  concerning 
good  and  evil,  its  sense  of  approbation  or  condemnation,  its  feel¬ 
ing  of  peace  or  shame  under  its  own  sentence,  become  more  and 
more  analogous  to  the  mind  of  God.  The  extraordinary  fact,  to 
which  I  have  already  alluded,  that  the  habitual  judgment  of  the 
natural  conscience  is  one  of  condemnation  of  our  own  habitual 
moral  state — or  at  the  least  of  doubt  concerning  it — or  of  most 
hesitating  approval ;  obliges  us  to  admit  not  only  that  sinfulness 
may  be  predicated  of  nature,  in  contradistinction  to  acts,  but 
that  our  own  nature  is  sinful  ;  or  else  we  must  show  that  our 
moral  judgments,  and  therefore  our  sense  of  disapprobation,  are 
always  wrong — in  which  case  the  only  use  of  the  conscience 
would  be  to  lead  us  into  sin.  Under  the  influence  of  divine  grace, 
the  pungency  of  our  convictions  must  necessarily  be  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  the  heinousness  of  our  offences  and  the  depth  of  our  de¬ 
pravity.  And  here  is  opened  before  us  the  whole  of  that  immense 
department  of  practical  religion  connected  with  the  direction  of 
the  conscience  ;  in  which  the  doctrines  of  grace  are  so  conspicu¬ 
ously  blessed,  and  all  other  systems  are  fatal,  each  in  proportion 
to  its  departure  from  them.  I  content  myself  with  making  two 
remarks,  both  relating  immediately  to  the  doctrine  of  Repent¬ 
ance.  The  first  is,  that  in  proportion  as  our  convictions  of  sin 
are  inadequate,  is  the  peril  of  backsliding,  on  one  hand — and 
the  certainty  on  the  other,  of  low  attainments  in  the  divine  life. 
The  second  is,  that  it  is  a  double  and  woful  mistake,  for  those 
who  cannot  charge  themselves  with  outbreaking  enormities,  to 
distrust  the  Spirit  of  God,  because  he  does  not  enable  them  to 
abhor  themselves  as  if  they  had  been  stained  with  the  greatest 
crimes  ;  and  for  such  as  might  justly  rank  themselves  with  the 
chief  of  sinners,  to  be  content  with  such  convictions  of  sin  as 


284  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  HI. 

would  become  them,  if  they  had  only  heart  hatred  against  God 
to  charge  themselves  withal.  God's  Spirit  is  the  Spirit  of  truth: 
and  the  exercises  of  soul  which  he  begets,  are  always  true  exer¬ 
cises — never  exaggerated — never  fallacious. 

III. — 1.  God  has  provided  for  man  a  perfect  rule  of  duty,  and 
therefore  a  perfect  standard  for  the  conscience — in  the  Moral 
Law — which  he  wrote  in  the  heart  of  man  when  he  created  him 
— which  he  delivered  in  writing  to  Moses  to  be  laid  at  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  the  sacred  Scriptures — and  which  is  divinely  expounded 
and  enforced  throughout  the  inspired  volume.1  Although  every 
violation  of  that  unalterable  law  is  not  equally  heinous,  yet  every 
violation  of  it  deserves  the  wrath  of  God.2  In  our  fallen  state  we 
neither  desire  nor  are  able  to  keep  this  perfect  law  of  God.3  We 
are  by  nature,  therefore,  children  of  wrath,4  not  only  dead  in  sins, 
but  sold  under  sin.5  Even  after  we  have  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  this  perfect  rule  of  duty,  there  is  no  possibility  that  depraved 
sinners  should  be  purified  thereby,  or  through  it  escape  per¬ 
dition  ;  unless  they  are  first  divinely  enabled  and  inclined  there¬ 
unto.  A  rule  of  duty,  of  judgment,  of  conviction,  of  condemna¬ 
tion,  of  punishment — it  abides  and  will  abide  for  ever.  But  by  no 
possibility  can  it  be  a  way  of  Life,  through  the  keeping  of  it, 
unto  depraved  creatures  who  lie  under  its  curse,  who  have  already 
incurred  its  wrath,  and  who  are  only  the  more  sure  to  be  con¬ 
demned,  by  how  much  it  is  proved  to  be  holy,  just,  and  good.  It 
may  be,  under  such  circumstances,  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us 
to  Christ,  that  we  may  be  justified  by  faith.6  But  this  is  the 
utmost  it  can  do  for  sinners  ;  and  this  only  through  divine  grace. 

2.  The  perfect  obedience  to  the  law  of  God  both  in  heart  and 
life,  by  which  complete  conformity  to  the  will  of  God  is  mani¬ 
fested — has  been  rendered  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  his  office  of 
Mediator  between  God  and  man.  He  has,  in  addition,  en¬ 
dured  the  penalty  and  curse  of  the  law,  and  the  wrath  of  God 
due  to  sinners — as  though  he  were  himself  the  chief  of  sinners  : 
whereby  he  has  made  complete  satisfaction  to  divine  justice, 
and  redeemed  his  brethren  who  were  under  the  law,  and  un¬ 
der  sin,  and  under  the  sentence  of  death,  and  under  the  power 
of  Satan.  All  this  has  occurred  in  execution  of  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Redemption — whose  blessings  and  benefits  are  all  pro- 

1  Exod.,  XX.;  Matt.,  xxii.  31-40.  2  Gal.,  iii.  10.  3  Gal.,  ii.  1G. 

4  Eph.,  it  3.  •  5  Eph.,  ii.  1 ;  Rom.,  vii.  14.  6  Gal.,  iii.  24. 


CHAP.  XIV.]  REPENTANCE  UNTO  LIFE.  285 

vided  by  divine  grace,  for  fallen  men,  through  the  Son  of  Man. 
If  we  can  become  so  identified  with  this  crucified  and  exalted 
Saviour  as  to  be  partakers  of  his  destiny ;  and  if  we  are  willing 
to  share  his  sufferings  that  we  may  also  share  his  resurrection  ; 
then,  obviously,  our  whole  case  is  put  in  a  totally  new  aspect. 
Upon  supposition  of  such  a  union  between  him  and  us  as  will 
put  him  in  our  place  as  sinners*,  that  he  may  work  out  for  us  an 
everlasting  righteousness — and  put  us  in  his  place  as  possessors 
of  this  divine  righteousness  ;  manifestly,  sin,  and  the  law,  and 
death,  and  hell — must  hold  him  responsible  for  all  they  have  to 
allege  against  us  ;  and  his  person,  and  work,  and  glory  must  all 
be  overborne  before  we  can  be  hurt.  We  must,  to  this  end,  be 
united  to  Christ  ;  concerning  which,  and  the  manner  of  it,  I 
have  said  so  much.  The  incontestable  manifestations  of  this 
union  between  us  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world — are  declared  to 
be  Repentance  toward  God  and  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.1  These  are  the  immediate  and  universal  obligations  laid 
upon  sinners  by  the  manifestation  of  a  Saviour  to  them  ;  they 
are  the  special  conditions  of  salvation  through  that  Saviour,  and 
under  the  eternal  covenant  sealed  with  his  blood.  With  reference 
to  God,  to  sin,  and  to  itself — -the  precise  state  of  the  believing  soul 
is — Repentance ;  just  as  the  precise  state  of  the  penitent  soul,  with 
reference  to  Christ,  to  divine  truth,  and  to  salvation,  is — Faith. 
But  the  ideas  of  God,  and  sin,  and  the  soul,  in  the  first  of  these 
statements,  and  those  of  Christ,  and  divine  truth,  and  salvation 
in  the  second  ;  unitedly  present  a  complete  idea  of  the  whole  mat¬ 
ter.  Repentance  and  Faith  unitedly  involving  the  whole  of  those 
ideas — unitedly  express  the  whole  way  of  life.  They  are,  there¬ 
fore,  peculiar  to  those  who  are  united  to  Christ — universal,  in  all 
who  are  born  of  the  Spirit — and  inseparable  from  each  other.3 

3.  The  acts  of  the  renewed  soul  which  unitedly  make  up  the 
idea  which  we  use  the  word  Repentance  to  express,  are  very 
clearly  disclosed  in  the  word  of  God,  are  very  obvious  in  them¬ 
selves,  and  are  familiar  to  all  Christians.  In  the  first  place,  the 
penitent  soul  grieves  for  its  sins  and  at  the  same  time  sincerely 
hates  them.  For,  saith  the  Scriptures,  Then  shall  ye  remember 
your  own  evil  w^ays,  and  your  doings  that  were  not  good,  and 
shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your  own  sight,  for  your  iniquities  and 
for  your  abominations.3  And  this  is  just  what  the  Lord  requires 
1  Acts,  xx.  20,  21.  2  Mark,  i.  15 ;  John,  iii.  18  ;  Luke,  xiii.  3,  5.  3  Ezek.,  xxxvL  31. 


286  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

of  us.  For  not  only  is  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  to  be 
preached  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  among  all  nations  '  and 
not  only  does  God  command  all  men  every  where  to  repent  ;2  but 
the  clearest  statements  are  made  as  to  what  occurs  when  this 
blessed  Gospel  and  this  divine  command  work  together  effectually 
in  our  hearts.  Thus  it  is  said,  Repent  and  turn  from  all  your 
transgressions  :  and  so  iniquity  shall  not  be  your  ruin.  Cast 
away  all  your  transgressions,  whereby  ye  have  transgressed  ;  and 
make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit :  for  why  will  ye  die,  0 
house  of  Israel  ?3  The  sorrow  of  the  world  worketh  death  :  but 
godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be  repented 
of.  And  this  the  Apostle  applies  personally  to  us,  for  he  saith, 
Behold  this  self-same  thing,  that  ye  sorrowed  after  a  godly  sort, 
what  carefulness  it  wrought  in  you,  yea,  what  clearing  of  your¬ 
selves,  yea,  what  indignation,  yea,  what  fear,  yea,  what  vehement 
desire,  yea,  what  zeal,  yea  what  revenge.  In  all  things  ye  have 
proved  yourselves  to  be  clear  in  this  matter.4  In  the  second 
place,  the  penitent  soul,  grieving  for  and  hating  its  sins,  turns 
from  all  sin  unto  God.  For,  saith  God,  Let  the  wicked  forsake 
his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts  :  and  let  him  re¬ 
turn  unto  the  Lord  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him  ;  and  to 
our  God  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon.5  And  to  this  God  him¬ 
self  persuades  us  :  for  it  is  written,  Wash  ye,  make  ye  clean  ; 
put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before  mine  eyes  ;  cease  to 
do  evil ;  learn  to  do  well;  seek  judgment;  relieve  the  oppressed; 
judge  the  fatherless  ;  plead  for  the  widow.  Come  now  and  let 
us  reason  together,  saith  the  Lord  :  though  your  sins  be  as  scar¬ 
let,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow,  though  they  be  red  like  crim¬ 
son,  they  shall  be  as  wool.6  So  we  are  divinely  assured  that  there 
is  no  condemnation  to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk 
not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.7  And  so  the  very  pur¬ 
pose  for  which  Saul  of  Tarsus  was  sent  of  God  unto  the  Gentiles 
was,  To  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to 
light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  might 
receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance  amongst  those  that 
are  sanctified.8  And  thus  all  who  sin  against  God— for  there  is 
no  man  that  sinneth  not — and  at  whom  God  is  angry  ;  yet  if 

2  Luke,  xxiv.  47.  3  Acts,  xvii.  30.  4  Ezek.,  xviii.  30,  31. 

s  2  Cor.,  vii.  10,  11 ;  Jer.,  xxxi.  18,  19.  e  Isa.,  lv.  7.  ^  isa.}  i.  16-20. 

8  Rom.,  viii.  1.  9  Acts,  xxvi.  14-18. 


CHAP.  XIV.]  REPENTANCE  UNTO  LIFE.  287 

they  bethink  themselves,  and  repent,  and  make  supplication  unto 
God,  saying,  we  have  sinned,  and  have  done  perversely,  we  have 
committed  wickedness  ;  and  so  return  unto  God  with  all  their 
heart,  and  with  all  their  soul :  then  will  God  hear  their  prayer 
and  their  supplication,  in  heaven  his  dwelling-place,  and  will  for¬ 
give  all  their  sins  against  him,  and  all  their  transgressions  wherein 
they  have  transgressed  against  him.1  In  the  third  place,  the 
penitent  soul,  grieving  for  its  sins,  hating  them,  and  turning  from 
them  unto  God,  does  this  with  full  purpose  of  heart,  and  earnest 
endeavour  after  New  Obedience.  I  thought  upon  my  ways,  says 
the  Psalmist,  and  turned  my  feet  unto  thy  testimonies.  For,  he 
adds,  I  esteem  all  thy  precepts  concerning  all  things  to  be  right ; 
and  I  hate  every  false  way.2  It  is  they  who  walk  in  all  the  com¬ 
mandments  and  ordinances  of  the  law  blameless,  whom  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  pronounce  to  be  righteous  :3  and  he  through  whose  grace 
they  are  both  inclined  and  enabled  thereunto,  is  not  only  chiefest 
among  ten  thousand,  but  is  altogether  lovely.4  Follow  me,  is 
the  incessant  command  of  the  Saviour  of  men.5  The  very  char¬ 
acteristic  of  the  sheep  of  the  great  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls, 
is  that  they  hear  his  voice  and  follow  him  :  and  the  end  is,  not 
only  that  he  gives  unto  them  eternal  life — but  that  the  peace  of 
God,  which  passeth  all  understanding,  keeps  their  hearts  and 
minds  through  Christ  Jesus.6  Now  we  easily  unite  in  one  con¬ 
ception  the  several  acts  of  the  soul  with  regard  to  sin,  to  God, 
and  to  itself :  and  the  result  is  that  which  is  called  sometimes 
Repentance  toward  God,  sometimes  Repentance  unto  Life,  most 
generally  simply  Repentance.  The  Scriptures,  both  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  use  two  different  words  to  express  this 
great  grace  of  the  Spirit.*  They  are  used,  especially  in  the  New 
Testament,  so  nearly  interchangeably,7  that  nothing  farther  need 
he  said  here  concerning  them,  than  that  one  of  them,  perhaps, 
has  more  special  relation  to  the  understanding,  and  the  other  to 
the  will  of  man  :  as  the  careful  student  will  probably  observe  in 
noting  their  use  by  the  sacred  writers.  What  God  requires  in 
sinful  man  is  a  thorough  change  of  soul ;  and  touching  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  our  inquiry — a  thorough  change  both  of  purpose  and  de¬ 
sire,  from  the  evil  which  God  hates  to  the  irood  which  God  loves.8 

1  1  Kings,  viii.  46-50.  2  Psalm  cxix.  59,  128.  8  Luke,  i.  6.  *  Song  of  Sol.,  v.  10,  16. 

5  Matt.,  xvi.,  24;  Luke,  ix.  50.  6  John,  x.  27,  28;  Phil.,  iv.  7. 

*  _ uerupelua — mutatio  voluntatis:  nati — fieTavoia — mutatio  mentis. — Re¬ 
pentance.  ^  Matt.,  xL  21;  xxi.  29,  32.  ’  s  Rom.,  xii.  1,  2  ;  Ps.  i .passim. 


288 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


4.  The  states  of  the  soul  whose  acts  have  just  been  explained, 
or,  if  a  different  manner  of  stating  the  case  is  preferred — the  ex¬ 
ercises  of  the  soul  in  Repentance — are  distinctly  twofold.  In  the 
first  place  it  has  obtained  and  it  manifests,  both  a  sight  and  a 
sense,  both  of  the  danger  and  the  odiousness  of  sin,  as  contrary 
to  the  holy  nature,  and  righteous  law  of  God.  x\nd  in  the  second 
place  it  has  apprehended  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  to  penitent 
sinners.  It  is  by  the  word  and  Spirit  of  God  that  it  has  been 
brought  to  see  and  to  feel  thus  2  and  seeing  and  feeling  thus,  it 
hates  and  grieves  for  its  sins,  and  turns  from  them  unto  God,  as 
I  have  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  In  the  parable 
of  the  Prodigal  Son,  the  Saviour  has  shown  us  in  the  most  affect¬ 
ing  manner,  the  nature  of  these  states  and  exercises  of  the  soul — 
the  acts  to  which  they  prompt  us,  and  the  reception  which  the  re¬ 
turning  penitent  meets  with  from  God.2  His  dogmatic  statement 
is  more  wonderful,  if  possible,  than  his  overpowering  illustration  ; 
lor  he  says  with  emphasis,  There  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the 
angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.3  With  this  decla¬ 
ration  and  exposition  of  the  Saviour,  the  whole  Scriptures  agree.4 

5.  The  intimate  nature  of  all  these  states,  exercises,  and  acts 
of  the  soul,  and  of  the  cause  and  manner  of  their  occurrence, 
may  be  briefly  and  distinctly  stated.  1.  Repentance  unto  life  is 
a  special  obligation  of  sinful  men,  and  a  special  condition  of 
God’s  favour  under  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  precisely  as 
perfect  obedience  was  under  the  Covenant  of  Works.  2.  It  is  a 
saving  grace  which  God  bestows  on  men — wrought  in  the  heart 
of  the  sinner  by  the  Holy  Ghost  as  the  agent,  and  the  word  of 
God  as  the  instrument  thereof.  3.  It  is  an  act  of  the  Hew  Crea¬ 
ture,  unto  the  right  performance  of  which  all  the  outward  ordi¬ 
nances  of  the  Church  of  God  enable  us  ;  in  the  due  exercise  of 
which  all  other  Christian  graces  are  nourished  ;  and  in  the  absence 
of  which  we  can  have  no  just  hope  of  eternal  life,  nor  any*  true 
filness  for  it.5  Repentance  unto  life,  therefore,  as  taught  in  the 
word  of  God,  and  as  experienced  in  the  hearts  of  all  believers,  is 
a  vital  manifestation  of  the  New  Creature,  being  a  permanent 
habit  of  the  renewed  soul,  wrought  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
elect  of  God,  for  the  merits’  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  whereby  it 

1  Zech.,  xii.  10;  Acts,  ii.  31 ;  xi.  18-21.  a  Luke,  xv.  11-32.  3  Luke,  xv.  10. 

4  Ezekiel,  xvl  GO-63;  xviii.  30-32;  Psalm  exxx.  passim ;  Joel,  ii.  12-14. 

5  Acts,  ii.  37-43;  2  lim.,  ii.  25,  26;  Zech.,  xii.  9—1 1 ;  Matt.,  xxviii.  18—20;  1  Tim., 
iv.  14-16. 


CHAP.  XIV.] 


REPENTANCE  UNTO  LIFE. 


289 


hates  and  overcomes  sin,  in  the  way  of  a  new  obedience  unto  the 
holy  law  of  God  :  the  fruits  whereof  are,  through  divine  grace, 
pardon,  all  good  works,  and  a  portion  in  eternal  life.1 

IV. — 1.  I  abhor  myself,  said  Job,  and  repent  in  dust  and 
ashes.2  And  such  is  the  continual  necessity  of  fallen  men  return¬ 
ing  to  God — the  perpetual  doctrine  of  godliness.  John  the  Bap¬ 
tist,  the  messenger  sent  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord,  came 
preaching  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea,  and  saying,  Repent  ye  : 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.3  And  as  soon  as  John's 
ministry  was  accomplished,  Jesus  began  to  preach  the  Gospel  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  saying,  The  time  is  fulfilled,  and  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God  is  at  hand  :  repent  ye,  and  believe  the  Gospel.4  And 
when  he  called  the  twelve  Apostles  and  began  to  send  them  forth 
by  two  and  two,  with  power  over  unclean  spirits  ;  they  went  out 
and  preached  that  men  should  repent.5  The  very  object  of  the 
coming  of  Jesus,  as  declared  by  himself,  was,  to  call  sinners  to 
Repentance:6  and  after  his  resurrection — opening  the  understand¬ 
ing  of  his  Apostles  that  they  might  understand  the  Scriptures, 
he  said  unto  them,  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behooved 
Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day  :  and 
that  Repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his 
name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem.7  In  the  same 
sense,  precisely,  did  the  Apostles  commence  their  divine  mission, 
and  accomplish  it  to  the  end.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when 
the  promise  of  the  Father  had  been  accomplished,  and  they  were 
all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  thousands  who  were 
pricked  in  their  heart  under  the  preaching  of  Peter  demanded 
what  they  were  to  do  :  the  answer  was,  Repent,  and  be  baptized 
every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.8  And  a 
few  days  afterwards,  to  like  multitudes,  in  the  same  place,  the 
first  miracle  wrought  directly  by  the  Apostles  was  followed  by 
the  same  doctrine  and  the  same  effects  as  had  attended  the  great 
miracle  of  tongues  wrought  on  them  at  Pentecost.  Repent  ye, 
therefore,  said  Peter  to  the  multitudes  as  they  ran  together,  filled 
with  wmnder  and  amazement,  and  be  converted,  that  your  sins 
mav  be  blotted  out.9  So  that  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that 

i  Rom.,  xn.  passim;  1  Pot.,  i. passim;  Acts,  xi.  18;  Matt,  iii.  8. 

3  Job,  xlii.  G.  3  Matt.,  iii.  1,  2.  4  Matt.,  iv.  17 ;  Mark,  14,  15. 

5  Mark,  vi.  12.  6  Matt.,  ix.  13;  Mark,  ii.  17 ;  Luke,  v.  32. 

7  Luke,  xxiv.  45,  46.  8  Acts,  ii.  38.  9  -AxtSj  iii.  19- - 

VOL.  II. 


290 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


God  commancleth  all  men  everywhere  to  repent:  and  that  except 
we  do  repent  we  shall  all  likewise  perish.1  Nor  are  true  believ¬ 
ers  to  suppose  that  they  are  exempt  from  this  great  duty — this 
universal  necessity.  Even  if  we  have  well  grounded  confidence 
that  the  sins  of  which  we  should  be  so  much  ashamed  have  been 
pardoned  by  God,  still  we  ought  to  feel  the  deepest  sorrow  that 
we  have  committed  them.  We  ought,  indeed,  to  be  the  more 
earnest  in  our  desires  and  endeavours  after  holiness,  as  we  thus 
apprehend  more  clearly  God's  mercy  in  our  pardon.  Moreover, 
we  know  little  of  ourselves,  if  we  do  not  know  that  we  have 
daily  need  to  repent  of  our  daily  offences  against  the  holy  law 
of  God  :  and  that  but  for  the  infinite  sufficiency  of  Christ,  we 
are,  at  our  best  estate,  unworthy  and  unfit  to  appear  before  God, 
and  would  either  sink  down  into  total  indifference  to  divine 
things,  or  fall  into  despair.  Nor  without  Repentance  is  it  possi¬ 
ble  for  us  to  grow  in  holiness.  For  in  order  to  obtain  the  victory 
over  temptation,  we  must  have  some  adequate  sight  and  sense 
of  the  danger  and  hatefulness  of  sin  :  and  in  order  to  increase  in 
conformity  to  God,  we  must  see  the  excellence  of  the  grace  we 
long  for,  and  mourning  for  the  lack  of  it,  must  strive  for  its  at¬ 
tainment  in  higher  measure. 

2.  Of  all  Christian  graces,  this  alone  is  attended  with  anguish 
of  heart,  and  deep  spiritual  suffering.  Being  a  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  an  exercise  of  the  new  life  of  God's  children,  we 
might  suppose  that  we  could  have  been  delivered  in  some  way 
from  these  sharp  pangs  of  the  soul,  in  the  very  exercise,  and 
manifestation,  and  increase  of  the  life  which  we  share  with  the 
Lord  from  heaven.  Doubtless  this  would  have  been  the  case,  if 
man,  instead  of  God,  had  provided  the  way  of  life.  It  is  the 
case  in  every  human  way  of  deliverance  from  sin :  all,  without 
exception,  seeking  to  allay  our  sense  of  guilt :  all,  without  ex¬ 
ception,  misdirecting  that  just  self-condemnation  which  refuses 
to  be  allayed.  We  ought  to  consider  how  great  is  the  difference 
between  the  object  with  which  this  grace  immediately  concerns 
itself,  and  the  objects  with  which  all  other  graces  are  immedi¬ 
ately  concerned.  It  is  our  sins  in  all  their  danger  and  hateful- 
ness — ourselves  in  all  our  blameworthiness  on  account  of  sin — 
that  the  soul  contemplates  when  it  repents.  In  the  nature  of 
the  case,  its  self-condemnation  and  its  anguish  must  go  together. 

1  Acts,  xviii.  30 ;  Luke,  xiii.  3. 


291 


CHAP.  XIV.]  REPENTANCE  UNTO  LIFE. 

It  is  the  disease  which  makes  the  remedy  so  sharp.  These  pangs 
of  the  renewed  soul  on  account  of  its  sins,  which  Christ  has 
borne  in  his  own  body  on  the  cross,  and  then  pardoned,  are  in¬ 
evitable  effects  of  those  sins  upon  the  soul,  as  it  struggles  to 
extricate  itself  from  their  pollution  and  bondage.  Left  to  them¬ 
selves,  first  stupor,  and  then  horror  and  despair,  are  what  they 
inflict  upon  the  soul.  Rooted  out  by  divine  grace,  grief  and 
shame  attend  their  destruction.  The  soul  is  of  that  nature,  and 
sin  affects  it  in  that  manner,  that  one  way  or  other  every  soul 
which  sin  enters  must  suffer :  suffer  eternally  under  its  dominion, 
or  suffer — what  is  not  worthy  to  he  compared  with  the  fire  that 
shall  never  he  quenched,  and  the  worm  that  shall  never  die — as 
the  halm  that  is  in  Gilead  is  applied  by  the  great  Physician  of 
souls  to  heal  their  fearful  maladies.  In  the  nature  of  the  case, 
in  the  nature  both  of  the  disease  and  the  remedy,  in  the  nature 
both  of  God  and  man,  it  could  not  he  otherwise.  It  is  a  neces¬ 
sity  which  belongs  to  our  fearful  condition  as  sinful  creatures. 
And  the  perfect  recognition  of  it,  and  the  effectual  treatment  of 
it,  by  the  sacred  Scriptures,  is  one  of  those  innumerable  proofs 
of  their  divine  wisdom,  which  come  silently  into  the  thoughtful 
soul,  along  with  the  truth  itself. 

3.  It  is,  however,  very  far  from  true,  to  suppose  there  is 
nothing  to  sweeten  these  deep  sorrows,  and  to  assuage  these  bit¬ 
ter  pangs.  For  a  sense  of  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  is 
as  real  a  part  of  true  Repentance,  as  hatred,  and  shame,  and  sor¬ 
row  for  sin  are.  Let  the  conviction  of  sin  go  to  the  very  depths 
of  the  soul,  for  the  malady  goes  there — and  the  remedy  must  go 
too,  if  the  cure  is  perfect.  Still  every  sigh  and  every  tear  wrung 
from  the  penitent  child  of  God,  is  poured  out  on  the  bosom  of  the 
Saviour  of  sinners.  The  balm  which  he  pours  into  the  wounded 
soul  does  heal  it — does  comfort  it :  it  is  the  pollution  which  it 
expels,  that  tears  it.  The  deep  waters  as  they  roll  over  us,  and 
the  fiery  trials  as  they  almost  consume  in  refining  us — do  not 
weaken,  but  do  confirm  the  assurance  that  his  everlasting  arms 
are  underneath  us  and  round  about  us.  The  cry  of  the  suffering 
soul  is,  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him.1  The  answer 
of  the  Lord  is — I  will  not  leave  thee — I  will  not  forsake  thee — I 
will  not  cast  thee  off.2 

4.  IIow  much  concerning  God,  concerning  man,  and  concern- 

1  Job,  xiii.  15.  2  Gen.,  xxviii.  15;  1  Sam.,  xii.  22  ;  Ps.  xciv.  14. 


292  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

ing  the  relations  between  them,  is  involved  in  what  must  be 
accepted  as  true  in  order  to  exhibit  clearly  this  great  Scripture 
doctrine  !  How  completely  must  the  whole  proportion  of  divine 
faith  lie  open  before  us,  in  order  to  appreciate  fully  the  revealed 
method  of  our  pardon,  and  the  grounds  and  effects  thereof  !  And 
yet,  of  itself,  how  simple  and  obvious  is  the  truth;  that  in  order  to 
be  pardoned  we  must  forsake  our  sins  and  turn  to  God,  and  that 
if  we  will  not  do  this  we  must  perish  !  And  yet;  once  more, 
with  what  light  and  triumph  do  the  doctrines  of  grace,  so  simple 
in  themselves,  so  deep  and  wide  in  their  connections,  come  forth 
always  from  the  most  thorough  and  severe  trial  of  them  !  Thus 
what  we  have  sought  to  explain  and  establish  in  this  chapter, 
involves  the  absolute  nature  of  God  as  revealed — the  absolute 
truth  of  the  revelation  of  him — -the  reality  and  efficacy  of  the 
plan  of  salvation  therein  disclosed — and  the  mode  of  the  divine 
existence  revealed  in  accordance  with  that  method  of  saving  sin¬ 
ners.  On  the  other  hand,  it  involves  the  absolute  truth  of  all 
that  relates  to  the  creation,  fall,  nature,  present  condition,  and 
endless  destiny  of  man  :  the  absolute  truth,  also,  of  the  spiritual 
system  disclosed  unto  salvation,  and  the  divine  authority  of  the 
means  of  its  enforcement — sin — holiness — the  covenants — grace 
— knowledge — ordinances.  All  is  true — all  is  real :  or  else  all  is 
worthless,  and  the  whole  scriptural  conception  of  Repentance  is 
inexplicable — absurd — unreal.  In  all  such  cases  two  immoveable 
supports  remain  to  the  Christian  heart.  It  has,  in  its  own  inner 
life,  that  which  attests  the  certainty  of  these  great  truths  of  God. 
It  has  in  the  universal  experience  of  the  human  race,  and  in  the 
surest  conclusions  of  the  human  understanding,  that  which  at¬ 
tests  the  futility  of  all  other  methods  ever  suggested  to  men, 
whereby  sinners  might  escape  the  wrath  to  come. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE  NEW  OBEDIENCE. 

T.  1.  What  God  purposes  concerning  his  Children. — 2.  What  he  requires  of  them. — 
3.  What  he  is  preparing  them  for — and  how. — 4.  The  New  Obedience:  with  the 
Relation  of  Good  Works  and  the  Christian  Warfare  thereto. — II.  1.  The  New 
Obedience,  in  its  Inward  Nature:  whole  Work  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  as  related  to 
all  Gracious  Exercises  of  the  Renewed  Soul. — 2.  Duty  toward  God — specially 
embraced  in  the  Internal  Aspect  of  our  New  Obedience  :  Influence  of  this  on  our 
duty  to  our  Neighbour. — 3.  New  Obedience  as  rendered  to  God,  distinguished 
from  those  Exercises  of  it  called  Good  Works:  Summary  of  all  Duty. — 4.  Special 
Fruits  of  our  New  Obedience — rendered  unto  God. — 5.  Prayer. — 6.  Fasting: 
Watching. — 7.  Thanksgiving. — 8.  Vows:  Lawful  Oaths. — III.  1.  The  Heart 
kept:  the  Heart  hardened. — 2.  Natural  Aspect  of  these  things:  Gracious  Aspect 
of  them. — 3.  Human  Nature,  when  under  their  Complete  Influence. 

1.  — 1.  If  we  desire  to  have  grace  and  peace  multiplied  unto 
us,  we  ought  to  know,  assuredly,  that  this  is  possible  only  through 
the  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Nothing 
was  ever  uttered  by  the  Saviour  directly  to  God  who  sent  him, 
with  more  emphasis  and  solemnity,  than  that  the  eternal  life 
which  he  bestowed  on  as  many  as  the  Father  had  given  to  him, 
was  accomplished  in  this,  That  they  might  know  thee  the  only  true 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent.1  It  is  only  through 
the  knowledge  of  him  who  has  called  us  unto  glory  and  virtue, 
that  all  things  which  pertain  to  life  and  godliness  are  bestowed 
upon  us  with  divine  power.  In  this  manner  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises  are  given  to  us  :  and  through  these  promises, 
having  escaped  the  corruption  which  is  in  the  world  through  lust, 
we  are  made  partakers  of  the  divine  nature.2 

2.  Well  does  it  become  us,  having  such  a  course  as  this  set 
before  us,  to  run  in  it  patiently.  Giving  all  diligence,  we  ought 
to  add  to  our  faith  virtue  ;  and  to  virtue  knowledge  ;  and  to 
knowledge  temperance  ;  and  to  temperance  patience  ;  and  to 
patience  godliness  ;  and  to  godliness  brotherly  kindness  ;  and  to 
brotherly  kindness  charity.  For  it  is  only  as  these  things  are  in 

1  John,  xvil  3.  2  2  Peter,  i.  2-4. 


294 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


us  and  abound,  that  we  are  neither  barren  nor  unfruitful  in  the 
knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Nay,  it  is  by  giving  dili¬ 
gence  to  make  our  calling  and  election  sure,  that  we  are  kept 
from  falling  ;  and  that  an  entrance  shall  be  administered  unto  us 
abundantly  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  On  the  other  hand,  when  we  lack  these  things  we 
are  blind,  and  cannot  see  afar  off,  and  have  forgotten  that  we 
were  purged  from  our  old  sins.1 

3.  That  we  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy 
nation,  a  peculiar  people  ;  is  exactly  to  the  intent  that  we  should 
show  forth  the  praises  of  him  who  hath  called  us  out  of  darkness 
into  his  marvellous  light.2  The  saving  grace  of  God  has  taught 
us  nothing  more  distinctly,  than  that  they  who  look  for  that 
blessed  hope,  and  the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and 
our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  ;  must  not  only  deny  ungodliness  and 
worldly  lusts,  and  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly,  in  this 
present  world  ;  but  must  realize  that  the  Saviour  gave  himself 
for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify 
unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works.  These 
are  the  very  things  which  the  ambassadors  of  Christ  have  in 
charge  to  speak,  and  exhort,  and  rebuke,  with  all  authority.3  The 
great  thing  for  us  to  do,  is  to  address  ourselves  earnestly  to  this 
vast  concern  of  working  out  our  salvation  :  and  considering  the 
awful  majesty  of  God,  to  do  it  trembling,  with  his  awe  and  his 
dread  upon  us  :  and  considering  the  immensity  of  the  work  and 
its  issues,  to  do  it  with  all  anxiety  and  pungent  fear.  Through 
it  all  we  have  this  unspeakable  comfort  and  encouragement,  that 
it  is  God  himself  who  works  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do — both 
the  purpose  and  the  ability  ;  and  that  he  does  this  of  his  good 
pleasure.  Infinite  mercy,  in  infinite  complacency,  is  working  out 
its  fruits  in  usd 

4.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  alike  from  what  God  purposes  con¬ 
cerning  us,  and  what  he  requires  of  us,  and  what  he  is  preparing 
us  for  ;  that  a  New  Obedience,  widely  different  from  any  thing 
that  could  be  rendered  to  him  by  any  creature,  except  a  penitent 
and  believing  sinner  ;  is  the  very  substance  of  that  Kepentance 
by  which  we  turn  from  sin  unto  God,  and  of  that  Faith  by  which 
the  heart  is  purified  and  the  world  overcome,  and  is  the  very  ex¬ 
pression  of  that  Sanctification  through  which  we  are  perfected  in 

1  2  Pet.,  i.  5-11.  2  1  Pet.,  ii.  9.  3  Titus,  ii.  11-15.  4  Phil.,  ii.  12,  13. 


CHAP.  XV.] 


NEW  OBEDIENCE. 


295 


holiness.  In  like  manner,  Good  Works  are  the  necessary  result 
of  this  New  Obedience — the  very  manifestation  of  it.  And  to 
complete  the  case,  the  Christian  Warfare  is  that  ceaseless  conflict 
with  all  the  enemies  of  God  and  of  our  souls,  through  which 
every  follower  of  Christ  must  exhibit  his  New  Obedience,  and 
make  his  Good  Works  manifest.  Lovest  thou  me  ?  is  the  con¬ 
stant  and  searching  question  of  our  divine  Lord.  Follow  me,  is 
his  perpetual  command.1 

II. — 1.  The  Scriptures  plainly  teach  that  they  who  are  born 
of  the  Spirit,  are  God's  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus, 
unto  good  works,  which  God  hath  before  ordained,  that  we 
should  walk  in  them.2  To  explain  and  to  enforce  this  divine 
workmanship  in  the  human  soul,  is  one  of  the  chief  ends  of  the 
divine  word.  Eenovated  in  Christ  Jesus  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
after  the  image  of  God,  we  become  new  creatures  :  and  while 
innumerable  blessings  and  benefits  are  thus  conferred  upon  us, 
new  duties  also  arise,  and  a  new  ability  to  perform  all  duty  is 
given  to  us  by  God.  Every  exercise  of  every  Christian  grace  is 
a  putting  forth  of  this  new  ability — a  manifestation  of  our  New 
Obedience  :  no  matter  whether  that  exercise  be  purely  internal, 
as,  for  example,  simple  Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  or  whether  it  is 
connected  with  the  most  striking  external  circumstances,  or  lies 
in  the  performance  of  some  great  outward  act.  The  great  end 
of  our  existence  is  to  glorify  and  to  enjoy  God  :  to  do  this,  his 
written  word  is  our  infallible  rule  :  and  the  chief  things  taught 
us  therein  are,  what  we  ought  to  believe  concerning  God,  and 
what  duty  God  requires  of  us.  When  God  works  in  us,  there¬ 
fore,  both  to  will  and  to  do,  he  enables  us  unto  all  that  he  re¬ 
quires  of  us  :  for  these  two  things  taken  fully,  embrace  all  the 
power,  all  the  capacity  of  our  nature.  To  grow  in  grace  and  in 
the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  is  to  grow  up  unto  the 
fruition  of  eternal  life  ;  for  eternal  life  is,  to  know  God,  and 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  he  has  sent.  And  this  is  not  only  required 
of  us  by  God  as  the  continual  exercise  of  our  New  Obedience, 
but  is  of  the  very  nature  of  the  New  Creature,  and  of  its  New 
Obedience.  The  root  of  the  whole  matter  lies  here;  for  with  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness — and  out  of  it  are  the 
issues  of  life.  It  would,  therefore,  be  altogether  appropriate  in 
this  place  to  take  up,  in  succession,  all  the  exercises  of  the  re- 

1  John,  xxi.  15,  16,  11 ;  Matt.  xvi.  24;  xix.  21.  2  Eph.,  ii.  10. 


296  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

newed  soul,  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit  on  which  they  are  founded, 
in  order  to  explain,  in  that  way,  the  inward  nature  of  our  New 
Obedience.  This,  however,  in  all  its  fulness,  is  the  work  of  the 
ministers  of  the  Gospel :  nor  is  it  necessary  to  go  over  that  as¬ 
pect  of  the  subject  here,  in  a  general  manner,  after  devoting  the 
whole  of  the  preceding  Book  to  the  careful  discussion  ol  those 
great  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  by  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  which  to  us  we  are  borne  forward  to  the  consummation 
of  grace  and  the  commencement  of  glory. 

2.  It  is  the  duty  which  we  owe  to  God,  which  is  especially 
embraced  in  that  aspect  of  our  New  Obedience,  which  is  inter¬ 
nal.  But  the  duty  which  we  owe  to  God  is  transcendently 
great,  when  compared  with  any  other  obligation  binding  on  us  ; 
so  much  so  that  all  other  duties  which  bind  us  have  their  origin 
in  this,  and  take  their  rise  from  truths  and  relations,  the  whole 
of  which  involve  God  and  our  duty  to  him.  Independently  of 
the  true  and  the  good,  there  is  no  such  idea  as  duty  in  the  human 
soul.  But  God  is  the  very  sum  and  source  of  all  truth  and  all 
goodness.  Our  denial  of  the  being  and  perfections  of  God,  does 
not  obliterate  God  or  change  his  attributes  ;  if  it  could,  the 
sense  of  duty  would  cease  the  moment  we  embraced  atheism. 
As  our  denial  of  God,  of  truth,  and  of  goodness,  affects  only 
ourselves,  it  does  not  extinguish,  but  only  pollutes  and  degrades 
our  nature.  It  is  manifest,  therefore,  why  our  offences  against 
each  other  are  accounted  by  a  righteous  God  offences  against 
himself ;  and  why  our  charities  to  each  other  are  reckoned  by  a 
gracious  God  as  done  to  him.  Thus  David,  bewailing  his  terrible 
sin  in  the  matter  of  Uriah,  said  to  God,  Against  thee,  thee  only 
have  I  sinned,  and  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight.1  And  in  the 
great  day,  the  cruel  omission  of  our  duties  to  each  other,  will  be 
charged  and  punished  as  offences  against  the  blessed  Saviour ; 
while  not  even  a  cup  of  cold  water,  given  to  his  disciples  in  his 
name,  will  be  forgotten  by  him  then.2  And  this  is  the  very  rule 
of  eternal  judgment :  and  the  sentence  following  that  rule  will 
be,  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  ;  depart 
from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire  J 

3.  There  is,  however,  a  very  plain  sense  in  which  the  exercise 
of  our  New  Obedience  directly  to  God,  is  distinguishable  from 
those  exercises  of  it  which  we  call  Good  Works.  There  is  a 


1  Psalm  li.  4. 


5  Matt,  xxv.  31-46. 


CHAP.  XV.] 


NEW  OBEDIENCE. 


297 


corresponding  distinction  in  our  duties,  of  which  we  say  some  are 
more  particularly  due  to  God,  some  to  our  neighbour,  and  some 
to  ourself.  And  thus  on  account  of  the  immediate  connection  be¬ 
tween  the  New  Obedience  and  Good  Works,  we  say  some  of  both 
are  performed  immediately  to  God,  and  some  immediately  to  our 
neighbour.  In  this  sense  Christ  contemplates  and  expounds  the 
Moral  Law  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount.1  The  First  Table,  con¬ 
taining  the  first  four  commandments,  which  sum  up  our  duty  to 
God,2  the  Lord  Jesus  reduced  to  the  single  statement,  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  mind  ;  and  called  it  the  first  and  great  com¬ 
mandment.3  The  Second  Table,  which  contains  the  last  six 
commandments,  summing  up  our  duty  to  man,4  Christ  reduced 
to  the  single  statement,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thy¬ 
self,  which  he  called  the  second  great  commandment.6  And  he 
immediately  added,  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets.  And  we  may  add,  the  whole  Gospel  also, 
no  part  of  which  was  written  when  Christ  made  these  state¬ 
ments.  For  the  Holy  Ghost  has  reduced  this  sum  of  the  Ten 
Commandments,  which  are  the  sum  of  the  Moral  Law,  to  its 
sum,  which  is  declared  to  be — Love  to  God  and  to  our  neighbour.6 
It  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  any  thing  more  difficult,  or  more 
complete,  than  these  successive  triumphs  of  divine  wisdom,  re¬ 
ducing  the  whole  duty  of  man  to  ten  propositions,  and  those  ten 
to  two,  and  those  two  to  a  single  word — Love — as  the  fulfilling  of 
the  whole  law  of  God  !7  During  thirty- three  centuries,  since  the 
first  of  those  summaries  was  made,  no  human  heart  has  probably 
felt  that  any  one  of  the  three  was  in  any  respect  imperfect ; 
while  no  human  intellect,  before  or  since,  has  been  able  to  reduce 
the  vast  and  intractable  subject  to  any  summary  at  all,  that  any 
other  human  intellect  fully  approved  ! 

4.  Amongst  the  fruits  of  our  New  Obedience,  in  which  the 
graces  of  the  Spirit  whereunto  we  are  called  enable  us  to  abound 
in  the  way  of  Good  Works,  considered  whether  toward  God  or 
men  ;  some  are  so  conspicuous  that  they  demand  a  special  re¬ 
cognition.  Such,  with  reference  to  God,  are  Prayer,  Fasting, 
Thanksgiving,  and  Yows,  and  with  reference  to  man,  Alms  ;  of 

i  Matt.,  v.,  vi.,  vii.  a  Deut.,  iv.  13  ;  x.  1-4.  3  Matt.,  xxii.  37,  38. 

4  Exod.,  xx.  .  5  Matt.,  xxii.  38. 

e  Luke,  x.  27,  28 ;  1  John,  v.  3;  1  Tim.,  i.  5.  7  Rom.,  xiil  10. 


298  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

which  all  but  the  last  will  he  briefly  considered  here — and  the 
last  afterwards,  as  falling  more  particularly  under  the  strict  idea 
of  Good  Works.  It  is  because  Christ  dwells  in  us  that  our  spirit 
lives,1  and  that  we  are  enabled  to  present  our  bodies  a  living  sac¬ 
rifice  to  God,  and  that  he  accepts  the  sacrifice.2  This  is  true  in 
every  thing  that  concerns  our  New  Obedience — and  every  Good 
Work  must  be  related  to  the  glory  of  God.3  We  are  not,  there¬ 
fore,  to  imagine  that  these  fruits  of  our  New  Obedience  which 
are  specially  considered,  differ  in  their  essential  cause  and  end, 
from  every  other  fruit  thereof.  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you, 
saith  God,  and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall 
keep  my  judgments  and  do  them."1 

5.  Of  all  the  acts  of  the  New  Creature  which  can  he  consid¬ 
ered  as  immediate  exercises  of  his  New  Obedience,  Prayer  to  God 
is  the  most  constant :  just  as  of  all  Good  Works  which  flow  from 
the  exercise  of  that  New  Obedience — it  is  the  most  indispensa¬ 
ble.  It  is  well  defined  to  be  the  offering  up  of  our  desires  unto 
God,  for  things  agreeable  to  his  will,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  by 
the  help  of  the  Spirit,  with  confession  of  our  sins,  and  thankful 
acknowledgment  of  his  mercies.5  It  is  religious  worship  in  a 
sense  so  complete,  that  in  its  absence  such  worship  cannot  strictly 
he  said  to  exist.  What  is  true,  therefore,  of  every  part  of  reli¬ 
gious  worship,  is  most  emphatically  true  of  this  chief  part  of  it — 
namely,  that  it  is  to  be  rendered  to  no  being  except  God  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  The  foundation  of  all  acceptable 
worship  of  God,  lies  in  the  absolute  rejection  of  every  thing  as 
God,  but  the  living  and  true  God  :  and  immediately  following  is 
the  absolute  rejection  of  all  manner  of  worship  of  the  true  God, 
except  in  spirit  and  in  truth.6  As  there  is  but  one  God,  so  there 
is  but  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  the  man  Christ 
Jesus  :7  and  except  by  him,  there  is  no  access  to  God,  for  he  is 
the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  :8  nor  is  there  under  heaven, 
among  men,  any  name  but  his,  whereby  we  must  be  saved.9  As 
it  is  to  God  only,  through  Christ  only,  so  it  is  by  the  help  of  the 
divine  Spirit  only,  that  acceptable  prayer  can  be  made  to  God. 
For  we  know  not  what  we  should  pray  for  as  we  ought :  it  is  the 
Spirit  which  helpeth  our  infirmities.10  In  every  thing,  by  prayer 

i  Rom.,  viii.  10.  2  Rom.,  xii.  1.  3  1  Cor.,  x.  30.  4  Ezekiel,  xxxvi.  27. 

6  John,  xvi.  23,  24;  Rom.,  viii.  26;  Ps.  xxxii.  5,  6;  Phil.,  iv.  6. 

6  Ex.,  xx.;  John,  iv.  24.  7  i  Tim.,  ii.  5.  8  John,  xiv.  6. 

9  Acts,  iv.  12.  10  Rom.,  viii.  26. 


CHAP.  XV.] 


NEW  OBEDIENCE. 


299 


and  supplication,  with  thanksgiving,  our  requests  ought  to  be  made 
known  unto  God.1  God  is  the  hearer  and  the  answerer  of  prayer:2 
and  it  is  not  only  the  duty,  but  the  high  privilege  of  all  men, 
everywhere,  to  offer  up  true  worship  to  the  Father,  who  seeketli 
such  worship  of  men.3  For  he  accepts  the  confessions  of  broken 
and  contrite  hearts  :  and  he  receives  the  thanksgivings  of  grate¬ 
ful  hearts  for  mercies  bestowed :  and  answers  the  petitions  of 
longing  hearts,  for  needed  things.  But  Confession — Thanksgiv¬ 
ing — and  Petition — with  Praise,  are  the  chief  acts  of  prayer.  The 
effectual,  fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much.4  Even 
such  as  have  neither  part  nor  lot  in  the  Son  of  God,  and  whose 
heart  is  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  who  are  in  the  gall  of 
bitterness,  and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity;  are  explicitly  directed  to 
repent  of  their  wickedness,  and  pray  God  if  perhaps  they  may  he 
forgiven.5  In  the  space  of  two  successive  verses,  the  blessed  Lord 
reiterated  six  times,  that  God  will  be  found  of  them  that  seek 
him  ;  and  that  he  will  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
him.6  If  it  were  possible  to  add  any  thing  to  the  force  of  such 
statements  by  the  Redeemer ;  that  would  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  they  were  made  while  he  was  expressly  teaching  the  nature 
and  efficacy  of  prayer ;  in  the  same  discourse  in  which  he  de¬ 
livered  that  model  and  summary  of  prayer  for  all  men,  and  for 
all  time,  which  bears  to  the  life  of  the  human  soul,  the  same 
relation  which  his  summary  of  the  law  of  God  bears  to  the 
morality  of  human  actions.  If  our  life  before  God  was  regula¬ 
ted  by  perfect  love  to  him  and  to  our  neighbour  :  and  our  life 
with  God  was  responsive  to  the  Lord’s  Prayer  :  what  higher  bles¬ 
sedness  could  a  pure  heart  conceive  of  on  earth — what  greater 
fitness  for  heaven  ? 

6.  Connected  immediately  with  Prayer,  and  having  direct 
reference  to  immediate  duty  and  to  ourselves,  is  Fasting  ;  and 
with  this,  Watching  may  be  associated  as  standing  in  a  similar 
relation  to  prayer,  and  as  nearly  related  to  Fasting.  While  of 
itself  mere  fasting  has  no  value,  and  may  be  associated  with  ha¬ 
bitual  hypocrisy,  as  it  was  by  the  Pharisees — and  with  fatal  heresy 
and  abounding  wickedness,  as  it  is  in  the  Papal  superstition  : 
nevertheless,  religious  abstinence  from  food  and  drink,  and  other 
usual  or  necessary  comforts,  wholly  for  a  short  time,  or  partially 

1  Phil.,  iv.  6.  2  Ps.  lxv.  2;  Heb.,  iv.  14-16.  3  John,  iv.  23. 

4  James,  v,  16  s  Acts,  viii.  21-23.  6  Matt.,  vii.  7,  8;  Luke,  xi.  13 


800 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


for  a  longer  time,  is  clearly  warranted,  if  not  indeed  commanded, 
both  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New.1  Its  use  is  to  aid  us  in 
the  duty  of  repentance  and  in  cultivating  an  humble  and  prayer¬ 
ful  spirit ;  afflicting  our  souls  in  the  due  consideration  of  our 
sins,  or  of  chastisement  inflicted  on  us  on  account  of  them  ;  and 
crying  unto  God,  with  faith  in  his  promises  to  such  as  are  peni¬ 
tent,  for  deliverance  from  judgments  hanging  over  us,  or  already 
come  upon  us,  or  for  the  obtaining  of  special  benefits,  mercies,  or 
favours.  The  Lord  Jesus,  who  allowed  his  disciples  to  lack 
nothing  while  he  was  with  them  ;  plainly  notified  them  that 
when  he  was  taken  from  them  the  time  to  fast  would  come.2  It 
is,  therefore — as  the  conduct  of  Christ  and  the  whole  treatment 
of  the  subject  throughout  the  Scriptures  show — a  permanent  ob¬ 
ligation  of  that  kind  whose  performance  is  occasional.  And  being 
in  its  nature  wholly  religious,  it  belongs  to  the  church  of  God 
onfy,  by  its  divine  authority  to  order  its  observance  when  occasion 
demands  ;  and  to  each  individual  to  practise  it  in  addition,  ac¬ 
cording  to  his  own  spiritual  necessities  ;  and  to  the  civil  power, 
as  itself  an  ordinance  of  God,  to  recommend  it  on  occasions  of 
public  and  general  necessity.  The  Lord  Jesus  preceded  his  pub¬ 
lic  ministry  with  a  miraculous  fast  of  forty  days  and  forty  nights’ 
continuance  :  which  was  immediately  followed  by  the  temptation 
of  the  Devil,  and  the  subsequent  ministry  of  the  angels  unto 
him.3  It  is  striking  to  observe  how  many  of  the  most  remarkable 
incidents  recorded  in  the  Scriptures  were  connected  with  solemn 
religious  fasting.  Such  was  the  case  in  the  great  deliverance  of 
Israel  by  the  hands  of  Samuel,4  as  well  as  that  through  the  instru¬ 
mentality  of  Esther,5  and  the  leading  back  of  the  captivity  by 
Nehemiah,6  and  the  call  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  Gospel  Church 
in  the  person  of  Cornelius.7  I  have  already  stated  that  religious 
W  atching,  is  closely  connected  in  the  Scriptures  both  with  Spe¬ 
cial  Prayer,  and  with  Religious  Fasting.  It  is  the  voluntary 
and  religious  abstinence  from  sleep,  in  order  to  the  higher  ad¬ 
vancement  of  our  spiritual  meditations,  and  the  more  perfect  and 
earnest  use  of  special  prayer.  The  Passover  was  celebrated  at 
night ;  a  feast  with  bitter  herbs,  without  leven,  and  after  pro- 


1  Joel,  i.  13,  14;  ii.  12  14;  Levit.,  xxiii.  27 ;  Matt.,  vi.  16—18;  Acts,  xiv.  23  ;  xiii. 


3 ;  1  Cor.,  vii.  5 
3  Matt.,  iv.  1-11. 
6  Nehem.,  i.  4. 


Matt.,  ix.  14,  15  ;  Luke,  y.  35;  Matt,  vi.  16-18. 
4  1  Sara.,  yii.  6.  5  Esther,  iv.  16. 

7  Acts,  x.  10-30. 


CHAP.  XV.] 


NEW  OBEDIENCE. 


301 


tracted  fastings  and  the  Sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  was  instituted  at  night,  and  eaten  as  the  Lord’s  Supper — 
which  name  it  still  bears.2  And  during  the  same  night,  after 
the  Lord  had  gone  out  with  his  Apostles  to  the  Garden  of  Get.h- 
semane  where  he  endured  his  supernatural  agony :  he  desired 
them — especially  Peter  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee — to  watch 
with  him  ;  and  during  his  conflict  with  the  powers  of  darkness 
he  came  three  times  to  them.3  Nothing  is  more  affecting  than 
his  two  brief  chidings  of  them  :  What,  could  you  not  watch  with 
me  one  hour  ?  Watch  and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  temp¬ 
tation.  And  at  last :  Sleep  on  now,  and  take  your  rest :  behold 
the  hour  is  at  hand,  and  the  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed  into  the 
hands  of  sinners.4  Having,  therefore,  the  request,  the  command, 
and  the  practice  of  our  divine  Master  :5  his  people  have  full  war¬ 
rant  for  the  special  use  of  religious  abstinence  from  sleep,  as  well 
as  religious  humiliation  in  the  whole  matter  expressed  by  the 
word  Fasting.  Have  they  not,  also,  abundant  evidence  around 
them,  and  in  them,  of  what  they  may  expect  when  they  live  far 
below  their  privileges,  and  in  the  habitual  neglect  of  any  of  the 
divinely  authorized  means,  whether  of  nourishing,  or  of  mani¬ 
festing,  their  New  Obedience  ? 

7.  In  speaking  of  Prayer,  I  have  said  that  Confession,  Suppli¬ 
cation,  and  Thanksgiving,  with  Praise,  were  its  chief  parts  ;  and 
in  speaking  of  Fasting  with  Watching,  I  have  pointed  out  how 
Confession  and  Supplication  were  intimately  related  to  them. 
Thanksgiving  remains  to  be  briefly  considered,  in  connection 
with  the  special  Praise  of  God ;  and  both  of  them,  in  their 
double  aspect,  as  being  manifestations  of  our  New  Obedience, 
and  that  specially  in  relation  to  the  worship  of  God,  and  to 
Prayer  as  the  most  constant  act  thereof.  In  general,  it  is  our 
duty  to  bless  and  praise  the  Lord  for  all  he  is,  and  for  all  he 
does  :  to  magnify  his  great  name,  and  thankfully  acknowledge 
his  being,  his  dominion,  his  grace,  his  love,  his  mercy,  nay,  even 
his  fatherly  chastisements.  And  so  we  are  expressly  commanded, 
In  every  thing  give  thanks  :  for  this  is  the  will  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus  concerning  you.6  It  was  the  habit  of  Christ  to  render 
thanks  publicly  and  emphatically  to  the  Lord  of  heaven  and 

i  Exod.,  xii.  passim.  *  Matt.,  xxvi.  11-35.  3  Matt.,  xxvi.  36-46. 

4  Matt.,  xxvi.  40,  41,  45.  5  Matt.,  xiv.  23,  25 ;  Mark,  vi.  46-48. 

6  1  Thess.,  v.  18. 


302  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

earth  ;  and  to  state  to  the  Father  the  things  for  which  he  thus 
rejoiced  in  him.1  And  many  examples  are  recorded  for  our  in¬ 
struction,  touching  the  special  thanksgiving  of  the  saints  of  God, 
whether  for  the  abundance  and  faithfulness  of  his  grace  and 
mercy  commonly  bestowed  on  them,  or  for  special  tokens  of  his 
favour  and  love  vouchsafed  unto  them.  Thus  David  blessed  and 
worshipped  God  before  all  the  congregation,  for  having  stirred 
up  the  hearts  of  the  people  to  a  wonderful  eagerness  and  lib¬ 
erality  towards  building  the  house  of  the  Lord.2  Amongst  all 
the  inspired  writings,  there  is  scarce  any  thing  more  glorious  than 
the  song  which  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  sang  unto  the 
Lord,  upon  the  deliverance  of  the  people  of  God,  and  the  de¬ 
struction  of  Pharaoh  and  his  host  in  the  Red  Sea.3  They  who 
get  the  victory  over  the  Beast  will  sing  the  song  of  Moses  and 
of  the  Lamb,  even  a  song  of  praise  to  the  Lord  God  Almighty — 
the  King  of  Saints — for  his  great  and  marvellous  works,  and  for 
his  just  and  true  ways.4  In  effect,  our  confessions  spring  from  a 
sense  of  God's  grace  to  the  guilty — our  petitions  from  a  sense  of 
his  mercy  to  the  miserable' — and  our  thankfulness  from  a  sense 
of  his  abounding  goodness  and  faithfulness  to  us,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  our  sin  and  misery.  Thank-offerings  belonged  to  the  Jewish 
dispensation  as  really  as  sin-offerings — and  the  cultivation  and 
expression  of  a  sense  of  love  and  gratitude  to  God  for  his  special 
mercies,  is  amongst  the  most  distinct  manifestations  of  our  New 
Obedience.  And  so,  besides  the  perpetual  cultivation  of  a  thank¬ 
ful  and  loving  spirit,  and  the  perpetual  exhibition  of  our  thank¬ 
fulness  to  God  in  all  our  ways,  and  especially  in  all  his  stated 
worship  :  we  are  obliged,  on  special  occasions,  to  be  designated 
by  the  Church  of  God,  or  recommended  by  the  civil  magistrate, 
when  the  duty  is  general — and  to  be  undertaken  by  ourselves 
when  it  is  private — to  set  apart  particular  seasons  for  special 
Thanksgiving  to  God,  as  the  author  and  giver  of  all  good. 
Thanksgiving  is  the  complement  of  Fasting.  The  two  united 
cover  the  immense  department  of  true  Religion,  appertaining  to 
that  portion  of  our  New  Obedience  to  which  they  relate. 

8.  It  remains  to  explain  briefly  the  relation  of  Vows  to  our 
New  Obedience.  They  are  properly  defined  to  be  religious 
promises  made  to  God,  that,  for  the  promotion  of  his  glory  and 

1  Luke,  x.  21;  Matt.,  x.  25.  a  l  Chron.,  xxix.  1—19. 

8  Exod.,  xv.  1-19.  4  Rev.,  xv.  2,  3. 


CHAP.  XV.] 


NEW  OBEDIENCE. 


303 


our  salvation,  we  will  do,  or  forbear  to  do,  that  which  being 
neither  evil,  nor  impossible,  nor  rash,  may  be  acceptable  to  him. 
Being  a  direct  and  voluntary  act  of  the  New  Creature  in  the  way 
of  the  worship  of  God,  it  is  manifest  that  any  trifling  with  him, 
much  less  any  thing  insulting  to  him  in  such  a  matter,  is  only 
proof  of  extreme  folly  and  wickedness.  There  is  a  very  signal 
example  of  a  rash  vow,  and  of  its  terrible  consequences,  in  the 
case  of  Jephtha,  recorded  for  everlasting  instruction.1  And  one 
not  less  striking,  of  the  effects  of  sinful  remissness  in  performing 
a  lawful  one.  For  Jacob  had  made  a  solemn  vow  at  Bethel,  as 
he  fled  from  his  brother  Esau  into  Padan  Aram  :  and  years 
afterwards,  when  God  had  brought  him  back  full  of  blessings, 
he  forgot  his  vow  :  but  God  did  not.  In  the  midst  of  his  sor¬ 
rows,  he  heard  the  voice  of  God,  Arise,  go  up  to  Bethel,  and  dwell 
there  :  and  he  understood  at  once.2  In  saying  that  religious  vows 
are  voluntary,  I  mean  that  they  are  not  of  stated  obligation  on  any 
one  ;  but  that  it  lies  in  the  heart  of  each  particular  child  of  God 
to  determine  for  himself  in  what  circumstances,  and  by  what 
particular  means,  he  will  thus  magnify  the  Lord.  They  seem, 
undoubtedly,  to  be  of  permanent  use  to  men,  and  to  have  a  per¬ 
manent  divine  authority.  David  couples  them  immediately  with 
Thanksgiving  and  Prayer  :  Offer  unto  God  thanksgiving :  and 
pay  thy  vows  unto  the  Most  High  :  and  call  upon  me  in  the  day 
of  trouble  :  and  I  will  deliver  thee,  and  thou  shalt  glorify  me.3 
In  the  New  Testament,  two  instances  are  recorded  of  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  Vows — once  in  immediate  connection  with  the  Apostle 
Paul,4  and  once  involving  with  him,  the  Apostle  James  and  all 
the  elders  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  recognition  thereof  as  usual  and 
proper.5  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  by  the  concession  of 
Paul  in  this  latter  case  he  ultimately  lost  his  life  :  a  concession 
not  approved  of  God,  apparently,  not  because  of  the  nature  of 
Religious  Vows,  but  because  under  the  peculiar  circumstances,  it 
was  a  concession  designed  to  put  undue  honour,  both  upon  a  false 
prejudice,  and  upon  the  legal  dispensation.6  We  are  hot  to  im¬ 
agine  that  our  Vows,  or  their  performance,  have  any  such  merit 
that  they  can  be  the  proper  ground  of  any  mercy  of  God  to  us. 
Their  use  is  to  confirm  and  strengthen  our  own  faith  under  heavy 

i  Judges,  xi.  passim.  s  Gen.,  xxviii.  19-22;  xxxiv.  passim ;  xxxv.  1-15. 

3  Psalm  1.  14,  15.  *  Acts,  xviii.  18. 

5  Acts,  xxi.  19-26.  6  Acts,  xxi.  11-40. 


304 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


trials  ;  and  to  manifest  our  thankfulness  under  special  mercies. 
They  have,  therefore,  a  very  close  relation  to  Fasting  and  adver¬ 
sity  on  one  side,  and  to  Thanksgiving  and  prosperity  on  the  other 
— and  to  special  Prayer  always  :  and  thus,  everyhow,  to  glorify 
God  and  promote  our  salvation.  I  ought  to  add  a  few  words 
concerning  Lawful  Oaths,  which  so  far  have  the  nature  of  Vows 
that  they  are  to  be  made  only  to  the  Living  God,  and  are  a  direct 
appeal  to  him  to  note  our  sincerity  and  to  judge  us  accordingly. 
I  have  sworn,  says  the  Psalmist,  and  I  will  perform  it,  that  I  will 
keep  thy  righteous  judgments  :x  connecting  the  Oaths  and  the 
Vows  with  each  other.  An  Oath,  therefore,  in  its  nature,  apper¬ 
tains  to  the  worship  of  God.2  The  violation  of  it  is  contrary  alike 
to  the  Moral  Law  and  to  all  idea  of  holiness  ;  and  is  not  onlv 
most  sinful  and  degrading  in  us,  but  most  insulting  to  the  ma¬ 
jesty  of  God.3  In  like  manner,  all  trilling  and  irreverent  and 
profane  use  of  oaths,  is  expressly  forbidden  by  God,  and  is  wholly 
inconsistent  with  that  state  of  heart  out  of  which  our  New  Obe¬ 
dience  springs.4  Truth,  which  is  justice  in  our  words  :  justice, 
which  is  truth  in  our  conduct :  this  is  the  fundamental  concep¬ 
tion  of  natural  rectitude.  Evangelical  holiness — true  holiness — 
is  the  product  of  divine  truth  and  divine  righteousness.  Fidelity 
to  Oaths,  therefore,  is  one  of  the  clearest  forms  of  duty,  result¬ 
ing  both  from  nature  and  from  grace  :  fundamentally  obligatory 
by  our  relation  to  God,  both  as  our  Creator  and  as  our  Saviour. 

III. — 1.  Keep  thy  heart,  says  Solomon,  with  all  diligence  ;  for 
out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life.5  And  the  corresponding  caution 
of  David,  so  urgently  pressed  on  us  by  Paul,  is  not  less  express  : 
To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  jmur  heart.6  So  I 
sware  in  my  wrath,  They  shall  not  enter  into  my  rest :  so  we  see 
that  they  could  not  enter  in  because  of  unbelief :  there  remain- 
eth  therefore  a  rest  for  the  people  of  God.7  These  are  three 
forms  in  which  Paul  deduces  from  the  warning  of  David,  consid¬ 
ered  in  three  different  lights,  the  great  conclusions  to  which  that 
warning  points.  There  are  issues  of  life  from  the  heart  of  man, 
and  there  is  a  way  whereby  they  may  be  secured  ;  there  is,  also, 
a  way  to  harden  the  heart  of  man,  and  be  deaf  to  the  voice  of 
God  himself.  If  we  may  trust  our  souls  to  the  guidance  of  in-, 

1  Psalm  cxix.  106.  2  Deut.,  x.  20.  3  Exod.,  xx.  7. 

4  James,  v.  12.  6  Prov.,  iv.  23. 

s  Psalm  xcv.  7,  8;  Heb.,  iii.  7,  15;  iv.  7.  ^  Hob.,  iii.  11,  19;  iv.  9. 


NEW  OBEDIENCE. 


305 


CHAP.  XV.] 

finite  wisdom  and  goodness,  the  things  which  are  herein  laid  open 
to  us  are  the  very  things  which,  if  we  give  diligent  heed,  we  will 
find  causing  the  waters  of  eternal  life  to  flow  into  our  hearts, 
and  from  them  to  flow  over  upon  our  whole  way  of  life  :  the  very 
things  which,  if  we  neglect,  we  will  find  our  hearts  become  hard 
and  barren,  like  Gilboa,  where  the  beauty  of  Israel  was  slain — 
where  the  shield  of  the  mighty  was  vilely  cast  away — where  no 
dew  fell,  neither  was  any  rain  there  ! 

2.  It  is  these  things  which,  of  themselves  or  in  their  indisso¬ 
luble  connection  with  spiritual  religion,  are  so  offensive  to  the 
carnal  heart.  The  end  they  look  to — unlimited  obedience  to  God, 
and  that  of  a  kind  new  and  strange  to  our  depraved  nature — is 
thoroughly  repugnant  to  us  :  and  all  the  means  proposed — means 
involving  humiliating  supplications  and  confessions,  painful  self- 
denials  and  inward  conflicts — are  all  inconsistent  with  our  natural 
impulses.  More  than  that,  the  light  in  which  God  represents 
himself  to  us  in  the  whole  matter  of  salvation  responsive  to  our 
New  Obedience,  is  one  in  which  we  naturally  see  no  beauty  that 
we  should  desire  him.  And  so  far  is  the  carnal  mind  from  being 
subject  to  the  law  of  God,  that  it  neither  is,  nor  can  he  ;  and  that 
law  is  foolishness  unto  it.  When  we  turn  to  the  penitent  and 
believing  follower  of  Christ,  all  this  is  changed,  utterly  changed  ! 
This  spiritual  insight  into  God,  this  humble  seeking  unto  God, 
this  abhorring  of  all  that  separates  him  from  God,  this  joyful 
obedience  unto  God,  this  strange  manner  of  the  service  and  frui¬ 
tion  of  God,  this  peculiar  way  of  growing  into  higher  conformity 
to  God  as  he  grows  into  surer  knowledge  of  him,  and  love  of  his 
service  :  all — all  is  accepted  by  him — not  only  as  true  and  right 
altogether,  hut  as  pregnant  with  a  superhuman  excellence  and 
efficacy.  Therefore,  if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  crea¬ 
ture  :  old  things  are  passed  away,  behold  all  things  are  become 
new.1 

3.  All  that  is  capable  of  being  purified,  and  exalted,  and  en¬ 
nobled  in  man,  springs  up  and  is  perfected  under  the  influence 
of  this  immediate  intercourse  with  our  Creator  and  Redeemer. 
The  highest  conceptions  of  which  the  spirit  of  man  is  capable,  are 
those  which  he  habitually  cherishes.  The  noblest  thoughts  dwell 
habitually  in  his  understanding  :  those  emotions  which  are  at 
once  the  most  just,  the  most  tender,  and  the  most  enduring,  oc- 

1  2  Cor.,  y.  17. 


306  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III 

cupy  his  heart :  and  the  motives  which  actuate  his  conduct,  and 
the  ends  which  he  proposes  to  himself,  are  the  purest  and  the 
highest  which  his  nature  can  entertain.  He  walks  with  God  ; 
and  his  whole  being  receives  the  influence  of  that  infinite  pres¬ 
ence.  The  Saviour  of  the  world  is  his  brother  and  his  familiar 
friend  ;  and  men  take  knowledge  of  him  that  he  has  been  with 
Jesus.  I  do  not  say  that  all  manifest  alike,  the  divine  effects  of 
this  true  conformity  to  God.  All  who  profess  the  name  of  Christ 
do  not  walk  diligently — if  at  all — in  the  ways  of  this  New  Obe¬ 
dience.  I  do  not  say  that  any  come  fully  up  to  the  perfect  stature 
of  men,  in  Christ  Jesus.  But  I  do  say,  that  the  nearer  we  live 
to  God  the  more  are  we  like  God ;  and  that  the  more  perfect  our 
obedience  is  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  more  complete  is  the  exhibition 
in  us  of  the  very  highest  form  of  human  excellence,  and  the  pos¬ 
session  by  us  of  the  very  purest  form  of  human  blessedness.  No 
folly  of  mankind  was  ever  greater,  than  their  light  esteem  of  that 
type  of  human  perfection,  which  reflects  the  image  of  the  Son  of 
God.  No  shame  of  the  followers  of  the  Son  of  God  was  ever 
more  cruel,  than  that  their  conduct  should  justify  this  reproach 
of  men,  to  them  and  to  their  divine  Master  ! 


CHAPTER  XVI 


GOOD  WORKS. 

I 

L  1.  Good  "Works  Defined  and  Classified. — 2.  Considered  with  Reference  to  our  Nat¬ 
ural  Man. — 3.  The  Universal  Brotherhood  of  Man :  the  Universal  Fellowship  of 
the  Saints. — 4.  Love — Charity. — 5.  The  greatest  of  all  Christian  Graces. — 6.  Re¬ 
lation  of  all  Christian  Offices  thereto. — 7.  Almsgiving. — II.  1.  Manifold  Probation 
of  Man :  Relation  of  Good  Works  thereto. — 2.  Their  influence  upon  the  Happi¬ 
ness  and  Holiness  of  him  who  performs  them. — 3.  Considered  as  a  Means  of  Use¬ 
fulness. — 4.  Considered  with  Reference  to  the  General  Judgment. — 5.  Our  Works, 
the  Measure  of  final  Reward  and  Punishment. — 6.  The  idea  of  Reward,  wholly 
appurtenant  to  Grace. — 7.  Other  grounds  for  the  necessity  of  Good  Works:  to 
adorn  the  Doctrine — and  glorify  the  Name  of  God. — III.  1.  The  Will  of  God  the 
sole  Rule  of  all  Good  Works:  Consequences  of  this  Great  Truth. — 2.  Great  Topics 
associated  with  this,  and  determined  by  it : — (a)  Christian  Liberty,  and  Liberty 
of  Conscience : — (&)  Implicit  Faith:  Tender  Consciences: — (c)  Power  of  the  Civil 
Magistrate,  in  things  sacred : — ( d )  Spiritual  authority  of  Synods  and  Councils. — 
3.  Cause,  absolute  and  instrumental : — End,  chief  and  subordinate : — Intimate  Na¬ 
ture  of  Good  Works : — (a)  Motive: — ( b )  Rule: — (c)  Grace: — (d)  End — Means — 
Manner: — ( e )  A  Heart  right  in  the  sight  of  God. 

I. — 1.  Good  Works,  as  I  have  shown  in  the  previous  chap¬ 
ter,  flow  immediately  from  our  New  Obedience,  and  are  always 
manifestations  of  it.  Those  manifestations  of  that  New  Obe¬ 
dience  which  have  an  immediate  relation  to  God,  and  which  im¬ 
mediately  concern  the  maintenance  of  its  power  in  our  own 
hearts  ;  have  been  considered  in  that  chapter.  Those  manifes¬ 
tations  of  our  New  Obedience  which  more  immediately  relate  to 
our  neighbour,  and  whose  exercise  presumes  that  its  power  is 
maintained  in  our  hearts  ;  are  more  especially  called  Good  Works, 
and  will  be  discussed  now.  Considered  with  reference  to  the 
Moral  Law,  they  fall  particularly  under  the  Second  Table, 
containing  the  last  six  commandments.  In  this  sense  Good 
Works  are  all  those  duties  which  we  owe  to  all  men,  according 
to  their  necessities,  and  to  our  obligations  as  followers  of  J esus 
Christ.  These  may  he  summarily  included  under  two  general 
heads  :  First ,  such  as  are  due  to  the  souls  of  men,  because  their 
performance  by  us  may  promote  the  comfort,  edification,  and 


308  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

salvation  thereof :  Secondly ,  such  as  are  due  to  the  bodies  of 
men,  because  their  performance  by  us  may  promote  their  com¬ 
fort,  competence  and  health. 

2.  Nor  ought  it  to  be  thought  that  these  statements  are,  on 
the  one  side,  too  strict  in  defining  all  Good  Works  to  be  fruits  of 
our  New  Obedience  ;  or  too  broad,  on  the  other  side,  in  binding 
us  without  reserve,  to  every  Good  Work.  For  it  is  by  purging 
ourselves  and  becoming  vessels  unto  honour,  sanctified,  and  meet 
for  the  Master's  use,  that  we  are  prepared  unto  every  Good 
Work  and  because  we  are  the  workmanship  of  God  created  in 
Christ  Jesus,  that  we  have  inclination  and  ability  unto  Good 
Works,  which  God  hath  before  ordained  that  we  should  walk  in 
them.3  As  to  our  natural  ability  to  perform  Good  Works,  taking 
the  ordinary  sense  of  the  Scriptures,  that  we  are  by  nature  the 
children  of  wrath,3  and  that  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ;4  assuredly,  we  are  so  far  from  having 
any  such  ability,  that  our  carnal  mind  is  enmity  to  God,  not  sub¬ 
ject  to  his  law,  nor  capable  of  being  so.6  If  by  natural  ability  we 
mean  the  created  faculties  of  the  soul  and  the  body,  and  the  de¬ 
faced  image  of  God  still  in  us,  whereby,  in  the  absence  of  the 
knowledge  of  God,  we  are  a  law  unto  ourselves  ;6  then,  assuredly, 
this  is  the  nature,  which,  by  being  renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
becomes  competent,  being  moved  by  the  grace  of  God  to  all 
Good  Works.7  Whatever  may  be  the  excellence  of  virtue  con¬ 
sidered  in  itself,  and  considered  as  the  opposite  of  vice  ;  it  is  a 
mere  delusion — wholly  subversive  of  Christianity — to  represent 
any  act,  or  exercise,  or  habit  of  the  unregenerate  soul  as  posi¬ 
tively  good  in  the  sight  of  God.  Nay,  more,  the  Good  Works 
even  of  the  regenerate  soul,  performed  under  the  promptings  of 
divine  grace,  and  regulated  by  the  divine  word,  are  so  far  from 
meriting  any  thing  for  us,  when  considered  merely  of  themselves, 
that  it  is  in  Christ  alone  they  can  be  accepted  of  God,  as  well  as 
performed  by  us.8 

3.  Amongst  the  duties  which  we  owe  to  men,  there  is  one  so 
emphatically  urged  throughout  the  Scriptures,  and  so  distinctly 
made  prominent  in  the  teachings  of  Christ,  as  to  deserve  a  spe¬ 
cial  notice  in  every  discussion  of  the  general  subject  of  Good 

1  2  Tim.,  ii.  21.  2  Eph.,  ii.  10.  3  Eph.,  ii.  3. 

4  1  Cor.,  ii.  14.  5  Rom.,  viii.  7.  2  Rom a  14>  15  .  j0hn>  Xy.  5,  6. 

7  Matt.,  xvi.  17  ;  1  Thess.,  v.  23.  s  isa.,  lxiy.,  6 ;  Eph.,  i.  G. 


GOOD  WORKS. 


309 


CHAP.  XVI.] 

Works.  Indeed  in  its  widest  sense  it  embraces,  in  some  sort, 
under  the  name  of  Charity  the  very  sum  and  essence  of  our  New 
Obedience,  as  manifested  towards  each  other  :  while  in  its  nar¬ 
rowest  sense,  as  Alms ,  it  is  a  recognition  at  once  of  the  common 
brotherhood  of  mankind,  the  common  salvation  through  Christ, 
and  the  common  Fatherhood  of  God  :  and  in  all  its  manifesta¬ 
tions,  it  is  the  expression  of  that  communion  with  each  other  in 
Love,  which  results  from  our  mutual  communion  with  Christ 
through  Faith.  Behold,  said  the  angel  of  the  Lord  to  the  shep¬ 
herds  of  Bethlehem,  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  which 
shall  be  to  all  people.  For  unto  you  is  born  this  day  in  the  city 
of  David,  a  Saviour,  wdiich  is  Christ  the  Lord.  And  then  a  mul¬ 
titude  of  the  heavenly  host  burst  forth  in  praise  :  Glory  to  God 
in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men.1  And 
this  is  the  sum  of  the  mission  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world — su¬ 
preme  glory  to  God — boundless  peace  between  God  and  men  and 
between  man  and  man — supreme  complacency  from  God  to  men 
and  from  man  to  his  brother  man.  The  sublime  principle  which 
underlies  the  performance  of  our  duties  to  each  other,  as  a  remedy 
against  the  sin  and  suffering  and  sorrow  of  this  life  ;  is  the  divine 
restoration  in  Christ  and  the  powerful  working  through  the  Spirit, 
of  the  brotherhood  of  man.  A  glorious  truth — defaced  in  man’s 
soul  by  the  fall — unspeakably  weakened  and  perverted  by  the 
degradation  into  which  actual  sins  sink  the  soul — never  utterly 
lost  as  an  original  element  of  our  being,  and  completely  restored 
as  a  living  power,  in  the  life  and  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  made 
effectual  in  us  by  the  work  of  the  divine  Spirit. 

4.  The  same  word*  which  is  used  to  express  the  love  of  God 
for  us,  and  our  love  for  him,  is  used  to  express  both  the  state  of 
our  soul  and  our  outward  act,  both  in  our  endeavours  to  glorify 
God,  and  in  our  endeavours  to  do  good,  both  to  the  souls  and 
the  bodies  of  our  fellow-men.  Our  English  words  love  and  char¬ 
ity,  are  both  used  to  translate  the  one  Greek  word.  It  is  this 
wide  meaning  of  the  Greek  term,  and  the  very  near  resemblance 
between  the  meaning  of  the  two  English  words  in  their  evangeli¬ 
cal  use  ;  which  throws  some  occasional  obscurity  over  them,  with 
regard  to  matters  so  distinct  as  God’s  feeling  toward  us,  our  feel¬ 
ings  toward  him,  and  our  feelings  toward  our  fellow-creatures. 
Love  to  us,  by  God,  is  the  very  foundation  of  his  eternal  purpose 

*  Ayanrj. 


1  Luke,  ii.  8-14. 


310  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IIL 

to  save  us,  for  the  glory  of  his  own  great  name  :  and  that  same 
love  to  us,  is  the  moving  principle  throughout  the  whole  process 
of  our  salvation  :  and  its  fruition  by  us  is  the  measure  in  which 
grace  is  accomplished  in  us,  and  glory  is  bestowed  upon  us.  Our 
love  to  God — taking  our  whole  being  together — is  the  one  deci¬ 
sive  mark — the  one  unmistakable  distinction  between  his  servants 
and  his  enemies.  It  is  this  deep,  practical  fact — them  who  love 
God — upon  which  the  whole  theory  and  practice  of  salvation  is 
divinely  explained  to  men.  For  it  is  for  them  that  all  things 
work  together  for  good — it  is  they  who  are  eternally  known  of 
God — they  who  were  eternally  predestinated  to  be  conformed  to 
the  image  of  the  Son  of  God — they  who  are  in  time  called  of  God 
and  justified — they  who  are  glorified  for  evermore  :  and  they  are 
they  whom  nothing  shall  ever  be  able  to  separate  from  the  love 
of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.1  In  like  manner,  the 
love  of  man,  naturally,  for  his  fellow-men  ;  parent,  child,  hus¬ 
band,  wife,  friend,  brother,  kinsman,  neighbour,  countryman, 
fellow-creature  ;  this  is  the  very  testimony  of  our  nature  to  our 
unity  as  a  race — and  to  our  common  Father,  Benefactor,  Creator. 
And  Christian  love  in  the  renewed  soul,  is  precisely  that  wherein 
they  who  are  united  to  Jesus  Christ  by  Faith,  and  so  have  com¬ 
munion  with  him  ;  have  also  communion  wTith  all  others  thus 
united  to  him.  Our  English  word  charity  expresses  a  peculiar 
type  of  Christian  grace  ;  that,  namely,  in  the  exercise  of  which 
our  love  for  God  and  man,  prompts  us  to  promote  the  glory  of 
God,  by  promoting  the  good,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  of  our 
fellow-creatures. 

5.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  our  divine  Master,  in 
his  office  of  Teacher  of  men,  and  his  inspired  Apostles  following 
him,  should  have  explained  and  enforced  this  greatest  of  all 
graces,  with  so  much  fulness.  In  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which 
embraced  every  thing,  every  leading  aspect  of  this  grace  is  pre¬ 
sented.'  The  same  great  Apostle  who  has  written  a  treatise  on 
Faith,  already  considered,  has  also  written  one  on  Charity.3  Hav¬ 
ing  taught  us  immediately  before  it,4  the  excellence  of  all  the 
special  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  and  yet  that  all  the  graces  of  the  Spirit 
are  more  excellent  even  than  miraculous  gifts  :  and  teaching  us 
immediately  after  it,  that  the  grace  whereby  we  may  be  of  benefit 

1  Rom.,  viii.  28-39.  2  Matt.,  v.  21-26,  27-32,  38-42,  43-48 ;  vi.  1-4. 

3  1  Cor.,  xii.  passim.  1  1  Cor.,  xiii. 


CHAP  XVI.] 


GOOD  WORKS. 


311 


to  others  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  is  that  which  charity 
leads  us  to  desire  most  of  all  :*  between  these  two  conceptions  he 
enforces,  in  detail,  the  nature  and  the  preeminence  of  this  crown¬ 
ing  grace.  The  conclusion  he  reaches  is  thus  stated  :  And  now 
abideth  faith,  hope,  charity,  these  three  :  hut  the  greatest  of 
these  is  charity.2  Greater  than  faith,  by  which  the  just  live,  and 
without  which  it  is  impossible  to  please  God  :  greater  than  hope 
— by  which  we  are  saved  :  greatest  of  all  is  charity — charity  that 
never  faileth  !  The  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  nourished  by 
that  faith  which  is  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen — the  substance 
of  things  hoped  for — •rejoicing  in  the  hope  of  the  glory  of  God — 
is  habitually  manifested  in,  this  life,  by  that  love  of  God  which 
prompts  us  to  seek  his  glory  and  the  good  of  our  fellow-men. 
Still  more  exclusively  in  the  life  to  come,  is  this  abounding  love 
the  very  substance  of  our  eternal  life.  For  the  time  will  come 
when  all  that  is  now  realized  to  us  only  through  faith,  will  be 
immediately  realized  in  the  presence  of  God  ;  and  when  every 
pure  and  earnest  hope  will  be  fulfilled  in  the  endless  fruition  of 
God.  But  to  all  eternity — our  love  for  God  and  for  each  other — • 
and  our  rejoicing,  through  this  love,  in  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
blessedness  of  each  other — can  know  no  change,  unless  to  be  eter¬ 
nally  increased. 

6.  It  is  this  exalted  and  imperishable  Christian  love,  which 
in  a  peculiar  form  of  it  receives  the  name  of  charity — that  re¬ 
ceives  in  a  lower  form  of  it  the  name  of  Almsgiving.  Between 
these  two  hums  of  it,  or  blending  with  one  or  other  of  these, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  way  of  personal  offort,  or  sacrifice,  for  the 
glory  of  God  or  the  good  of  our  fellow-beings,  that  could  bo  called 
a  Good  W ork,  that  does  not  find  its  place.  The  exposition  and  en¬ 
forcement  of  this  immense  and  blessed  department  of  the  Christian 
Offices,  belong  especially  to  the  ministry  of  the  word  :  to  teach  all 
nations  to  observe  whatever  Jesus  has  commanded — being  the  very 
duty  he  has  laid  upon  them.3  The  practice  of  these  Christian  Of¬ 
fices,  in  all  simplicity,  all  strictness,  all  fulness,  is,  so  far  as  this 
life  is  concerned,  the  very  thing  for  which  we  are  fitted  by  that 
workmanship  of  God,  wherein  we  are  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto 
Good  Works,  which  God  hath  before  ordained  that  we  should 
walk  in  them.4  And  the  blessed  hope  which  we  cherish  of  the 
glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 

1  1  Cor.,  xiv.  2  1  Cor.,  xiii.  13.  3  Matt.,  xxviii.  20.  4  Eph ,  ii.  10. 


312  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

can  never  be  separated  from  the  conviction  that  he  gave  himself 
for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify 
unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  Good  Works.1  It  will 
not  do  for  us  to  say — Thou  hast  faith,  and  I  have  works  ;  the 
Gospel  of  God  admits  of  no  such  dislocation  ;  for,  on  the  one 
hand,  faith  without  works  is  dead  ;  and  on  the  other,  by  the 
deeds  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified.2  That  which  espe¬ 
cially  wearies  God  with  the  wickedness  of  those  who  profess  to 
obey  him,  is  that  they  should  call  such  as  do  evil,  good  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord — and  say  that  he  delighteth  in  them.3  That 
which  peculiarly  provokes  him  with  all  false  teachers,  he  ex¬ 
presses  by  saying,  Because  ye  have  made  the  heart  of  the  right¬ 
eous  sad,  whom  I  have  not  made  sad,  and  strengthened  the  hands 
of  the  wicked,  that  he  should  not  return  from  his  wicked  way,  by 
promising  him  life.4  Many,  said  the  blessed  Saviour,  will  say 
unto  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy 
name,  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out  devils,  and  in  thy  name 
have  done  many  wonderful  works  ?  And  then  will  I  profess 
unto  them — I  never  knew  you  :  depart  from  me,  ye  that  work 
iniquity.5 

7.  I  have  already  said  that  every  leading  aspect  of  this  great 
grace  was  presented  in  the  wonderful  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
Blessed  are  the  merciful,  said  Christ ;  for  they  shall  obtain 
mercy :  and  teaching  us  how  to  perform  the  duty,  every  where 
commanded  in  the  Scriptures,  he  bids  us  perform  our  alms  in 
secret ;  and  our  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall  reward  us 
openly.0  The  very  word  we  translate  Alms ,  means  mercy  :*  and 
the  act  intended — that  act  of  Christian  love  wherein  they  who 
have  this  world's  goods  bestow  thereof  on  those  who  are  in  want 
— is  constantly  recognized  as  a  Good  Work.  It  is  both  a  duty 
and  a  grace.  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver  :  and  his  children  with 
a  free  purpose  of  heart — not  grudgingly,  or  of  necessity,  but 
abounding  in  every  Good  Work,  perform  this  act  of  their  New 
Obedience  through  the  grace  of  God.7  Considered  as  a  duty, 
none  is  more  strictly  commanded.  From  of  old  God  has  said, 
The  poor  shall  never  cease  out  of  the  land  :  therefore  I  command 
thee,  saying,  thou  shalt  open  thy  hand  wide  to  thy  brother,  to 

1  Titus,  ii.  13,  14.  8  Rom.,  iii.  20;  James,  ii.  IT,  18.  3  Mai.,  ii.  17. 

4  Ezek.,  xiii.  22.  '  Matt.,  vii.  22,  23.  6  Matt.,  v.  7 ;  vi.  1—4. 

*  UXerj/ioowT) — misericordia.  7  2  Cor.,  ix.  6-15. 


GOOD  WORKS. 


313 


CHAP.  XVI.] 

thy  poor,  and  to  thy  needy,  in  thy  land.1  To  do  good  and  to 
communicate  are  sacrifices,  under  the  Gospel  Dispensation,  and 
with  such  God  is  well  pleased.2  At  our  highest  estate  we  are  hut 
stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God  ;  and  as  good  stewards  we 
ought  to  minister  one  to  another,  according  as  every  man  has 
received  from  God.  Above  all  things,  therefore,  we  are  exhorted 
to  have  fervent  charity  among  ourselves  :  for  charity  shall  cover 
a  multitude  of  sins.  And  in  stewards  the  first  thing  required  is, 
that  a  man  be  found  faithful.3  Nay,  of  him  who  dispenseth  to 
the  poor,  it  is  written,  that  his  righteousness  endureth  for  ever, 
and  that  his  horn  shall  be  exalted  with  honour.4  And  so  strongly 
does  Christ  enforce  almsgiving  as  a  Christian  duty,  that  in  his 
caution  to  us  to  take  heed  that  we  do  not  our  alms*  before  men 
to  be  seen  of  them,  and  thereby  lose  our  reward  with  our  Father 
which  is  in  Heaven  ;5  the  word  he  uses  means  righteousness :  and 
then  follows  his  special  direction  touching  alms,f  as  one  depart¬ 
ment  of  the  righteousness  required  of  us.  The  Mosaic  institu¬ 
tions  provided  for  nothing  more  carefully,  than  to  alleviate  all  the 
ills  of  poverty  :  and  in  the  Gospel  Church,  a  class  of  perpetual 
office  bearers  was  ordained  of  God — whose  functions  relate  di¬ 
rectly  to  the  temporal  sorrows,  afflictions,  and  necessities  of 
men.6  The  great  declaration  of  the  Lord,  descriptive  of  his 
kingdom — The  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them — is  not 
more  precise  than  his  great  command  to  all  his  followers,  Give  to 
him  that  asketh  thee,  and  from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee 
turn  not  thou  away.7 

II. — 1.  Considering  the  mixed  and  confused  state  of  things 
which  this  life  exhibits  to  us,  we  are  able  to  reduce  its  fearful 
chaos  of  events,  and  actions,  and  motives,  and  vicissitudes,  to 
any  comprehensible  order ;  only  when  the  light  of  the  past  history 
of  our  race,  and  the  light  from  a  future  world,  are  thrown  upon 
a  scene  of  things  otherwise  so  full  of  contradictions  and  enig¬ 
mas.  If  we  accept  the  evil  as  the  result  upon  a  glorious  exist¬ 
ence,  of  the  shock  which  it  incurred  in  the  loss  of  the  image  and 
favour  of  God  by  the  Fall  ;  and  the  good,  as  the  result  of  that 
divine  grace  which  has  brought  to  light  salvation  through  a  Be- 

1  Deut.,  xx.  11.  2  Heb.,  xiii.  16.  3  i  pet.?  iv.  8-10  ;  1  Cor.,  iv.  2. 

4  Ps.  cxii.  9.  *  A LKaoavvT] — sequitas — justitia — pietas. 

s  Matt.,  vi.  1.  f  E?.erjfioovvTj — misericordia.  6  Deut.,  xv.  passim*;  Acts,  ,vi.  1-*. 

7  Matt.,  v.  42 ;  xi.  5. 


314  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

deemer  :  then  the  key  of  the  frightful  paradox  is  placed  in  our 
hands,  and  a  principle  of  order  passes  with  irresistible  force 
through  the  whole  life  of  the  world,  and  through  the  boundless 
and  confused  mass  of  human  actions.  What  we  behold  is  a 
preparation  for  a  future  state  of  existence — a  probation,  cease¬ 
less  and  manifold — with  reference  to  an  endless  state  of  being, 
widely  different  from  this.  Who  are  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  And 
who  are  on  the  side  of  Satan  ?  Of  the  former,  what  mansion 
will  they  inhabit  in  that  world  of  light — what  crown  will  they 
wear  there  ?  Of  the  latter,  how  near  will  they  approach  the 
gate  of  Heaven  before  they  turn  downward  to  the  pit  ?  How 
much  wrath  will  they  heap  up  for  themselves  against  the  day  of 
wrath  ?  Concerning  all,  how  long  and  how  far  will  the  grace  of 
God  endure  towards  each  one  of  them  ?  To  what  height  of 
perfection  will  he  carry  some  before  he  takes  them  to  himself? 
After  what  fatal  grieving  of  his  Spirit,  will  he  leave  others  to 
make  their  bed  in  hell  ?  A  manifold  probation — a  perpetual 
preparation — not  only  of  the  whole  race,  but  of  each  individual 
of  it :  from  the  distant  past  and  from  the  distant  future,  a  light 
divinely  shed  upon  the  mighty  struggle  which  makes  its  nature 
clear :  the  result,  as  to  our  personal  knowledge  of  it,  adjourned 
to  the  judgment  of  the  great  day.  This  is  wdiat  we  behold  :  of 
this  we  are,  each  one,  a  part.  Into  this  chaos  thus  expounded  to 
us  of  God,  his  infinite  grace,  which  has  done  so  much  besides, 
casts  this  divine  element  of  Good  Works,  such  as  I  have  tried  to 
describe  it.  The  nature,  the  use,  the  efficacy,  the  result  of  such 
a  remedy,  in  such  a  world  :  all  this  is  peculiar  to  Messiah.  It  is 
his  conception,  his  work :  his  glory  is  staked  upon  the  result : 
and  having  sealed  his  purpose,  and  his  conviction  with  his  blood, 
he  will  not  shrink  from  the  perfect  execution  of  his  plan. 

2.  Do  men  desire  to  be  happy  P  Do  they  desire  to  be  holy  ? 
Weary  and  heavy  laden  with  the  burden  of  sin,  do  they  sigh 
for  rest,  and  yearn  for  deliverance  from  the  bondage  under  which 
they  groan  ?  There  is  one  way — and  there  never  was  any  other 
— whereby  we  may  get  peace  unto  our  souls.  God  has  said  there 
is  no  peace  to  the  wicked.  Do  justice,  love  mercy,  walk  humbly 
before  God.  Fear  God,  and  keep  his  commandments.  This  is 
the  whole  duty  of  man  :  and  therein  is  his  whole  blessedness.  It 
is  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  that  cleanseth  from  all  sin  :  it  is  his 
Spirit  that  leadeth  into  all  truth  :  it  is  his  precepts,  in  the  keep- 


GOOD  WORKS. 


315 


CHAP.  XVI.] 

ing  of  which  there  is  great  reward,  even  a  hundredfold  in  this 
life  of  all  we  have  forsaken  to  follow  him,  and  in  the  world  to 
come  eternal  life.  The  evil  propensities  of  our  natures  languish 
and  die,  as  we  walk  by  the  side  of  the  Son  of  Man  :  and  all  pure 
desires,  and  all  right  emotions,  and  all  good  thoughts,  spring  up 
in  the  soul  in  which  bis  image  dwells.  If  we  will  obey  his  com¬ 
mandments,  we  shall  know  his  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God. 
If  men  did  but  understand  that  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than 
to  receive  :  that  to  confer  happiness  is  itself  the  noblest  form  of 
happiness  :  that  to  be  good,  we  must  do  good  !  It  is  Jesus  who 
has  conceived  the  sublime  idea,  that  instruction  and  persuasion, 
in  opposition  to  violence  and  force,  are  the  real  foundations  of 
universal  dominion.  It  is  he  alone  who  has  taught  us,  that  good¬ 
ness,  and  love,  and  mercy,  cherished  in  our  hearts,  and  mani¬ 
fested  towards  our  sinning  and  perishing  fellow-creatures,  are 
the  true  sources  of  what  felicity  is  attainable  on  earth.  'Vengeance 
is  mine,  saith  God  ;  I  will  repay.  For  us,  not  vengeance,  but 
Good  Works,  is  what  he  requires  us  to  pursue,  if  we  would  glo¬ 
rify  him,  or  have  peace  in  our  own  soul. 

3.  Would  men  be  useful,  as  well  as  happy  ?  Indeed,  can  we 
conceive  of  happiness  on  any  other  condition  ?  Then  let  us 
rather  say,  are  men  willing  to  be  happy  on  condition  of  being 
useful  to  their  fellow-creatures,  and  therein  accepted  of  God,  the 
fountain  of  all  blessedness  P  Then  let  them  look  abroad  upon  a 
world  lying  in  sin — upon  a  countless  race  of  one  blood  with  them¬ 
selves,  sunk  in  misery  :  and  then  let  them  consider  what  the  Sa¬ 
viour  of  this  ruined  world  and  this  suffering  race  means  by  Good 
Works,  and  by  all  his  loving  appeals  to  us  to  practise  them.  He 
means  edification  to  every  living  soul :  he  means  comfort  alike  to 
the  soul  and  body  of  every  one  whose  nature  the  Son  of  Man  has 
taken,  every  one  whose  nature  we  ourselves  share.  Our  own 
household  first :  then  our  kindred,  friends,  neighbours  :  then  our 
countrymen  :  then  all  the  world.  Above  the  rest,  but  not  to  the 
exclusion  of  them,  the  household  of  faith.  To  save  them  from 
hell,  to  lead  them  in  the  way  of  eternal  life,  to  alleviate  the  evils 
of  their  present  estate,  and  to  promote  their  edification  and  com¬ 
fort  with' reference  to  this  life  as  well  as  to  the  next :  such  is  the 
conception  our  Lord  has  of  what  our  duty  both  to  him  and  to 
each  other  requires  ;  of  what  our  own  hearts  will  prompt  us  to  do, 
in  proportion  as  his  Spirit  dwells  in  us.  The  whole  is  the  fruit 


316  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

of  our  New  Obedience  :  the  whole  is  expressed  when  we  say, 
Good  Works.  There  is  a  wisdom  which  descendeth  not  from 
above  :  but  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  first  pure,  then 
peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good 
fruits,  without  partiality,  and  without  hypocrisy.1 

4.  That  which  so  intimately  concerns  our  happiness,  our  holi¬ 
ness,  and  our  usefulness  in  this  life — which  so  conclusively  deter¬ 
mines  the  reality  and  the  extent  of  our  consecration  to  Christ ; 
will,  in  the  life  to  come,  and  in  the  eternal  judgment  which 
stands  between  this  life  and  that,  reappear  in  all  its  overpower¬ 
ing  force.  In  this  mixed,  probationary,  preparatory  state  of 
things,  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  dwell  and  struggle  to¬ 
gether  :  and  God's  sun  shines  upon  the  good  and  the  evil,  and 
he  sendeth  his  rain  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust,  and  he  openeth 
his  hand  and  satisfieth  the  desire  of  every  living  thing.  Never¬ 
theless,  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and  afterwards  to 
be  judged  :  and  that  God  hath  appointed  a  day  in  the  which  he 
will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  that  man  whom  he  hath 
ordained,  he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that  he  hath 
raised  him  from  the  dead.2  Behold,  I  come  quickly,  is  the  solemn 
warning  ;  and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give  to  every  man  accord¬ 
ing  as  his  work  shall  be.3  And  I  saw  the  dead,  says  the  Apostle 
John,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God  :  and  the  books  were 
opened  :  and  another  book  was  opened  which  is  the  book  of  life  : 
and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written 
in  the  books,  according  to  their  works.4  Then  has  fully  come  the 
time  for  the  unjust  to  be  shown  to  be  unjust,  and  the  filthy  to 
be  filthy  ;  and  for  the  righteous  to  be  shown  to  be  righteous,  and 
the  holy  to  be  holy  :  and  for  each  one  to  receive  a  just  recom¬ 
pense  of  reward.5  The  wheat  and  the  tares  shall  no  longer  grow 
together :  the  end  of  the  world  will  have  come,  and  the  Son  of 
Man  shall  send  forth  his  angels  to  reap  the  harvest  of  this  world, 
and  .the  good  seed  are  the  children  of  the  Kingdom  :  the  tares 
are  the  children  of  the  wicked  one,  and  the  enemy  who  sowed 
them  the  Devil :  they  shall  be  cast  into  a  furnace  of  fire,  and 
there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth  :  then  shall  the 
righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father.6 


i  James,  iil  15-17. 

3  Rev.,  xxii.  12. 

5  Rev.,  xxii.  10,  11. 


3  Acts,  xvii.  31. 

4  Rev.,  xx.  12. 

6  Matt.,  xiii.  36—13. 


CHAP.  XVI.]  GOOD  WORKS.  317 

This  is  the  exposition  made  by  Christ  of  one  of  the  most  remark¬ 
able  of  his  parables. 

5.  The  Scriptures  do  not  teach  that  the  question  whether  we 
are  brethren  of  Christ  or  children  of  the  Devil,  will  be  decided 
by  the  nature  of  our  works  in  the  day  of  judgment ;  in  any  other 
sense  than  as  making  judicially  manifest  that  which  had  been 
accepted  of  God  on  widely  different  grounds,  and  acted  on  by 
him,  as  already  determined,  in  every  preceding  part  of  our  exist¬ 
ence.  Nor,  indeed,  is  the  general  judgment  itself  in  order  to  de¬ 
termine  who  are  the  followers  of  Christ,  and  who  are  the  children 
of  the  Devil :  for  that  is  already  determined  before  the  judgment 
is  set,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  resurrection  which  precedes  it,  as 
well  as  in  every  act  of  God  towards  man  since  the  Fall.  But  in 
the  great  day,  and  in  the  general  judgment  of  all  men,  according 
to  their  works  ;  the  special  relation  of  our  works  to  our  eternal 
destiny,  is  the  settlement  of  the  exact  reward  to  each  child  of 
God,  and  his  exact  position  in  the  glorified  kingdom,  and  the 
settlement  of  the  precise  condemnation,  and  the  grounds  thereof, 
of  each  child  of  the  Devil :  and  on  both  sides,  and  in  every  indi¬ 
vidual  case,  the  illustration  to  the  universe  of  the  infinite  per¬ 
fections  and  glory  of  God.  Therefore,  say  the  Scriptures,  other 
foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ.1 
Christ — not  our  own  works — is  the  sole  cause  of  our  salvation. 
But  touching  our  works  and  our  reward,  the  Apostle  immedi¬ 
ately  adds,  Now  if  any  man  build  on  this  foundation  gold,  silver, 
precious  stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble  :  every  man's  work  shall  be 
made  manifest :  for  the  day  shall  declare  it,  because  it  shall  be 
revealed  by  fire  ;  and  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what 
sort  it  is.  If  any  man's  work  abide  which  he  hath  built  there¬ 
upon,  he  shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  shall  be 
burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss  :  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved,  yet 
so  as  by  fire.2  Christ  has  taught  us  in  one  of  his  parables,  the 
utter  exclusion  of  all  who  rest  on  any  other  foundation  :  and  in 
another  he  has  explained  to  us  how  perfectly  our  own  mistakes 
concerning  ourselves  will  be  rectified  when  he  passes  judgment 
on  our  Good  Works.  To  one  the  King  said,  Friend,  how  earnest 
thou  in  hither  not  having  a  wedding  garment  P  Bind  him  hand 
and  foot  and  take  him  away,  and  cast  him  into  outer  darkness  : 
there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.3  To  another,  when 
1  1  Cor.,  iii.  11.  2  1  Cor.,  iii.  12-15.  3  Matt.,  xxii.  11-13. 


318  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

a  man  more  honourable  than  he  had  come,  he  said,  Give  this 
man  place.  And  to  a  third  he  said,  Friend,  go  up  higher.1  The 
Saviour's  conclusion  of  both  of  these  parables  is  remarkable.  To 
the  former,  he  adds,  For  many  are  called,  but  few  chosen  :  and 
to  the  latter,  For  whosoever  exalteth  himself  shall  he  abased  ; 
and  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.2  It  is,  therefore, 
the  doctrine  of  Christ,  that  the  reward  of  the  righteous  and  the 
punishment  of  the  wicked,  will  be  according  to  their  works.  He 
that  gained  ten  talents,  will  he  rewarded  above  him  that  gained 
five  ;  while  he  that  gained  nothing,  hut  hid  his  Lord's  money  in 
the  earth,  will  see  the  one  talent  committed  to  him,  taken  from 
him  and  given  to  him  who  had  ten,  while  the  slothful  and  dis¬ 
obedient  servant  will  be  cast  into  outer  darkness.  For,  adds 
Christ,  Unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall 
have  abundance  :  hut  from  him  that  hath  not,  shall  he  taken 
away  even  that  which  he  hath.3 

6.  The  moment  we  couple  the  idea  of  reward  with  the  idea  of 
Good  Works,  which  the  Scriptures  do  continually  ;  we  pass  at 
once  out  of  the  domain  of  law,  into  that  of  grace.  Law  knows 
nothing  about  reward  to  those  who  keep  it.  It  gives  protection, 
it  offers  redress,  it  approves,  it  punishes.  He  who  has  gained 
ten  talents  is  protected  in  their  possession  and  enjoyment,  or  is 
made  to  account  to  him  whose  steward  he  was.  But  the  law 
says  nothing  about  making  him  ruler  over  ten  cities.  That  is 
favour — reward — grace.  That  is  the  act — not  of  the  law — but 
of  the  Lawgiver  :  nor  is  it  his  act  as  lawgiver,  but  as  sovereign 
and  bountiful  ruler — patron — friend.  But  this  case,  obvious  and 
naked  as  it  is,  is  far  stronger  than  any  we  can  ever  present :  since 
the  conduct  of  him  who  gained  the  ten  talents  was  blameless, 
as  under  the  law  whereas  all  our  Good  Works  are  of  themselves 
imperfect,  and  become  doubly  imperfect  as  soon  as  their  charac- 
tei  is  detei  mined  by  our  nature  as  sinners.  When  we  say,  there- 
foie,  that  om  Good  Works  will  be  the  measure  of  the  reward 
graciously  bestowed  on  us  by  God — we  must  go  farther  even 
than  we  have  already  gone,  when  it  was  shown  that  they  must  be 
built  upon  Christ  as  the  only  foundation  that  is,  or  can  be  laid. 
Oui  persons  and  oui  works  must  not  only  be  accepted  in  him — 
and  oui  ability  to  perform  such  as  will  be  accepted,  derived  from 
him  ,  but  our  paiticulai  imperfection  in  every  work  we  attempt, 

1  Luke,  xiv.  8-10.  3  Matt,  xxi.  14;  Luke,  xiv.  11. 


3  Matt.,  xxv.  29. 


GOOD  WORKS. 


319 


CHAP.  XVI.] 

and  the  particular  imperfection  of  every  work  of  itself,  when  we 
and  it  are  judged  by  an  infinitely  holy  God,  according  to  an  in¬ 
finitely  holy  law  ;  make  it  impossible  for  us  or  our  works  to  be 
approved,  much  less  rewarded,  except  as  Christ  covers  them  and 
us  with  his  infinite  righteousness.  As  under  grace,  our  Good 
Works  are  the  measure  of  our  reward  :  and  so  they  find  a  place 
under  the  Covenant  of  Redemption — and  so  our  imperfect  obe¬ 
dience  is  accepted  as  if  it  were  perfect,  on  account  of  the  perfect 
obedience  of  the  Saviour  with  whom  we  are  united,  and  who  pre¬ 
sents  us  and  our  works  faultless  before  God.  And  in  this  sense 
it  is  written,  God  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your  work  and  la¬ 
bour  of  love,  which  ye  have  showed  towards  his  name,  in  that  ye 
have  ministered  to  the  saints  and  do  minister.1  And  so  the  sub¬ 
lime  exhortation  of  him  that  hath  the  key  of  David  is,  Behold  I 
come  quickly,  hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take 
thy  crown.2 

7.  Seeing  the  relation  of  our  Good  Works  to  our  own  comfort 
and  usefulness  in  this  life,  and  to  our  eternal  state  in  the  life  to 
come  ;  we  see  therein  abundant  reason  for  the  prominence  given 
to  them  by  the  word  of  God.  But  there  are  other  aspects  of  the 
subject,  to  which  I  can  only  allude,  which  present  other  grounds, 
not  less  decisive,  concerning  the  nature  and  necessity  of  these 
fruits  of  our  New  Obedience.  I  will  suggest  but  two  :  namely, 
that  it  is  by  them  alone  we  can  adorn  the  doctrine  we  profess — 
and  it  is  through  them  alone  we  can  glorify  God  upon  earth,  with 
our  bodies  and  our  spirits  which  are  his.  The  end  of  our  faith 
is,  indeed,  the  salvation  of  our  own  soul  :  and  the  good  of  others, 
whose  salvation  and  comfort  we  have  the  means  of  promoting,  is 
the  obvious  matter  to  which  our  efforts  should  be  directed.  But 
this  is  not  the  whole  of  our  vocation — the  sum  of  our  mission  as 
children  of  the  King  Eternal.  God  permits  us — desires  us — fits 
us,  to  love  him.  Our  love  is  the  return  he  asks  for  all  he  has 
done  for  us.  To  be  very  jealous  for  the  glory  of  his  great  name, 
well  becomes  those  whom  he  has  made  heirs  of  the  glory  of  tho 
work  of  creation,  of  providence,  and  of  grace  ;  to  whom,  having 
given  all  else,  he  gives  himself,  to  be  enjoyed  by  them  for  ever. 
The  Saviour  Christ — has  given  himself  for  us.  Above  all  that 
he  does  for  us — there  is  himself — the  God-man  :  the  perfection 
of  all  the  glory  of  the  Godhead — the  perfection  of  all  human  ex- 

1  Heb.,  vl  30.  3  Rev.,  iii.  11. 


320  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

cellence — united  in  one  being — and  presented  to  us  as  the  object 
of  supreme  desire.  If  it  were  not  for  the  stupidity  which  sin  be¬ 
gets,  what  should  prevent  our  joyful,  rapturous  consecration  to  the 
Son  of  Man  ?  And  then,  if  any  doctrine  can  be  conceived  to  be 
capable  of  filling  the  souls  of  men  with  boundless  confidence  and 
admiration  :  if  any  system  can  be  supposed  to  fasten  itself  with 
all  power  upon  the  understanding  and  heart  of  men  :  if  there  is 
any  thing  which  can  be  taught,  apprehended,  and  made  effica¬ 
cious,  so  as  to  lead  captive  the  intellectual  and  moral  nature  we 
possess  :  surely  all  these  transcendent  conditions  will  be  allowed 
by  every  renewed  soul,  to  unite  supremely  in  the  way  of  life  re¬ 
vealed  to  men.  Now  this  glorious  God,  this  loving  Saviour,  this 
divine  doctrine,  are  to  be  glorified,  illustrated,  adorned  by  us.  The 
one  way  of  doing  this  they  all  express  alike  ;  it  is  by  those  fruits 
of  a  New  Obedience  which  they  call  Good  Works.  Who  shall 
wonder  that  true,  loving,  and  heroic  spirits,  full  of  the  powder  of 
divine  grace,  comprehend  this  voice  from  heaven  !  Who  shall 
wonder  that  they  who  are  sold  under  sin,  believe  them  to  be  mad  ! 

III. — 1.  I  have  shown  in  another  place,  that  the  will  of  the 
Creator,  and  not  his  own  will,  is  the  rule  by  which  every  crea¬ 
ture  is  obliged  to  regulate  his  conduct :  and  that  the  will  of  the 
Saviour,  and  not  his  own  will,  is  the  rule  by  which  every  sinner 
is  obliged  to  regulate  his  conduct.  The  only  living  and  true  God, 
is  both  the  Creator  and  Saviour  of  the  sinful  creature  man  :  and 
therefore,  his  revealed  will  is  the  absolute  and  infallible  rule,  ac¬ 
cording  to  which  all  that  he  can  accept  as  a  Good  Work,  must 
be  performed  by  us.  This  revealed  will  of  God  is  the  highest, 
and  the  only  perfect  expression  to  us,  of  that  eternal  and  inef¬ 
faceable  distinction  in  things  which  we  intend  by  the  words  Good 
and  Evil  :  and  the  faculty  which  he  gave  us,  in  creation,  to  dis¬ 
cern  and  to  be  influenced  by  what  was  good,  and  the  Moral  Law 
which  he  wrote  on  our  hearts,  afforded  us  the  means  of  discern¬ 
ing  his  will  and  the  rule  of  obedience  to  it.  The  difficulty  which 
now  exists,  is  produced  by  the  shock  our  nature  received  in  the 
fall  of  man  :  whereby,  both  our  ability  to  discern  good,  and  the 
law  within  our  hearts  prompting  us  to  pursue  it,  are  so  deeply 
and  fatally  deranged  by  the  entrance  of  evil  into  the  essence  of 
our  being.  What  we  need,  therefore,  to  enable  us  unto  perfect 
Good  Works,  is  to  recover  a  perfect  knowdedge  of  the  will  of  God, 
and  a  perfect  ability  to  regulate  our  conduct  by  it.  Neither  of 


GOOD  WORKS. 


321 


CHAP.  XVI.] 

these  is  possible  in  this  life :  so  that  perfect  Good  Works  are 
impossible  to  us.  But  through  Jesus  Christ  revealed  to  us,  and 
revealed  in  us,  the  knowledge  of  the  will  of  God,  and  our  ability 
to  discern  and  keep  it,  are  so  far  restored  to  us,  that  our  imper¬ 
fect  endeavours  to  regulate  our  conduct  by  it,  are  accepted  of 
God,  as  Good  Works,  for  Christ's  sake.  All  idea  of  a  sinner 
gaining  salvation,  wholly  or  in  part  by  Good  Works,  is,  there¬ 
fore,  utterly  absurd.  It  is  true  that  what  remaining  knowledge 
we  have  of  the  will  of  God,  by  nature — as  just  explained — is  so 
far  good  :  and  what  we  can  gain  further  by  meditation,  and 
through  the  diligent  use  of  our  rational  and  moral  faculties, 
turned  upon  ourselves,  is  also  good  :  and  what  we  can  gain  fur¬ 
ther  still,  by  the  careful  observation  of  the  conduct  of  God, 
whether  in  creation  or  providence,  is  also  good.  I  do  not  exclude 
any  source  of  the  knowledge  of  the  will  of  God  :  and  I  have  en¬ 
deavoured,  in  the  previous  Treatise,  to  demonstrate  every  source 
of  this  knowledge.  It  is,  however,  the  word  of  God,  revealed  to 
us  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  which  is  the  complete  expression  of 
his  will  to  us,  as  the  rule  of  all  Good  Works,  and  as  the  way  of 
life  unto  us.  And  passing  by  the  insurmountable  difficulties 
which  beset  every  other  rule  of  conduct,  by  which  we  hope  to 
please  God  ;  the  perfection  and  simplicity  of  the  one  afforded  in 
his  blessed  word,  leave  us  without  excuse  for  any  shortcoming. 
The  majesty  of  him  who  gave  it — the  blessedness  of  those  who 
keep  it* — and  the  glory  and  felicity  to  which  it  conducts  us — 
make  the  sin,  the  folly,  and  the  ruin  of  all  who  reject  it,  alike 
sure  and  just.  It  is  Jesus  Christ  who  has  abolished  death,  and 
hath  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the  Gospel.1 

2.  There  are  many  questions  of  the  highest  practical  impor¬ 
tance,  and  of  the  most  pregnant  force  in  all  scientific  enquiry 
into  systematic  truth  touching  divine  things  ;  which  connect 
themselves  in  a  decisive  manner-with  the  foregoing  statements. 
Some  of  them  may  be  mentioned  and  briefly  disclosed,  but  not 
discussed  here. 

(a)  At  the  head  of  these  we  may  place  Christian  Liberty,  and 
Liberty  of  Conscience.  The  Church  of  the  living  God  is  the 
Bride  of  the  Lamb,  and  her  freedom  from  the  bondage  of  Satan, 
of  sin,  of  the  law  itself,  much  more  of  the  commandments,  tra¬ 
ditions  and  devices  of  men  ;  has  been  purchased  by  the  blood  of. 

1  2  Tim.,  i.  10. 

21 


VOL.  II. 


322  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

her  divine  Husband  and  Lord.  That  freedom,  in  its  very  essence, 
consists  in  her  deliverance  from  all  her  enemies,  that  she  might 
consecrate  herself  to  the  service  and  love  of  her  Lord  without 
fear,  in  holiness  and  righteousness  throughout  all  generations. 
The  God  she  serves  and  loves,  is  the  only  Lord  of  the  conscience 
of  her  children  :  he  alone  can  penetrate  its  depths,  he  alone  can 
cleanse  and  sanctify  it,  he  alone  can  give  it  peace  :  and  every  at¬ 
tempt,  even  when  made  in  his  own  blessed  name,  to  bind  it  or  to 
loose  it  otherwise  than  by  his  word  and  Spirit,  is  an  atrocious 
usurpation  of  his  prerogatives. 

(i b )  Nearly  related  to  these  great  topics  is  all  that  belongs  to 
what  is  called  Implicit  Faith,  and  to  the  just  claims  of  tender 
consciences.  Whatever  hath  for  it  the  explicit  authority  of  God, 
and  whatever  flows  by  necessary  consequence  from  that  which 
hath  the  explicit  authority  of  God;  all  this  is  of  explicit  faith,  be¬ 
cause  it  is  clearly  the  Will  of  God.  But  nothing  else  is  of  faith 
at  all  :  and  to  imply  the  Will  of  God  without  warrant  from  him, 
is  in  effect  to  substitute  our  own  will,  or  the  will  of  those  to 
whom  we  render  a  blind  obedience,  for  the  Will  of  God :  by  either 
method  dishonouring  God,  and  putting  our  own  soul  in  peril. 
The  folly  of  doing  this  ourselves  is  no  greater  than  the  cruel 
impiety  of  forcing  upon  the  consciences  of  others,  what  nothing 
but  bigotry,  fanaticism,  or  superstition,  could  make  endurable  to 
our  own.  The  right  of  private  judgment  is  not  only  sacred  in  its 
own  nature  ;  but  the  idea  of  Good  Works  is  wholly  absurd,  unless 
they  be  performed  with  the  full  and  free  approval  of  the  soul. 
To  disregard  the  scruples  of  our  own  conscience,  is  to  assail  the 
very  citadel  of  our  spiritual  life  :  while  to  contemn  that  of  others, 
is  to  violate  the  very  life  of  Christian  charity. 

(c)  The  power  of  the  civil  magistrate  in  things  sacred,  and 
the  authority  of  synods  and  councils  with  regard  to  faith  and 
morals,  are  the  last  of  these  great  associated  topics  which  seem 
to  demand  a  certain  recognition  here.  Of  human  affairs,  some 
are  wholly  spiritual,  some  are  wholly  temporal,  and  some  are 
mixed,  participating  of  both.  There  ought  to  be  no  question,  and 
in  all  societies  that  are  tree  and  Christian  there  is  no  question, 
that  things  purely  temporal  appertain,  by  the  Will  of  God,  ex¬ 
clusively  to  the  civil  power.  There  is  just  as  little,  that  things 
purely  spiritual  do  not  appertain  to  the  civil  power,  but  to  the 
kingdom  of  God,  now  under  the  form  of  the  Gospel  Church.  All 


GOOD  WORKS. 


323 


CHAP.  XVI.] 

real  difficulties  concern  things  that  in  their  nature  are  mixed. 
Concerning  these,  the  most  obvious  general  solution  is,  that  the 
civil  and  the  spiritual  powers  being  both  ordained  by  God,  each 
in  its  own  sphere  and  for  its  own  ends,  it  follows,  that  of  things 
mixed,  that  part  which  is  temporal  appertains  to  the  civil  power, 
and  that  part  which  is  spiritual  appertains  to  the  kingdom  of 
God.  What  remains  subject  to  both  jurisdictions,  after  such 
principles  are  applied  to  them,  must  he  accepted  as  remaining  so 
by  the  Will  of  God  :  and  in  what  cases  the  decision  of  one  juris¬ 
diction  shall  draw  after  it  consequences  that  may  appertain  to 
the  other,  must  be  determined  by  the  prevailing  nature  of  each 
particular  case  ;  respect  being  had  to  the  liberty  of  the  Church 
on  one  side,  and  the  authority  of  the  State  on  the  other. 

( d )  The  authority  of  synods  and  councils,  like  the  authority 
of  the  State  concerning  things  spiritual,  has  been  a  most  fruit¬ 
ful  source  of  evil  to  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  and  yet  the  former 
topic,  like  the  latter,  is  singularly  clear  in  the  general  principles 
on  which  it  rests.  Supposing  a  government,  no  matter  of  what 
kind,  to  be  divinely  established  in  the  bosom  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth  ;  it  follows  that  the  authority  of  this  government 
is  precisely  as  extensive  as  God  has  declared,  neither  more  nor 
less.  But  God  has  made  no  declaration  on  the  subject,  except  in 
the  sacred  Scriptures.  The  question,  therefore,  is  one  of  pure 
revelation.  Meeting  it  in  this  incidental  manner,  I  will  only 
state  its  great  foundations.  It  is  obvious  that  revelation  being 
admitted,  they  who  presume  to  add  any  thing  to  it,  or  take  any 
thing  from  it,  must  he  themselves  inspired,  and  must  prove  this 
in  the  first  instance.  It  follows,  that  all  uninspired  synods  and 
councils  are  absolutely  limited  to  the  exposition  of  what  is  already 
revealed  :  and  that  all  ecclesiastical  power  is  absolutely  limited 
to  the  explication,  enforcement,  defence,  and  extension  of  revealed 
truth.  But  I  have  already  shown  that  it  is  only  of  things  purely 
spiritual,  and  of  things  mixed,  so  far  as  they  are  spiritual,  that 
spiritual  authority  can  he  predicated  at  all.  Whence  it  follows, 
in  the  first  place,  that  the  sanctions  of  spiritual  authority  must 
be  exclusively  spiritual :  and  in  the  second  place,  that  they  must 
have  outward  force  exclusively  upon  those  who  voluntarily  sub¬ 
mit  themselves  to  them.  Their  validity  depends  absolutely  upon 
their  ratification  by  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Lawgiver,  Buler,  and 
Judge  of  his  Church  :  and  that  ratification  will,  except  in  cases 


324  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

of  miraculous  interposition  by  him,.  be  openly  declared  in  the 
day  of  judgment.  The  result,  therefore,  is  this  :  synods  and 
councils,  lawfully  constituted  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  glorified  Redeemer,  may,  with  divine  authority,  and  at  the 
peril  of  their  souls,  expound,  declare,  and  teach  the  revealed  Will 
of  God  unto  salvation  :  every  human  being  lawfully  related  to 
them,  who  comes  to  the  knowledge  of  their  deliverances  and  acts, 
must  obey  them  if  they  are  true,  or  refuse  to  obey  them  if  they 
are  false,  on  the  peril  of  his  soul :  and  whether  they  be  true  or 
false,  must  be  determined  according  to  the  word  and  Spirit  of  God, 
by  each  child  of  God  for  himself,  at  his  own  proper  peril.  There 
is  a  government  in  the  kingdom  of  God :  but  the  kingdom  itself 
is  made  up  of  those,  all  of  whom  are  both  kings  and  priests  ;  and 
the  government  over  them  is  under  Christ  their  Lord,  and  its  acts 
are  valid  only  with  the  Word  and  through  the  Spirit  of  God. 

3.  After  what  has  been  said,  a  few  general  statements  may 
suffice.  Absolutely  considered,  the  cause  of  our  New  Obedience, 
and  of  all  Good  Works  flowing  from  it,  is  the  grace  of  God  dwell¬ 
ing  in  us,  by  reason  of  our  New  Creation  by  the  Holy  Ghost.1 
Considered  instrumentally,  it  is  through  Saving  Faith  and  Re¬ 
pentance  unto  Life  that  all  Good  Works  are  wrought.  For  it  is 
through  Repentance  that  we  turn  from  all  evil  which  God  hates, 
unto  all  good  which  God  commends :  and  it  is  through  Faith, 
which  works  by  love  and  purifies  the  heart,  that  the  just  live  and 
overcome  the  world.  The  great  end  of  all  Good  Works  is  the 
glory  of  God.2  To  which  are  to  be  added,  as  the  very  manner 
of  glorifying  God  through  our  own  Good  Works,  two  ends  sub¬ 
ordinate  only  to  the  great  end  ;  namely,  our  own  salvation,  and 
the  comfort  and  edification  of  all  around  us.3  The  intimate  na¬ 
ture,  therefore,  of  the  New  Obedience  and  Good  Works  may  be 
summarily  stated,  thus  : 

(a)  It  is  the  motive  with  which  all  these  acts  are  performed, 
which  is  the  first  element  in  determining;  their  real  nature.  The 
same  outward  act  might,  according  to  the  motive  which  prompts 
it,  be  a  heinous  sin,  or  an  exalted  proof  of  holiness.  The  offering 
up  of  Isaac  is  a  just  illustration. 

(5)  No  work  can,  therefore,  be  Good,  in  the  sense  here  in¬ 
tended,  unless  it  be  in  accordance  with  the  known  will  of  God. 

1  Gal.,  v.  ID— 2 5 ;  Heb.,  xiii.  20,  21.  2  1  c0r.,  ^  20 ;  x.  31. 

s  Matt.,  v.  13-16;  Phil,  it  12-16;  2  Pet.,  i.  10,  11. 


GOOD  WORKS. 


825 


CHAP.  XVI.] 

For  Good  Works  are  the  exercise  of  our  New  Obedience — and 
where  there  is  no  will  of  God  there  can  be  no  motive  to  obey  it — 
and,  therefore,  no  New  Obedience.  This  puts  an  end  to  all  works 
of  supererogation — of  voluntary  humility — of  will-worship — and 
of  obedience  to  the  commandments  of  men.  It  also  shows  why 
the  virtues  of  men,  naturally  considered,  being  wholly  discon¬ 
nected  with  the  New  Obedience,  have  no  adequate  motive  in  us, 
and  no  adequate  relation  to  the  will  of  God. 

(c)  None  who  are  out  of  Christ  can  perform  Good  Works,  in 
the  scriptural  sense.  Neither  the  persons,  nor  the  services  of 
sinful  men,  can  ever  be  accepted  of  God  on  their  own  account, 
because  of  their  manifold  imperfections  :  and  for  these  imperfec¬ 
tions  there  is  no  remedy  but  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  Out 
of  Christ,  there  can  be  no  love  of  God  in  the  heart  of  a  sinner — 
no  saving  light  in  his  understanding — no  holiness  of  conscience 
or  will.  In  default  of  these  things  New  Obedience  and  its  fruits 
are  impossible. 

( d )  Good  Works  must  be  directed  to  an  end  approved  of 
God  ;  by  means  right  in  themselves,  and  suitable  to  the  end  ; 
and  in  a  manner  proper  in  itself,  and  answerable  both  to  the  end 
and  the  means.  For  if  the  end  is  not  lawful,  it  is  sinful  even  to 
desire  it,  much  less  to  seek  it.  If  the  means  are  unrighteous,  it 
is  an  attempt  to  serve  God  with  the  wages  of  iniquity,  and  to 
make  him  a  partner  in  our  guilt.  And  if  the  manner  is  contrary 
to  the  end  and  the  means,  it  is  seeking  to  make  God  the  author 
of  confusion  and  disorder,  and  tempting  his  miraculous  power  in 
support  of  our  folly. 

(e)  These  multiplied  limitations  unite  in  a  single  point :  the 
heart  must  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God.  Then  the  children  of 
God  need  have  no  slavish  fears  of  going  astray.  For  the  New 
Covenant  which  God  makes  with  their  souls,  and  under  which 
all  their  New  Obedience  is  rendered,  is  a  covenant  wherein  his 
laws  are  written  on  their  hearts,  and  put  into  their  minds  by 
God  himself;  and  wherein,  from  the  least  unto  the  greatest, 
they  all  know  the  Lord  ;  and  in  the  light  and  power  of  that 
knowledge  strive  after  the  things  commanded  in  that  law.1 

1  Heb.,  viii.  8-12;  Jer.,  xxxl  31-34. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE. 

I.  1.  The  conflict  involved  in  our  New  Obedience  and  Good  Works. — 2.  Its  Nature 
and  Necessity. — 3.  Its  Existence  necessarily  implies  the  Truth  of  the  Spiritual 
System  Revealed  to  us,  and  in  us. — 4.  Our  perpetual  Witness-bearing  for  Christ. 
— 5.  Our  incessant  Working  together  with  God. — 6.  Our  continual  Suffering  to¬ 
gether  with  Jesus:  Outward  Fellowship — inward  Participation  thereof. — 7.  Sub¬ 
lime  Efficacy  of  this  Warfare — with  the  Cause  and  Manner  thereof. — 8.  Intimate 
Relation  between  the  divinely  appointed  Means  of  Grace,  and  our  Spiritual  War¬ 
fare. — 9.  The  Chastenings  of  the  Lord :  his  Fatherly  Discipline  :  the  Hidings  of 
his  Face. — II.  1.  Our  Spiritual  Enemies:  Nature  of  their  Enmity  to  us:  Im¬ 
placable  Hostility  between  them  and  Christ. — 2.  All  of  them  resolved  into  three: 
Their  Union  with  each  other:  Vanquished  by  Christ — vanquished  through  Christ 
by  us. — 3.  Our  Warfare  with  the  Flesh. — 4.  Our  Warfare  with  the  World. — 
5.  Our  Warfare  with  the  Devil. — 6.  The  Armour  of  Light. — 7.  The  Victory. 

I. — 1.  The  existence  of  each  human  being  is,  indeed,  iden¬ 
tical  and  uninterrupted  from  the  moment  of  its  personal  com¬ 
mencement,  onward  through  time  and  eternity.  But  what  vast 
changes  does  it  incur  at  death,  and  at  the  resurrection  !  Not 
inferior  in  its  importance  to  either  of  them — and  perfectly  de¬ 
cisive  of  the  character  of  both  of  them — is  that  wonderful 
spiritual  change  which  our  Saviour  calls  the  New  Birth — and 
which  he  plainly  tells  us  must  occur  before  we  can  realize  or 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.1  Each  one  of  these  immense 
changes — regeneration — death — resurrection — while  it  leaves  our 
personal  existence  identical,  self-conscious,  and  continuous,  pro¬ 
duces  on  us  results  the  most  profound,  and  is  followed  by  conse¬ 
quences  to  us  which  are  absolutely  eternal.  The  results  and 
consequences  of  death  and  the  resurrection  can  be  realized,  in 
this  life,  only  through  faith,  even  by  the  regenerate  ;  they  can 
be  known  in  their  absolute  nature,  only  after  we  shall  have  died 
—after  we  shall  have  risen.  Those  which  follow  the  New  Birth 
are  not  only  realized  by  us  in  the  same  way  as  the  others— 
namely,  through  faith  ;  but  to  the  whole  extent  that 

1  John,  ill.  3-5. 


we  are 


CHAP.  XVII.]  THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE. 


327 


actually  made  partakers  of  them  in  this  life,  their  absolute  nature 
is  made  known  to  us,  just  as  the  others  will  be  when  we  shall 
have  personally  incurred  them.  For  it  is  in  this  life  only,  that 
men  are  born  again,  and  it  is  between  our  New  Birth  and  our 
death  that  the  change  produced  on  us  by  that  New  Birth  alone, 
manifests  itself  simply  and  in  its  peculiar  manner.  I  have  en¬ 
deavoured,  with  the  greatest  care,  to  explain  in  the  two  prece¬ 
ding  Books,  the  nature — the  reality — the  cause — the  author — 
the  manner — the  instrument — the  results — the  consequences,  of 
this  great  change — under  the  continual  exhibition  of  the  work  in 
us  :  and  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  Book,  I  have  endea¬ 
voured  to  point  out  distinctly,  the  chief  offices,  both  towards  God 
and  towards  our  fellow-creatures,  which  are  relevant  to  it,  and 
which  are  imposed  by  it.  But  in  the  manifestation  of  all  these 
offices  of  Christianity  by  us — in  every  part  of  our  New  Obedience 
— in  all  our  Good  Works — in  all  our  endeavours  to  lead  lives  of 
Faith  and  Penitence — -we  find  ourselves  constantly  exposed  to 
perils,  surrounded  by  temptations,  and  beset  by  difficulties.  We 
are  not,  so  to  speak,  left  free  to  follow  the  Lord,  whom  we  love  : 
we  are  hindered  in  the  course  in  which,  for  his  sake  and  at  his 
command,  we  have  resolved  to  walk  :  we  are  compelled  to  let  go 
our  hold  on  eternal  life,  or  to  take  up  arms  and  do  battle  for  our 
crown.  This  is  a  new  phase  in  our  Christian  life  :  one  we  had, 
perhaps,  never  anticipated  :  one,  as  we  soon  find,  universal,  un¬ 
avoidable,  full  of  peril  on  one  side  and  blessedness  on  the  other. 
It  is  this  which  Christians  call  The  Spiritual  Warfare ,!  and 
which  I  am  now  to  explain  as  briefly  as  I  can. 

2.  The  one  great  condition  of  the  offer  of  salvation  is,  that  he 
to  whom  it  is  offered  should  be  a  sinner  of  the  human  race.  The 
one  great  motive  presented  to  that  sinner  is,  on  the  one  side  that 
he  may  escape  the  wrath  to  come — -on  the  other  that  he  may  ob¬ 
tain  eternal  life  ;  the  sum  of  all  being  salvation — which  is  the 
very  end  of  his  faith.  Having  won  Christ — that  is  being  found 
in  him  ;  then  the  perpetual  exhortation  of  the  Gospel  to  us  is, 
that  forgetting  the  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth 
unto  those  things  which  are  before,  we  should  press  toward  the 
mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.2 
The  object  set  before  the  child  of  God  is  manifold.  He  is  to 
guard,  as  he  wrould  guard  the  life  of  his  soul,  that  which  God  has 

1  1  Tim.,  L  18  ;  vi.  12;  2  Tim.,  iv.  1 ;  1  Cor.,  ix.  25-2 7.  2  Phil.,  iii  3-14. 


328 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


already  given  to  him — an  interest,  namely,  in  the  blood  of  Christ. 
He  is  to  strive,  also,  with  all  his  might,  to  increase  the  treasure 
which  the  Lord  has  committed  to  him.  And  he  is  to  labour,  in 
season  and  out  of  season  with  all  diligence,  to  make  sure  the  eter¬ 
nal  possession  of  this  boundless  riches  of  grace.  In  the  whole 
process  of  this  great  work  of  salvation  it  must  necessarily  occur 
— nay,  it  is  the  very  manner  of  the  work  itself — that  the  children 
of  the  kingdom  glorify  God,  and  bless  their  fellow-creatures,  as 
step  by  step  they  advance  in  their  own  career.  In  like  manner 
and  in  like  degree — to  vanquish  Satan — to  overcome  the  world — 
and  to  crucify  the  flesh — are  as  real  necessities  of  their  victorious 
progress,  through  grace,  as  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  love  which 
they  defend,  accumulate,  and  secure,  are  proofs  of  the  bounty  of 
the  Lord.  And  the  personal  result  is,  that  fighting  the  good 
fight  of  faith — warring  a  good  warfare1 — striving  for  an  incor¬ 
ruptible  crown,  they  are  more  than  conquerors,  through  him  that 
loved  them.2 

3.  It  is  indeed  a  warfare :  yet  the  Holy  Ghost  declares  it  to 
be  good.  It  is  a  fight  we  cannot  escape  :  yet  a  good  fight,  even 
that  of  faith.  And  how  much  does  its  necessity,  its  nature,  its 
existence,  involve  and  explain  ?  How  could  an  estate  of  this 
kind  exist  for  us,  except  upon  the  precise  conditions  of  our  being, 
revealed  by  God?  Once  innocent,  then  fallen,  now  regenerate,  and 
struggling  upward  toward  our  original  perfection,  the  necessary 
phenomena  are  the  very  incidents  of  this  warfare.  How  could 
such  a  conflict  occur,  except  amidst  a  confused,  probationary 
state  of  things,  where  good  and  evil  are  inextricably  involved, 
each  striving  for  the  mastery  ?  What  would  it  signify,  if  the 
state  in  which  it  reigns  were  final  :  if  it  did  not  lead  immediately 
to  another  state,  and  if  the  relation  of  this  state  to  that,  and  the 
relation  of  this  warfare  to  the  coming  retribution,  were  not  ab¬ 
solute  and  decisive  ?  On  the  other  hand,  with  the  word  of  God 
revealing  to  us  endless  glory  and  perdition,  a  divine  Saviour,  and 
an  eternal  judgment ;  what  is  there  that  this  Spiritual  Warfare 
may  not  signify,  may  not  involve  and  explain  ? 

4.  We  are  witnesses  for  Christ  through  all  ages,  and  unto 
the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth  :3  and  we  are  compassed  about 
with  that  great  cloud  of  witnesses  who  have  gone  before  us,  and 

1  1  Tim.,  i.  18  ;  vi.  12.  2  1  Cor.,  ix.  25 ;  Rom.,  viii.  37. 

8  Acte,  i.  8. 


CHAP.  XVII.]  THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE. 


329 


who  testify  around  us.1  He  for  whom  we  testify,  for  the  joy  that 
was  set  before  him,  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and 
is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God.  He  is  the 
finisher,  as  well  as  the  author  of  our  faith  :  he  who  endured  such 
contradiction  of  sinners  against  himself.  Constant  in  our  testi¬ 
mony,  as  well  as  in  faith  and  godliness,  we  have  only  to  consider 
him,  and  then  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so 
easily  beset  us,  and  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before 
us.2  Christ  himself  condescends  to  be  called  the  faithful  witness.3 
And  the  more  prompt  the  children  of  the  wicked  one  are  to  cry 
out  against  every  faithful  witness  for  Christ,  Away  with  such  a 
fellow  from  the  earth,  for  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should  live  ;4  the 
more  solemn  and  emphatic  is  the  response  from  heaven,  The 
world  was  not  worthy  of  them  !5  Whether  men  will  hear  or 
whether  they  will  forbear,  it  is  equally  the  duty  of  the  followers 
of  Christ  to  testify  unto  them  the  will  of  God.6  Adding  nothing 
to  the  testimony  of  God,  unless  they  would  have  added  to  them¬ 
selves  every  curse  written  therein  ;  taking  nothing  from  that 
testimony,  unless  they  would  have  their  part  in  every  promise 
written  therein  taken  from  them  :7  they  who  name  the  name  of 
Jesus  are  set  forth  as  living  epistles,  known  and  read  of  all  men, 
wherein  Christ  has  manifestly  declared  his  Gospel,  written  with 
the  Spirit  of  the  living  God  in  the  tables  of  their  heart,  even  as 
God  wrote  his  law  on  tables  of  stone.8  The  way  of  the  wicked 
is  as  darkness,  and  they  know  not  at  what  they  stumble  :  but  the 
path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light,  that  shineth  more  and 
more  unto  the  perfect  day  !9  This  whole  witness-bearing  is  a 
spiritual  martyrdom  for  Christ — a  perpetual  confession  of  him — • 
the  daily  warfare  of  our  good  fight  of  faith. 

5.  In  like  manner,  as  it  is  the  will  of  God  concerning  us,  that 
having  had  our  eyes  opened,  and  having  recived  the  Holy  Ghost 
from  him,  we  should  be  his  witnesses  unto  all  men  of  all  that  we 
have  seen  and  heard  ;10  so,  also,  every  one,  according  to  the  grace 
of  God  which  is  given  unto  him,  becomes  a  labourer  together 
with  God,  a  worker  together  with  him,  both  in  planting  and  in 
watering  every  part  of  God's  husbandry  amongst  men.11  Or,  as 

1  Heb.,  xii.  1.  2  Heb.,  xii.  1-3.  3  Rev.,  i.  5. 

4  Acts,  xx.  22.  5  Heb.,  xi.  38.  6  Ezek.,  iii.  11— 27. 

^  Rev.,  xxii.  18,  19.  8  2  Cor.,  iii.  2,  3.  9  Prov.,  iv.  18,  19. 

10  Acts,  ix.  17 ;  xxii.  13-15.  11  1  Cor.,  iii.  9 ;  2  Cor.,  vi.  1. 


330  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

it  is  sometimes  expressed,  we  become  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ, 
whose  fidelity  is  tested  by  the  manner  in  which  we  bear  hard¬ 
ness,  and  do  valiantly  for  the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  who  was 
himself  made  perfect  through  sufferings.1  One  of  the  most  heroic 
of  our  fellow-soldiers,  when  the  time  of  his  departure  was  at  hand, 
and  he  was  ready  to  be  offered,  at  the  close  of  a  life  that  has  no 
parallel,  calmly  and  trustfully  said,  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I 
have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith  :  henceforth  there 
is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the 
righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day :  and  not  to  me  only, 
but  unto  all  them  also  that  love  his  appearings.2  But  all  these 
services,  glorious  as  they  are,  and  infinite  as  is  the  reward  which 
attends  them,  are  of  that  nature  that  no  novice,  no  sluggard, 
none  who  are  self-indulgent  or  self-seeking,  can  perform  them  at 
all :  of  that  nature,  that  in  a  world  like  this,  the  most  enlight¬ 
ened  and  the  most  devoted  cannot  discharge  them,  except  as  he¬ 
roes  do  battle,  where  all  is  risked  upon  every  conflict.  And  we 
ourselves  are  of  that  nature,  that  the  severest  toils  of  all,  are 
those  which  fit  us  for  our  great  labour  of  love ;  the  most  perilous 
conflicts  of  all,  those  which  are  waged  within  our  own  souls.  See 
what  that  heroic  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  sublime  labourer 
together  with  God,  to  whom  I  have  alluded,  says  concerning  the 
matter  and  the  manner,  wherein  he  approved  himself  a  servant 
of  God  in  this  Spiritual  Warfare  :  In  much  patience,  in  afflic¬ 
tions,  in  necessities,  in  distresses,  in  stripes,  in  imprisonments,  in 
tumults,  in  labours,  in  watchings,  in  fastings  ;  by  pureness,  by 
knowledge,  by  long-suffering,  by  kindness,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  by 
love  unfeigned,  by  the  word  of  truth,  by  the  power  of  God,  by 
the  armour  of  righteousness  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left, 
by  honour  and  dishonour,  by  evil  report  and  good  report ;  as 
deceivers,  and  yet  true  ;  as  unknown,  and  yet  well  known  ;  as 
dying,  and  behold,  we  live  ;  as  chastened,  and  not  killed  ;  as 
sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing ;  as  poor,  yet  making  many  rich  ; 
as  having  nothing,  and  yet  possessing  all  things.3  Here  are 
thirty-six  categories  of  our  Spiritual  Warfare  fought  through  by 
one  soldier  of  the  Cross,  under  the  single  and  all-engrossing  pro¬ 
position  of  the  Lord,  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me.4  And  he 

i  Heb.,  ii.  10 ;  2  Tim.,  ii.  3 ;  Psalm  lx.  12.  i  2  Tim.,  iv.  6-8. 

3  2  Cor.,  vi.  4-10.  *  Matt.,  xvl  24. 


831 


CHAP.  XYXI.J  THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE. 

has  said  to  us,  under  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Be  ye  fol¬ 
lowers  of  me,  even  as  I  also  am  of  Christ :  followers  of  them 
who  through  faith  and  patience  inherit  the  promises.1 

6.  One  more  great  and  unavoidable  necessity  is  laid  upon 
every  child  of  God  ;  one  more  aspect  of  our  Spiritual  Warfare, 
in  addition  to  our  witness-bearing  for  him,  and  our  participation 
as  fellow-labourers  with  him.  We  must  be  sufferers  together 
with  Jesus.  I  will  show  him,  said  the  Lord  to  Ananias  when  he 
told  him  Saul  was  praying,  and  bade  him  go  to  him,  how  great 
things  he  must  suffer  for  my  name’s  sake.2  Many  years  after¬ 
wards,  as  Paul  went  bound  in  the  Spirit  to  Jerusalem,  after 
bearing  the  name  of  the  Lord  before  the  Gentiles,  and  kings, 
and  the  children  of  Israel ;  he  said  to  his  brethren  whom  he  had 
collected  at  Miletus,  that  he  knew  not  what  would  befall  him, 
save  that  the  Holy  Ghost  witnessed  in  every  city  that  bonds  and 
afflictions  waited  for  him.3  Yea,  said  he,  in  one  of  his  last  testi¬ 
monies,  all  that  will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus,  shall  suffer  perse¬ 
cution.4  And  the  Lord  had  plainly  said  to  his  Apostles,  Ye  shall 
be  hated  of  all  men  for  my  name’s  sake.5  When  we  reflect  on 
the  contents  of  the  Christian  Scriptures,  and  on  the  nature  and 
design  of  the  Gospel  Church  ;  the  history  of  the  human  race  fur¬ 
nishes  nothing  more  decisive  concerning  the  moral  nature  of  man, 
than  his  cruel  hatred  of  Jesus  and  his  disciples,  and  his  ferocious 
prostitution  of  the  name  and  doctrine  of  Jesus  to  ends  the  most 
opposite  from  those  he  commanded.  There  is  no  form  of  human  so¬ 
ciety,  no  stage  of  human  civilization,  no  aspect  of  human  thought, 
which  has  not,  within  the  past  eighteen  centuries,  polluted  itself 
with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus.  Jew  and  Pagan,  infidel 
and  heretic,  Mohammedan  and  Papist  and  Hindoo — all  alike — 
hate  the  only  Saviour  who  pities  them,  the  only  Redeemer  who 
can  deliver  them.  To  pass  by  every  form  of  persecution,  except 
the  very  highest,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  all  the  governments 
in  the  world  united  have  not  executed  capitally  the  hundredth 
part  as  many  malefactors,  as  Papal  Rome  alone  has  caused  to  be 
murdered  of  true  followers  of  Jesus,  merely  because  they  were 
his  true  followers  !  Drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  and 
with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus,  is  the  fearful  description 
which  God  gives  of  her,  The  mother  of  harlots  and  abominations 

1  1  Cor.,  xi.  1;  Heb.,  vi.  12.  2  Acts,  ix.  16.  3  Acts,  xx.  22,  23. 

4  2  Tim.,  iii.  12.  5  Matt.,  x.  22. 


332  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

of  the  earth.1  But  besides  this  liability  to  outward  sufferings, 
even  unto  blood,  for  Christ's  sake,  which  enters  so  conspicuously 
into  the  warfare  of  his  followers  :  there  is  a  sense,  altogether  spir¬ 
itual,  in  which  their  participation  in  all  his  Humiliation,  is  an 
indispensable  preparation  for  their  participation  in  all  his  Exalta- 
-  tion.  Those  outward  sufferings  with  him,  Christ  will  compensate 
a  hundredfold  even  in  this  life,  when  that  is  good  for  us  ;  and  in 
the  world  to  come,  will  repay  them  with  eternal  life.2  But  our 
inward  participation  of  his  sufferings,  is  the  very  method  of  pre¬ 
paring  us  for  the  inward  participation  of  his  triumph  ;  and  the 
very  heat  and  fury  of  the  great  war  lie  precisely  there  ;  there  the 
victory  is  won  or  lost !  To  know  Christ,  and  the  power  of  his 
resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  we  must  be 
made  conformable  unto  his  death.3  Wherefore,  the  exhortation 
is,  Gird  up  the  loins  of  your  mind,  be  sober,  and  hope  to  the  end 
for  the  grace  that  is  to  be  brought  unto  you  at  the  revelation  of 
Jesus  Christ ;  because  it  is  written,  Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy.4 

7.  It  is  mere  folly  to  go  to  Christ,  if  our  desire  and  purpose 
are  to  live  in  sin.  On  the  other  hand,  if  through  grace  we  are 
resolved  to  crucify  sin,  we  need  not  dread  the  warfare  which  must 
follow.  The  Holy  Ghost,  as  we  have  seen,  declares  the  fight  of 
faith  to  be  good — the  Spiritual  Warfare  to  be  good.  That  being 
so,  it  matters  not  if  the  battle  be  fought  to-day  on  our  faithful 
testimony  for  Christ — 4ind  to-morrow  on  our  earnest  labours  for 
his  cause — and  the  third  day  on  our  patient  suffering  for  his 
name  :  or  whether  it  be  joined,  fierce  and  decisive,  on  all  at 
once — and  won  like  those  great  victories  which  decide  the  fate  of 
nations  and  of  races.  It  matters  not :  for,  either  way,  the  Lord 
is  strength  in  the  day  of  trouble — yea,  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is 
everlasting  strength.5  And  every  one  in  Zion  that  appears  be¬ 
fore  God,  goes  from  strength  to  strength  ;  and  every  one  that 
with  open  face  beholds  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  is  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord.6  Every  grace — every  truth — every  gift,  has  a  power  pecu¬ 
liar  to  itself :  and  the  more  it  is  cherished  the  more  powerful  it  is. 
Sec  how  sublime  even  the  gift  of  preternatural  strength  to  Sam¬ 
son  was — and  how  terrible  it  made  him  as  long  as  God  was  with 
him  !  Then  every  grace  will  unite  with  every  other  grace  :  every 

1  Rev.,  xvii .passim.  2  Mark,  x.  28-31.  3  phi] iii.  io.  4  l  Pet.,  i.  13-16. 

s  Nahum,  i.  7  ;  Isa.,  xxvi.  4.  ®  Ps.  lxxxiv.  7 ;  2  Cor.,  iii.  18. 


83B 


CHAP.  XVII.]  THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE. 

truth  with  every  other  truth  :  every  gift  with  every  other  gift : 
and  we  see  how  one  can  put  a  thousand  to  flight  !  And  then  all 
grace  will  unite  with  all  truth  :  and  all  truth  will  unite  with 
all  duty  :  and  all  duty  will  unite  with  all  grace  :  and  how  can 
ten  thousand  stand  before  two  !  And  then  when  all  are  united  in 
one — as  they  are  in  the  man  of  God  thoroughly  furnished  for 
every  good  work  ;  what  can  we  say  less,  than  that  this  is  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  working  of  the  mighty  power  of  God  in  them  that  be¬ 
lieve — and  that  among  all  gods  there  is  none  like  unto  Jehovah, 
glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders  V 

8.  Nowhere,  more  than  in  this  aspect  of  our  relation  to  divine 
things,  does  the  importance  to  us  of  all  the  means  of  grace  ap¬ 
pear.  Nothing  is  more  distinctly  urged  upon  us  in  the  Word  of 
God,  than  that  we  should  grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  :2  nor  is  any  thing  taught 
more  clearly,  than  that  this  growth  is  the  product  of  the  true 
knowledge  of  God  through  his  Word  and  Spirit — and  the  result 
of  our  union  and  communion  with  Christ.3  It  is  of  the  very  na¬ 
ture  of  man,  and  of  all  his  faculties,  that  he  cannot  be  absolutely 
stationary  in  any  thing.  With  him,  it  is  always  progress  or  de¬ 
cay.  The  finest  emotions  vanish — the  noblest  attainments  be¬ 
come  obscure — the  most  exalted  powers  lose  both  their  temper 
and  their  grasp,  under  habitual  neglect  and  disuse  :  while  im¬ 
proper  indulgence  can  end  only  in  distortion.  On  the  other 
hand,  nothing  but  the  finiteness  of  our  being,  can  be  imagined 
as  capable  of  setting  bounds  to  the  healthful  growth  of  a  re¬ 
newed  soul,  which,  by  the  grace  of  God,  addresses  itself  with 
all  diligence  and  fidelity  to  him.  In  doing  this,  the  whole 
instrumentality  which  God  himself  has  provided  is  embraced 
under  the  phrase — the  Means  of  Grace  ;  and  I  have  had  re¬ 
peated  occasion  to  mention,  in  their  order,  and  to  explain  the 
use  of  the  chief  of  these.  In  every  part  of  our  Spiritual  War¬ 
fare,  it  is  through  their  use  that  we  are  fitted  for  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  that  devolve  on  us,  and  it  is  in  their  use  that  we 
may  expect  to  be  victorious  through  grace.  It  is  not  true  that 
any  of  them — not  even  the  inspired  word — have  any  more  than 
an  instrumental  efficacy  with  reference  to  salvation — that  is  an 
efficacy  when  used  by  God  for  our  spiritual  good  :  but  neither  is 
it  true  that  any  of  them  appointed  of  God,  are  destitute  of  this 

1  Epli.,  L  19 ;  Ex.,  xv.  11.  3  2  Peter,  iii.  18.  3  1  Peter,  ii.  1-12  ;  Eph.,  iv.  1-24. 


334  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

instrumental  efficacy — nor  that  any  thing  else  not  thus  appointed 
of  him,  has  any  efficacy  at  all  towards  our  growth  in  grace.  To 
neglect  them,  is  to  tempt  God  :  to  rest  in  them,  is  superstition  : 
to  use  them  prayerfully,  diligently,  and  trustfully,  is  the  heavenly 
discipline  of  the  soldier  of  the  Cross.  Nothing  holy,  nothing 
lovely,  nothing  gentle,  nothing  tender,  nothing  heroic,  can  he 
conceived  of  him  to  whom  the  ordinances  of  God  are  not  delight¬ 
some  :  while  he  to  whom  they  are,  has  found  the  way  to  he 
strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  his  might. 

9.  Immediately  connected  with  our  growth  in  grace,  and  with 
the  peculiar  method  of  that  growth  which  attends  our  Spiritual 
Warfare  ;  there  is  a  mode  of  God’s  dealing  with  his  people,  which 
is  utterly  remote  from  all  human  thinking.  Sometimes  for  the 
trial  of  our  faith — sometimes  to  reveal  to  us  more  clearly  what  is 
in  our  hearts — sometimes  as  a  means  of  more  complete  deliverance 
of  us — sometimes  as  a  preparation  for  some  special  work  for  which 
he  is  fitting  us — sometimes  to  recover  us  from  backsliding,  to  wean 
us  from  besetting  sin,  or  to  deliver  us  from  besetting  temptation 
• — and  very  generally  as  a  way  of  advancing  us  to  higher  spiritual 
attainments,  or  bestowing  upon  us  very  special  mercies  :  God 
himself  seems  to  enter  into  conflict  wTith  his  children.  The 
arrows  of  the  Almighty' — said  Job — are  within  me,  the  poison 
whereof  drinketh  up  my  spirit  :  the  terrors  of  God  do  set  them¬ 
selves  in  array  against  me.1  And  David,  in  his  anguish,  cried 
out,  0  Lord  rebuke  me  not  in  thy  wrath  :  neither  chasten  me  in 
thy  hot  displeasure.  For  thine  arrows  stick  fast  in  me,  and  thy 
hand  presseth  me  sore.2  Will  the  Lord  cast  off  for  ever,  and  will 
he  be  favourable  no  more  ?  Is  his  mercy  clean  gone  for  ever, 
and  doth  his  promise  fail  for  evermore  ?  Hath  God  forgotten  to 
be  gracious?  Hath  he  in  anger  shut  up  his  tender  mercies?8 
Lord  why  castest  thou  off  my  soul,  why  hidest  thou  thy  face 
from  me  ?  Thy  fierce  wrath  goeth  over  me  ;  thy  terrors  have 
cut  me  off.4  And  besides  thus  hiding  his  face  from  us,  and  with¬ 
drawing  his  presence  from  us,  and  striking  our  souls  with  his  ter¬ 
rors  ;  he  habitually  exercises  his  children  under  the  cross  and 
yoke  of  outward  trials.  Ye  have  forgotten,  says  the  Apostle 
Paul,  the  exhortation  which  speaketh  unto  you  as  unto  children, 
M}7-  son,  despise  not  thou  the  chastening  of  the  Lord,  nor  faint 
when  thou  art  rebuked  of  him  :  for  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he 

1  Job,  vi.  4.  2  Ps.  xxxviii.  1,  2.  3  Ps.  lxxvii.  7-9.  *  Ps.  lxxxviii.  14,  16. 


CHAP.  XVII.]  THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE. 


335 


chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he  receiveth.1  So 
universal  is  this  that  it  is  immediately  added,  If  ye  he  without 
chastisement,  whereof  all  are  partakers,  then  are  ye  bastards,  and 
not  sons.  And  no  indication  of  God's  indifference  to  a  sinner 
can  be  greater,  than  that  he  allows  him  to  prosper  in  his  iniquity ; 
unless  it  be,  that  having  commenced  to  chastise  him,  he  lifts  his 
hand  off  him,  while  he  continues  impenitent.  And  so  in  imme¬ 
diate  connection  with  the  declaration,  As  many  as  I  love,  I  re¬ 
buke  and  chasten  :  he  adds,  Be  zealous  therefore,  and  repent.3 
The  wisest  of  mortals,  therefore,  had  divine  authority  when  he 
said,  He  that  refuseth  correction  despiseth  his  own  soul :  but  he 
that  heareth  reproof  getteth  understanding.3  Though  he  slay 
me,  yet  will  I  trust  him  :  yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley 
of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil  :  for  thou  art  with  me  ; 
thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me.4  Such  is  the  cry  of  faith 
— even  under  the  sorest  outward  trials.  And  the  answer  of  the 
Lord  is,  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown 
of  life.6  It  is  by  humility,  and  obedience,  and  patient  waiting 
on  the  Lord,  and  fervent  prayer  to  him,  that  the  penitent  and 
believing  soul  prevails  with  God  in  all  these  extremities.  Yea, 
God  shall  bring  forth  the  righteousness  of  his  children  as  the 
light,  and  their  judgment  as  the  noonday.6  He  who  gave  to 
Jacob,  after  his  great  wrestling  with  him,  his  rich  blessing  and 
a  new  name,  will  not  only  give  to  every  one  that  overcometh,  a 
new  name — but  will  write  upon  him  the  new  name  of  him  that 
sittetli  upon  the  throne  !7 

II. — 1.  Having  explained  the  nature  of  our  Spiritual  War¬ 
fare,  and  pointed  out  the  special  duties  toward  the  Captain  of 
our  salvation  which  it  involves,  together  with  the  influence  of 
the  whole  upon  ourselves  :  it  remains  to  speak  briefly  of  the  en¬ 
emies  with  whom  this  warfare  is  waged  by  all  who  follow  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  Regeneration.  They  are  enemies  who  resist  us  in 
all  our  attempts  to  turn  to  God  at  first,  and  in  all  our  endeavours 
to  lead  lives  of  New  Obedience  afterwards  :  enemies  to  our  de¬ 
liverance  from  sin,  and  to  our  growth  in  holiness  :  enemies  to  our 
very  highest  and  to  all  our  eternal  interests.  They  are  still  more 
the  enemies  of  him  who  loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us — between 

i  Heb.,  xii.  6,  6.  2  Rev.,  iii.  19. 

4  Job,  xiii.  15  ;  Ps.  xxiii.  24.  5  Rev.,  it  10. 

7  Gen.,  xxxii.  24-29;  Rev.,  ii.  17 ;  iii.  12. 


3  Prov.,  xv.  32. 
6  Ps.  xxxvii.  6. 


336  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

whom  and  the  whole  of  them  the  antagonism  is  so  complete,  that 
they  require  of  us,  as  a  condition  of  their  friendship,  that  we 
shall  renounce  his  service — and  that  he  considers  our  friendship 
with  them  enmity  to  him.  The  very  warfare  itself  is  based  on 
our  identification  with  the  Son  of  God  :  it  is  fought  by  us  as 
soldiers  of  the  Cross  :  and  the  victory  won,  however  blessed  for 
us,  is  for  the  glory  of  his  grace  !  The  possibility  of  such  a  state 
of  case  in  the  universe  of  God,  grounds  itself  on  the  twofold  fact 
of  the  existence  of  sin  in  that  universe,  and  of  the  purpose  of  God 
to  retrieve  the  universe  from  its  pollution.  Sin  is  that  accursed 
thing  which  God  hates,  and  upon  which  he  cannot  look  with  the 
least  allowance.  It  was  that  which  made  us  his  enemies  :  it  is 
because  we  turn  from  it  to  him,  through  Christ  by  grace,  that 
every  enemy  of  his  assails  us  :  it  is  because  our  recovery  from  sin 
is  only  begun,  not  perfected  in  this  life,  that  this  warfare  involves 
the  salvation  of  our  souls,  as  well  as  the  glory  of  God.  And  thus 
the  actual  state  of  all  things,  in  every  part  of  the  existence  of 
every  human  being,  considered  as  it  actually  is,  and  considered 
as  the  word  of  God  declares  it  to  be,  presents  us  with  a  perpetual 
demonstration  of  that  Gospel  whereby  life  and  immortality  are 
brought  to  light. 

2.  As  I  have  intimated  before,  the  Spiritual  Warfare  of  which 
I  speak  here  is  predicated  only  of  the  followers  of  Christ.  It  is 
the  means  whereby  they  vindicate  their  New  Obedience :  the 
means  whereby  they  win  from  their  enemies  the  freedom  to  per¬ 
form  every  Good  Work  :  rights — all  of  them — as  I  have  before 
shown,  for  which  countless  multitudes  have  suffered  the  loss  of 
all  things,  and  counted  that  loss  gain.  Doubtless  there  is  a  war¬ 
fare  between  these  same  enemies  and  every  human  soul  that  is 
not  given  over  to  believe  a  lie,  that  it  may  be  damned  :  for 
though  they  he  transcendently  enemies  of  Christ  and  his  disci¬ 
ples,  they  are  also  enemies  of  whatever  Christ,  or  the  natural 
conscience,  or  reason  itself  will  approve  as  true  or  good  unto 
salvation.  But  it  is  the  high,  fierce,  decisive  warfare  between  the 
children  of  God  and  the  flesh,  the  world,  and  the  Devil,  of  which 
I  speak  continually  in  this  chapter.  These  are  the  great  enemies 
of  our  souls.  Under  the  banner  of  one  or  other  of  them,  every 
foe  to  divine  grace  assails  us  :  nay,  it  is  one  or  other  of  these,  no 
matter  how  cunningly  disguised,  that  we  find  discomfited  after 
every  victory  we  win,  that  we  find  mocking  us  every  time  we 


CHAP.  XVII.]  THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE.  337 

are  overcome.  And  such  is  their  fidelity  to  each  other,  and  so 
inseparable  is  their  union  with  each  other,  that  every  triumph 
either  of  them  wins,  is  shared  by  all,  and  every  decisive  blow  in¬ 
flicted  upon  one  wounds  them  all.  These  are  the  enemies  whom 
our  Lord  has  conquered,  led  captive,  and  openly  triumphed  over. 
And  now,  in  the  way  of  the  complete  deliverance  of  the  children 
of  the  Kingdom,  and  the  perfect  fitting  of  them  for  the  right 
service  and  enjoyment  of  God  in  this  life,  and  the  eternal  service 
and  enjoyment  of  him  in  the  life  to  come  ;  he  leads  forth  every 
one  of  them,  fighting  by  their  side,  and  wins  for  them  victories 
analogous  to  his  own. 

3.  I  will  add  a  few  words  concerning  each  of  these  implaca¬ 
ble  enemies  of  all  Gospel  holiness,  and  concerning  our  warfare 
with  each  of  them.  Considering  our  race  one,  with  a  common 
nature,  and  of  one  blood,  which  the  Scriptures  continually 
assert,  each  individual  of  that  race  is,  nevertheless,  a  separate 
person  ;  and,  since  the  fall  of  the  first  parents  of  the  race,  and 
*>y  reason  of  it,  the  common  nature  is  depraved,  and  every  indi¬ 
vidual  participating  of  that  nature  by  ordinary  generation,  neces¬ 
sarily  participates  in  its  depravity.  The  New  Birth,  which  is 
wrought  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  soul  of  the  elect  of  God,  who 
have  been  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  is  a  new  creation  of 
the  individual  soul,  and  its  restoration  to  the  image  of  God,  lost 
by  the  fall  of  man.  Restored,  in  that  Regeneration,  to  the  image 
of  God  in  knowledge,  righteousness,  and  true  holiness,  every  ad¬ 
vance  of  the  soul  in  this  divine  life  is  an  advance  in  its  conformity 
to  God  :  and  every  endeavour  to  maintain  the  posture  any  soul 
may  have  reached,  or  to  advance  from  one  degree  of  grace  and 
strength  to  another,  is  contrary  to  the  desires,  devices,  lusts,  and 
impulses  of  its  depraved  nature,  that  is,  of  the  flesh  ;  and  sub¬ 
jects  it,  on  one  side,  to  the  necessity  of  a  new  victory  over  the 
flesh,  and,  on  the  other,  to  the  peril  of  a  victory  by  the  flesh  over 
it.  I  am  aware  that  the  reality  and  the  nature  of  the  dealings 
of  God  with  man  in  creation,  providence,  and  grace,  are  involved 
in  these  brief  statements  ;  but  I  insist  that  these  statements  ac¬ 
cord  precisely  with  all  those  dealings,  as  revealed  by  God  to  man, 
and  in  man.  Seeing  that  the  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against 
God,  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be  ;*  and 
that  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 

1  Rom.,  viii.  7. 

22 


VOL.  II. 


338  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

G-od,  which  are  foolishness  unto  him:  neither  can  he  know  them, 
because  they  are  spiritually  discerned  f  it  follows,  not  only  that 
the  flesh  cannot  be  amended,  but  that,  if  we  are  Christ's,  we 
must  crucify  the  flesh,  with  its  affections  and  lusts  ;2  and  that 
our  old  man  must  be  crucified  with  Christ,  if  the  body  of  sin  is 
to  be  destroyed,  or  we  are  to  be  delivered  from  the  service  of  sin.3 
To  walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  to  fulfil  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  are  so 
completely  opposites,  one  of  the  other,  that  the  Scriptures  declare 
the  Spirit  and  the  flesh  to  be  contrary  the  one  to  the  other,  and 
utterly  antagonistic  to  each  other.  As  our  English  version  has 
it,  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against 
the  flesh.4  And  the  Apostle  proceeds  to  illustrate  that  universal 
truth,  by  declaring  to  us  the  works  of  the  flesh,  and  the  fruit  of 
the  Spirit,  in  contrast  with  each  other.  Now  the  works  of  the  flesh 
are  manifest,  which  are  these  :  Adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness, 
lasciviousness,  idolatry,  witchcraft,  hatred,  variance,  emulations, 
wrath,  strife,  seditions,  heresies,  envyings,  murders,  drunkenness, 
re  veilings,  and  such  like.  But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love, 
joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 
temperance.4  Touching  all  these  things,  on  one  side  and  the 
other,  this  profound  distinction  is  to  be  always  borne  in  mind, 
namely,  that  no  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  possible  in  the  unrenewed 
soul,  whereas  the  renewed  soul,  still  dwelling  in  sinful  flesh,  is 
liable  to  be  assailed  through  every  work  of  the  flesh,  and  is  liable 
to  fall  under  every  assault.  Receiving  the  first  fruits  of  the 
Spirit  at  our  Regeneration,  and  growing  afterwards  through  the 
continual  increase  of  them ;  the  divine  power  which  dwells  in  us, 
and  increases  through  grace,  may  indeed  continually  subdue  every 
work  that  lusts  against  it ;  and  the  final  triumph  is  sure,  through 
him  who  loved  us  and  gave  himself  for  us.  But  who  ever  saw  a 
soldier  of  the  cross,  who  marched  from  victory  to  victory,  never 
overcome,  and  bearing  no  scars  from  this  life  and  death  struggle, 
with  that  native  depravity  of  which  sinners  make  so  light  P  On 
the  contrary,  how  innumerable  are  the  triumphs  of  the  flesh  over 
the  followers  of  Christ  ;  and  how  certain  is  it,  that  but  for  his 
grace  these  triumphs  of  the  flesh  over  his  followers  would  be  uni¬ 
versal  and  final ! 

4.  In  a  peculiar  sense  the  Flesh  is  our  inward  enemy.  The 

1  1  Cor.,  ii.  14.  3  Gal.,  v.  24. 

4  GaL,  v.  16,  11.  5  GaL  v.  19-23. 


3  Rom.,  vi.  6. 


CHAP.  XVII.]  THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE. 


339 


other  two,  and  especially  the  World,  are  more  particularly  out¬ 
ward  enemies.  If  we  had  crucified  the  Flesh,  the  sorest  part  of 
our  warfare  would  be  accomplished.  As  things  are,  with  our  own 
hearts  but  imperfectly  sanctified,  and  surrounded  by  fellow-crea¬ 
tures  the  great  mass  of  whom  are  such  as  we  were  when  we  were 
servants  of  sin,  and  all  the  remainder  are  nearly  as  imperfectly 
sanctified  as  we  are  ourselves  ;  the  advantages  we  derive  from 
our  fellow-soldiers  who  cannot  protect  themselves,  can  offer  to  us 
no  adequate  security — while  the  perils  with  which  our  fellow- 
sinners  threaten  us,  are  instant,  fatal,  and  innumerable.  By  the 
allurements  of  vice — by  the  pollution  of  evil  example — by  the 
seduction  of  all  sinful  indulgences — by  the  perversion  of  all  false 
teaching— by  flattering  every  unruly  passion — by  opposing  and 
discouraging  us  in  all  duty — by  threats,  by  violence,  by  robbery, 
by  persecution,  by  death  itself ;  alas  !  by  how  many  countless 
and  nameless  ways,  are  God’s  children  put  in  jeopardy  by  the 
enmity  of  the  World  !  Be  ye  not  conformed  to  this  world — is 
the  express  command  of  God — but  be  transformed  by  the  renew- 
ing  of  your  mind,  that  ye  may  prove  what  is  that  good,  and  ac¬ 
ceptable,  and  perfect  will  of  God.1  If  any  man  love  the  world, 
the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.2  The  friendship  of  the 
world  is  enmity  with  God  :  whosoever  therefore  will  be  a  friend 
of  the  world  is  the  enemy  of  God.3  And  our  Saviour  explains 
the  reason  of  statements  which  seem  so  remarkable  to  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  the  world.  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world,  therefore 
the  world  hateth  you  ;  ye  know  that  it  hated  me  before  it  hated 
you.4  The  actual  posture  of  the  world  is,  that  it  is  in  universal 
revolt  against  God — that  it  lies  under  his  wrath  and  curse — that 
it  has  crucified  his  Son  whom  he  sent  to  redeem  it,  and  murdered 
his  saints  of  whom  it  was  not  worthy — and  that  it  is  kept  in 
store  by  God,  reserved  unto  fire  against  the  day  of  judgment  and 
perdition  of  ungodly  men.5  The  actual  relation  of  God’s  children 
to  it  is,  that  they  constitute  a  Kingdom  under  Messiah  the 
Prince,  which,  though  in  the  world,  is  not  of  it ;  a  kingdom 
which,  through  grace,  they  are  appointed  to  maintain  and  to  ad¬ 
vance  through  all  ages,  while  God  shall  remove  every  diadem, 
and  take  off  every  crown,  and  exalt  him  that  is  low,  and  abase 
him  that  is  high,  and  overturn  till  nothing  that  can  be  shaken 

i  Rom.,  xii.  2.  2  1  John,  ii.  15.  3  James,  iv.  4. 

4  John,  xv.  18,  19;  xvii.  19.  5  2  Peter,  iii.  7. 


340 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


is  left,  and  shake  heaven  and  earth  :  and  then  he  whose  right  it 
is  shall  come — and  God  will  give  it  him.1  Wherefore  our  very 
faith  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world  :2  which,  by  the 
cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  crucified  unto  us,  and  we  unto 
it.5  Considered  in  this  light,  our  Spiritual  Warfare  with  this 
great  enemy  of  our  salvation,  has  two  aspects,  both  of  which  are 
eminently  peculiar  to  us  as  soldiers  of  the  cross.  The  first  is, 
that  our  duty  to  Christ  obliges  us  to  discharge  with  perfect 
simplicity  and  fidelity,  every  obligation  binding  upon  us  with 
reference  to  our  relations  in  this  ruined  world  ;  thereby  at  once 
acquitting  our  own  souls,  and  adorning  the  doctrine  we  profess. 
The  other  is,  that  the  same  duty  obliges  us  to  acquit  ourselves  as 
good  soldiers,  in  our  endeavours  to  recover  the  dominion  of  our 
Lord  over  our  rebellious  fellow-creatures,  to  their  unspeakable 
blessedness,  and  to  the  glory  of  his  great  name.  Bo  that,  through 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  the  grace,  knowledge,  and  wisdom  of 
God,  the  salvation  of  our  own  soul  is  grounded  in  our  Spiritual 
Warfare  with  the  Flesh  ;  and  in  like  manner  the  salvation  of 
others,  through  our  endeavours,  is  grounded  in  our  Spiritual  War¬ 
fare  with  the  World. 

5.  It  is  under  the  banner  of  Satan,  that  the  Flesh  and  the 
World  both  assail  the  followers  of  Christ.  He  is  called  the  god 
of  this  world,  and  is  declared  to  be  the  author  of  that  blindness  of 
mind  of  those  wdio  believe  not  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ, 
through  which  they  are  lost.4  The  Lord  Jesus,  speaking  of  the 
effects  of  his  crucifixion,  declared  that  one  of  them  would  be  the 
casting  out  of  the  prince  of  this  world  :5  and  we  are  told  it  was 
he  who  put  it  into  the  heart  of  Judas  Iscariot  to  betray  him 
he  whom  Jesus  led  captive  when  he  ascended  up  on  high,  openly 
triumphing  over  him.7  This  great  and  wicked  Spirit,  the  leader 
of  the  revolt  in  heaven — the  seducer  of  our  first  parents — the  im¬ 
placable  enemy  of  the  Saviour  of  men — is  represented  through¬ 
out  the  Scriptures  as  having  thrown  off*  all  allegiance  to  God,  and 
as  being  actuated  by  relentless  hate  against  the  whole  family  of 
man,  and  most  especially  against  God's  Elect  from  amongst 
our  fallen  race.  By  the  fall  of  man — of  which  his  temptation 
was  the  procuring  cause — he  acquired  dominion  over  the  world 

1  Ezek.,  xxi.  26,  27 ;  Heb.,  xii,  26-28.  2  1  John,  v.  4.  3  Gal.,  vi.  14. 

4  2  Cor.,  iv.  3,  4.  5  John,  xii.  31. 

J  John,  xiii.  2.  7  Eph.,  iv.  8 ;  CoL,  ii.  15. 


CHAP.  XVII.]  THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE.  341 

and  over  the  human  race  :  a  dominion  defeated  and  absolutely 
annulled  by  the  sentence  of  God,  so  far  as  his  Elect  were  con¬ 
cerned — and  limited  by  the  same  sentence  so  far  as  the  world 
was  concerned — but  left  untouched  so  far  as  related  to  all  the 
obstinately  impenitent.1  No  portion  of  this  wonderful  sentence 
of  God,  rendered  after  the  breach  of  the  Covenant  of  Works — 
and  to  be  reviewed  at  the  day  of  judgment — was  more  precise, 
than  the  decree  of  eternal  enmity  between  Christ  and  his  follow¬ 
ers  on  one  part,  and  the  Devil  and  his  children  on  the  other.2 
Quenchless  hate  and  deadly  warfare  between  this  primeval  mur¬ 
derer,  liar,  and  seducer,  and  every  soldier  of  the  cross  of  Christ, 
is  as  much  a  part  of  that  soldier's  divine  vocation,  as  it  is  a  part 
of  it  to  follow  the  Captain  of  his  salvation.  And  he  may  as  con¬ 
fidently  expect  the  Devil  to  torment  him  with  temptations,  to 
assail  him  with  accusations,  to  overwhelm  him  with  terrors  and 
alarms,  and  to  stir  up  the  flesh  and  the  world  against  him  ;  as 
he  sincerely  endeavours  to  follow  Jesus  in  the  regeneration.  Nor 
is  there  any  security  for  us,  but  in  open,  manful,  and  universal 
combat.  To  have  peace  with  the  flesh,  it  must  be  crucified  :  to 
have  safety  with  the  world,  it  must  be  overcome  :  the  Devil  flies 
from  us  only  when  we  resist  him,  stedfast  in  the  faith.3  In  all 
these  things  it  is  through  him  that  loved  us,  that  we  are  more 
than  conquerors.4  And  they  who  lift  up  the  song  of  triumph, 
when  Michael  and  his  angels  finally  cast  out  the  great  dragon 
and  his  angels ;  are  they  who  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their  testimony  ;  and  they  loved  not 
their  lives  unto  the  death.5 

6.  In  this  warfare  for  our  souls,  Repentance  toward  God,  and 
Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  are  as  conspicuous  as  they 
are  in  every  other  part  of  our  salvation.  Here,  as  everywhere, 
these  great  graces  of  the  Spirit,  these  fundamental  Offices  of  the 
Christian  life — decide  our  destiny.  With  a  living  Faith  in 
Christ,  the  Flesh,  the  World,  and  the  Devil  can  do  no  more  than 
hurry  us  to  our  Father's  house,  or  secure  for  us  there  a  brighter 
crown.  For  such  ends,  the  loss  of  all  things  may  well  be  counted 
gain.  Or  if  they  cleave  us  down — our  courage  and  our  strength 
return  with  the  first  pang  of  true  Repentance  :  and  then  our 
armour  of  light  blazes  again  in  the  thick  of  the  fight.  Where- 

1  Gen.,  iii.  15-19;  Rom.,  viii.  19-23.  2  Gen.,  iii.  15. 

3  1  Pet.,  v.  9 ;  James,  iv.  1.  4  Rom.,  viii.  37. 


5  Rev.,  xii.  11. 


342  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

fore,  let  us  take  unto  us  the  whole  armour  of  God,  that  we 
may  be  able  to  withstand  in  the  evil  day,  and  having  done  all 
to  stand.  Having  our  loins  girt  about  with  truth,  and  having 
on  the  breastplate  of  righteousness,  and  our  feet  shod  with  the 
preparation  of  the  Gospel  of  peace  ;  above  all,  taking  the  shield 
of  faith,  wherewith  we  shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts 
of  the  wicked  :  taking,  also,  the  helmet  of  salvation,  and  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God  :  praying  always 
with  all  prayer  and  supplication  in  the  Spirit,  and  watching 
thereunto  with  all  perseverance  and  supplication  for  all  saints. 
For  we  wrestle  not  in  a  Warfare  that  is  carnal — but  against 
principalities,  against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of 
this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places  :  and  so 
the  weapons  of  our  Warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through 
God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds.1 

7.  It  is  the  universal  principle  of  our  Christian  life,  that  in 
proportion  as  the  sufferings  of  Christ  abound  in  us,  so  also  our 
consolation  aboundeth  by  Christ.2  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore, 
that  we  should  even  glory  in  tribulations,  since  we  know  that 
tribulation  worketh  patience,  and  patience  experience,  and  expe¬ 
rience  hope,  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed  ;  because  the  love 
of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is 
given  unto  us.3  My  grace,  said  our  Lord,  is  sufficient  for  thee  : 
for  my  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness.4  The  first  response 
of  his  servant  was,  I  glory  in  my  infirmities,  that  the  power  of 
Christ  may  rest  upon  me  :5  his  habitual  response  was,  I  can  do 
all  things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me  :6  and  his  ma¬ 
tured  and  final  testimony  was,  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us 
the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.7  This  is  the  career 
of  a  true  soldier  of  the  cross  :  the  path  of  the  just,  like  the  shin¬ 
ing  light,  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day. 
Though  there  be  few  who  even  approach  very  near  to  this  sublime 
standard,  none  apparently,  who  are  not  many  times  discomfited 
by  their  spiritual  enemies,  many  needing  from  mere  weakness  to 
be  borne  in  the  bosom  of  the  good  Shepherd  of  our  souls,  and 
nearly  all  to  be  led  gently  along  by  his  hand  :  nevertheless  there 
is  not  one  of  the  innumerable  multitude,  wdio  will  be  finally  van¬ 
quished  and  destroyed  by  God's  enemies  and  theirs.  It  is  not 

1  Eph.,  vi.  13-18;  2  Cor.,  x.  4.  2  2  Cor.,  i.  5.  3  Rom.,  v.  3-5. 

«  2  Cor.,  xii.  9.  5  2  Cor.,  xii.  9.  6  Phi].,  iv.  13.  7  1  Cor.,  xv.  57. 


CHAP.  XVII.]  THE  SPIRITUAL  WARFARE. 


348 


possible  for  us  to  understand  bow,  as  the  result  of  sucb  a  career, 
such  a  probation  as  I  have  attempted  to  trace,  any  should  escape 
destruction,  except  upon  the  conditions  which  actually  exist,  and 
by  means  of  the  forces  which  are  actually  applied  ;  nor  yet,  upon 
those  conditions,  and  under  the  application  of  those  forces,  how 
any  could  perish.  Without  the  divine  support  continually  given 
to  believers  and  accepted  by  them,  even  they  must  be  destroyed. 
When  judgment  begins  at  the  house  of  God,  what  shall  the  end 
of  them  be  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  God  ?  And  if  the  right¬ 
eous  scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall  the  ungodly  and  the  sinner 
appear  P1  And  yet,  how  can  the  righteous  perish,  when  they 
have  a  throne  of  divine  grace  to  which  they  may  always  come 
boldly,  and  at  which  they  may  obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace  to 
help  in  time  of  need  ?'2  Nay,  when  God  himself  is  their  refuge 
and  strength — a  very  present  help  in  trouble  ?*  To  him  that 
overcometh,  is  the  glorious  promise  of  the  exalted  Saviour,  I  will 
give  to  sit  with  me  in  my  throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame  and 
am  set  down  with  my  Father  in  his  throne.4 

1  1  Pet.,  iv.  17,  18.  2  Heb.,  iv.  16.  s  Psalm  xlvi.  1.  4  Rev.,  iii.  21. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE  01'.  FAITH  AND  DUTY. 

I.  1.  Relation  of  the  divine  Word  to  the  divine  Life  in  the  human  Soul. — 2.  All  Law 
implies  the  Existence  both  of  the  Author  of  it,  and  the  Subject  of  it. — 3.  Infinite 
Lawgiver :  Discovery,  Comprehension,  and  Use  of  any  and  whatever  Law  of  God. 
— 4.  Regulative  Principles  of  Universal  Morality:  their  Nature,  Certainty,  Origin, 
and  Obligation. — 5.  Supremacy  of  the  Moral  Sense  in  Fallen  Man  :  Supremacy  of 
the  Moral  Law  in  the  Universe:  The  Saviour. — 6.  Relation  of  the  Moral  Law  to 
the  Matter  and  the  Form  of  Salvation:  Infinite  Grace. — 7.  Indispensable  Neces¬ 
sity  to  Fallen  Man  of  divine  Guidance  and  Support  in  the  Way  of  Life. — 8.  Su¬ 
preme  Relation  of  the  Revealed  Will  of  God  to  Salvation :  Infallible  Rule  of  Faith 
and  Obedience. — II.  1.  The  true  End  of  our  Existence,  and  the  Mode  of  attain¬ 
ing  it,  taught  only  and  taught  fully  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures. — 2.  What  we  ought 
to  believe  concerning  God,  considered  as  the  Saviour  of  Sinners,  is  matter  of  pure 
Revelation. — 3.  That  Revelation  the  Infallible  Rule  of  Faith:  Its  Completeness 
and  Efficacy. — 4.  Relation  of  Righteousness  to  Faith — Truth  to  Duty:  the  Word 
of  God  the  Infallible  Rule  of  the  New  Obedience. — 5.  Divine  Restatement  of  the 
Moral  Law,  and  divine  Regeneration  of  the  human  Soul :  The  Power  of  G  od  unto 
Salvation. — 6.  All  the  Work  and  all  the  Institutions  of  God,  have  Relevancy  to 
the  Faith  and  Righteousness  revealed  by  him,  and  to  the  Rule  thereof. — 7.  The 
Saviour  of  the  World  the  central  Object  of  all  Truth  revealed  to  our  Faith,  and 
of  all  Duty  required  by  the  Moral  Law. — 8.  The  Sum  and  Scope  of  the  Moral  Law, 
considered  with  direct  Reference  to  Christ,  and  to  those  who  believe  on  him. — 
9.  Mediatorial  Work  of  Christ — Universal  and  Unalterable  Law  of  God — Infallible 
Rule  of  Faith  and  Practice — Infinite  Righteousness  and  Grace  of  God. — 10.  Posi¬ 
tion  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  as  thus  ascertained. 

I. — 1.  It  has  been  proved,  and  repeatedly  stated,  that  man 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  and  abiding  in  that  condition, 
would  have  perceived  habitually  what  was  true,  and  chosen  what 
was  good,  and  thus  would  have  found  the  habitual  service  and 
enjoyment  of  God,  his  natural  and  his  blessed  condition  in  a 
universe  free  from  sin.  It  has  also  been  proved,  and  repeatedly 
stated,  that  even  in  that  condition  of  sinless  purity,  unclouded 
reason,  and  abounding  felicity,  man,  being  fallible,  and  dependent 
on  God  in  every  sense,  could  not,  of  himself,  and  if  strictly  tried, 
have  perpetually  maintained  his  condition,  much  less  risen  to  a 
higher  state  of  being.  God,  who  was  the  fountain  of  his  being, 


345 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE. 

must  also  have  been  the  fountain  to  him  of  light  and  strength. 
We  cannot  conceive  of  a  created  being  who  is  not  dependent 
upon  God,  and,  as  compared  with  him,  imperfect  and  fallible  ; 
nor  can  we  conceive  that  an  imperfect  and  fallible  creature,  can 
dispense  with  the  perpetual  presence  and  fruition  of  God  in  the 
pursuit  of  what  is  true  and  good,  any  more  than  a  created  and 
dependent  being  can  dispense  with  him  and  live.  How  much 
more  obvious  is  this  necessity  for  divine  light  and  strength  when, 
instead  of  being  merely  fallible,  we  are  actually  fallen  and  de¬ 
praved  !  Dependent,  in  our  first  estate,  upon  those  communi¬ 
cations  of  God's  grace  whereby  his  image  should  be  maintained 
in  a  fallible  soul  which  had  been  created  in  his  likeness,  and  had 
not  yet  lost  it ;  how  much  more  are  we  dependent  on  him  now,  in 
order  that  we  may  know  with  certainty  what  is  true  and  what  is 
good,  and  may  embrace  them  both  with  fervour  and  constancy  ! 
Creatures  of  an  infinite  God,  we  cannot,  if  we  would,  extricate 
ourselves  from  his  infinite  dominion.  Objects  of  the  love  of  an 
infinite  Saviour,  why  should  we  consummate  our  ruin,  by  reject¬ 
ing  him  who  provides  for  us  an  ability  in  itself  divine  ?  It  is  in 
him  alone  that  lost  men  are  furnished  at  once  with  the  ability 
and  the  way  of  eternal  life.  And  the  immediate  object  of  this 
chapter  is  to  point  out  the  supreme  relation  which  his  blessed 
word  bears  to  the  support  and  guidance  of  that  life  of  God  in  our 
souls,  which  manifests  itself  in  nothing  more  decisively,  than  in 
accepting  that  word  as  the  only  Infallible  Buie  of  all  Faith  and 
all  Duty;  that  is,  of  all  Truth  and  all  Good  unto  salvation.  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you — these  are  the  words  of  J esus — he  that 
heareth  my  word,  and  believetli  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  ever¬ 
lasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation  ;  but  is  passed 
from  death  unto  life.1 

2.  Independently  of  those  permanent  and  regulative  principles 
which  we  call  laws ,  which  the  human  mind,  by  its  very  constitu¬ 
tion,  is  constantly  impelled  to  search  for  and  to  accept  in  all  things 
there  could  exist  no  permanent  relation  between  one  thing  and 
another — nothing  which  could  be  called  science  ;  knowledge  could 
never  have  increased,  if  indeed  it  could  have  existed  in  any  proper 
sense — -and  the  very  idea  of  duty  would  disappear.  They  belong 
so  decisively  to  the  very  essence  of  the  whole  order  of  the  uni¬ 
verse,  and  enter  so  fundamentally  into  the  constitution  of  our; 

1  John,  v.  24. 


346  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

own  nature,  that  they  are  manifested  in  every  thing  that  ex¬ 
ists,  and  in  every  act  of  our  lives  their  existenee  is  implied, 
and  thought  itself  is  regulated  by  their  irresistible  control. 
These  permanent  and  regulative  principles,  in  one  form  or 
other  pervading  all  things,  are  in  the  strictest  sense — laivs  :  nor 
does  it  alter  the  case  at  all  to  call  them  laws  of  nature — laws  of 
thought — laws  of  morals — laws  of  this  or  that  particular  science. 
They  are  laws  whose  existence  implies,  on  one  side,  the  existence 
of  him  who  gave  them,  and,  on  the  other  side,  the  existence  of 
the  subject  of  them,  the  object  upon  which  they  operate.  Our 
ability  to  discern,  to  classify,  and  to  use  them,  implies  the  exis¬ 
tence  of  our  own  rational  nature  :  and  our  total  inability  to 
create,  to  produce,  or  to  impress  a  new  one  upon  any  subject,  or 
with  reference  to  any  existing  thing,  implies  the  complete  de¬ 
pendence  of  our  own  being.  In  themselves,  and  in  their  relations 
to  us  as  rational  and  dependent  beings,  they  demonstrate  a  Cre¬ 
ator  and  Ruler  of  the  universe,  distinct  from  the  universe  itself. 
They  do  this  in  the  most  general  and  absolute  manner,  altogether 
beside  any  question  of  their  own  special  nature.  For,  while  it  is 
true  that  the  special  object  and  mode  of  operation  of  the  law, 
may  be  a  conclusive  evidence  of  the  character  of  him  who  gave 
the  law  ;  it  is  the  existence  of  the  law  itself,  that  puts  beyond 
dispute  the  existence  of  him  who  gave  it.  These  laws  are  the 
product  of  an  intellect,  a  will,  and  a  power  competent  to  produce 
them,  and  the  universe,  from  whose  essence  and  operation  they 
are  inseparable.  Arid  operating  under  an  unchangeable  purpose, 
for  definite,  unalterable,  and  illimitable  ends,  through  all  time, 
upon  all  existence,  throughout  a  boundless  universe  :  we  are  not 
only  warranted,  but  forced,  to  attribute  them  to  a  lawgiver  and 
ruler  who  is  infinite  and  eternal.  The  whole  universe,  all  exis¬ 
tence  upon  which  these  laws  operate,  is  shown  by  the  fact  of  that 
operation,  to  be  dependent  and  created  :  it  is  all  regulated  by 
those  laws — but  produced  and  sustained,  not  by  the  laws,  but  by 
him  who  gave  them.  The  moment  we  conceive  of  independent 
and  uncreated  existence,  the  idea  of  law,  in  the  strict  sense, 
regulative  of  it — disappears  :  because,  otherwise,  something  is 
before  and  above  independent  and  uncreated  existence — which  is 
absurd,  since  whatever  is  independent  and  uncreated,  is  eternal. 
In  like  manner,  if  we  could  think  either  the  author  of  law,  or  the 
.subject  of  law,  out  of  existence,  the  idea  of  law  itself  neces- 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE.  347 

sarily  vanishes.  If  we  can  be  certain  that  any  thing  exists  in  the 
universe,  which  we  can  properly  call  law,  and  which  we  know 
exists  as  a  permanent,  regulative  principle  in  the  universe  ;  then 
it  involves  a  direct  contradiction  to  deny  the  existence  of  the 
maker  of  that  law — and  another  contradiction  to  deny  the  de¬ 
pendent  and,  therefore,  created  existence  of  the  subject  of  that 
law.  In  effect,  we  cannot  construe  to  ourselves  the  existence  of 
the  universe  of  which  we  form  a  part,  or  the  action  of  any  thing 
we  behold  in  it,  without  an  infinite  lawgiver  and  Creator  result¬ 
ing  on  one  side,  and  our  own  dependence  and  accountability  re¬ 
sulting,  on  the  other  side.1  Such  considerations  are  completely 
decisive  with  reference  to  our  own  relations  to  God,  whether 
considered  with  regard  to  what  we  ought  to  believe  concerning 
him,  or  to  what  duty  he  requires  of  us.  Nor  does  it  affect  their 
conclusiveness  in  the  smallest  degree,  whether  we  regard  them 
from  the  point  of  view  of  Natural  Religion  or  that  of  Revealed 
Religion — from  our  stand-point  as  creatures,  or  from  our  stand¬ 
point  as  sinners.  It  is  impossible  to  deny  the  existence  of  per¬ 
manent  and  regulative  principles,  pervading  the  universe  with 
an  intimate,  uniform,  and  irresistible  force  :  but  the  moment  we 
admit  their  existence,  what  follows  concerning  ourselves  is,  the 
absolute  certainty  that  we  must  seek  in  the  author  of  those  laws 
for  the  rule  of  our  own  conduct,  and  find  in  him  the  portion  of 
our  own  souls. 

3.  The  discovery  and  full  understanding  by  us,  of  these  great 
laws  imposed  upon  all  things  by  the  Infinite  Creator  and  Ruler 
of  them  all,  is  a  matter  altogether  different  from  the  nature  and 
significance  of  the  laws  themselves.  Their  existence  and  opera¬ 
tion,  in  most  things,  are  completely  independent  of  us — and  in 
all  things  the  utmost  extent  of  our  ability,  in  our  highest  state 
of  knowledge,  is  a  certain  conformity,  either  instinctive  or  vol¬ 
untary,  unto  them — and  thereby  a  certain  use  and  application 
of  them.  The  discovery,  the  comprehension,  and  the  voluntary 
use  of  them,  are  amongst  the  highest  distinctions  of  our  spiritual 
and  rational  nature  :  and  yet  the  slow  and  irregular  progress  of 
these  conquests  of  our  highest  intelligence,  is  one  of  the  most  de¬ 
cisive  proofs  of  our  utter  insignificance,  when  compared  with  the 
great  lawgiver.  There  is  not  a  single  department  of  knowledge 
in  which  our  discoveries  can  be  said,  with  confidence,  to  have 

1  Rom.,  i.  18-24;  ii.  13-16. 


348  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

reached  the  end  ;  while  in  most,  our  course  of  discovery  and  use 
is  only  fairly  begun,  nor  has  our  total  progress  carried  us  far 
enough  to  enable  us  to  say  we  are  even  aware  of  the  existence  of 
all.  Moreover,  how  small  is  the  proportion  of  our  race  that  keeps 
pace  with  this  slow  and  irregular  progress  of  the  race  in  know¬ 
ledge  ;  how  marvellously  limited  has  been  the  number  of  those 
who  have  either  permanently  advanced  the  boundaries  of  know¬ 
ledge,  or  maintained  it  in  the  position  it  had  reached  ;  and  how 
constantly  has  this  small  number  been  indebted  for  the  glory  of 
being  benefactors  of  mankind,  to  the  special  providence  of  God, 
or  the  peculiar  endowments  with  which  he  has  distinguished 
them  !  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  whole  progress  is  a 
progress  in  truth ,  and  towards  truth ,  and  by  means  of  truth ;  a 
progress  conducting  us  farther  and  farther  from  ignorance  and 
error — and  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  fountain  of  ail  truth.  No 
matter  how  various  may  be  the  methods  resorted  to — or  how  di¬ 
verse  the  subjects  to  which  our  enquiries  are  directed — truth  is 
the  one  great  object  of  discovery  in  all — truth  is  the  one  great 
rule  of  belief  in  all — truth  is  the  one  great  relation  in  all,  be¬ 
tween  us  as  knowing,  and  all  things  as  capable  of  being  known. 
Upon  our  ability  to  perceive  the  true,  to  comprehend  it  as  mani¬ 
fested,  and  to  use  it  according  to  its  owm  glorious  nature,  every 
issue  of  our  rational  and  moral  nature  depends.  Knowledge, 
culture,  power,  advancement — each  according  to  its  kind,  and 
after  its  manner — ought  to  follow  the  reception  of  its  natural  ali¬ 
ment  by  the  soul,  as  health,  and  beauty,  and  strength  follow  the 
proper  nourishment  of  the  body.  And  these  triumphs  of  feeble 
man,  as  he  discovers,  and  comprehends,  and  accords  with  the 
lawgiver  ot  the  universe,  ought  to  increase  his  dominion  over  na¬ 
ture — ought  to  advance  his  power  in  all  that  is  good,  and  great, 
and  useful,  and  beautiful — ought  to  secure  his  high  personal  de¬ 
velopment  and  public  freedom  and  civilization — ought  to  fit  and 
incite  him  to  higher  endeavours  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-men 
and  the  glory  of  God — ought  to  bless,  and  purify,  and  exalt  him, 
both  in  this  life  and  in  the  life  to  come.  It  is  not  by  denying 
God  and  casting  him  off — that  progress  is  possible  :  it  is  by  dis¬ 
covering  him  and  being  conformed  unto  him.  To  be  lawless ,  is, 
to  us,  not  freedom,  but  perdition— and  to  the  universe  it  is  an¬ 
nihilation. 

4.  It  is  when  we  extricate  ourselves  from  every  thing  but  the 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE, 


349 


consideration  of  the  moral  aspect  of  our  being,  that  these  uni¬ 
versal  truths  apply  with  the  most  intense  emphasis.  It  is  in  the 
moral  relations  of  truth,  that  the  true  becomes  the  good,  and 
reaches  the  highest  elevation  attainable  in  such  a  condition  as 
ours.  And  in  what  respect  do  those  great  regulative  principles 
of  universal  morality,  which  the  Creator  and  lawgiver  of  the  uni¬ 
verse  has  established,  differ,  as  to  their  origin,  their  perpetuity, 
and  their  unalterable  nature,  from  all  other  laws  according  to 
which  he  has  created  the  universe,  and  under  which  he  sustains 
and  governs  it  ?  That  there  are  such  laws  of  universal  morality, 
we  have  all  the  evidence  we  have  that  any  other  laws  exist  in  the 
universe  ;  and  that  they  are  of  perpetual  force,  we  have  all  the 
evidence  we  have  concerning  all  other  laws  of  God,  which  enter 
fundamentally  into  the  essence  of  things  ;  and  that  man  as  the 
peculiar  subject  of  these  laws  is  unavoidably  obliged  to  recognize 
and  obey  them,  we  have  all  the  evidence  we  have  that  the  pecu¬ 
liar  subjects  of  all  other  laws  of  God  are  absolutely  bound  and 
controlled  by  them.  But  in  this  case,  besides  having  all  the  evi¬ 
dence  that  exists  with  respect  to  every  other  universal  law  of 
God — and  all  the  means  of  ascertaining  what  these  laws  are,  that 
exist  with  reference  to  the  rest ;  there  are  other  sources  of  evi¬ 
dence  concerning  the  existence,  the  nature,  and  the  obligation 
of  these,  altogether  peculiar  to  them,  and  altogether  overwhelm¬ 
ing.  In  the  first  place,  God  in  the  very  creation  of  man,  wrote 
these  laws  in  his  nature  so  ineffaceably,  that  the  ruin  of  the  race 
by  the  fall  did  not  wholly  efface  them.  In  the  second  place,  the 
very  object  of  the  Covenant  of  Works  was  to  exalt  man  into  a 
condition  in  which  the  whole  race,  by  a  covenanted  right,  should 
live  in  the  perpetual  security,  felicity,  and  purity  of  a  perfect 
conformity  to  these  law's.  In  the  third  place,  the  existence  of 
these  laws  is  a  fact  of  positive  and  repeated  revelation  by  God  to 
man — -a  summary  of  them,  as  written  in  man’s  nature  when  he 
was  created,  was  afterwards  spoken  by  God,  and  written  on  tables 
of  stone  by  his  own  finger,  and  made  the  basis  of  his  written 
revelation  of  his  will — and  the  whole  way  of  life  whereby  it  was 
ever  possible  for  man  to  have  peace  with  God  always  involved 
them  as  the  rule  of  it.  In  the  fourth  place,  God  has  endowed 
man  with  a  conscience  accusing  or  else  excusing  him,  with  refer¬ 
ence  exclusively  to  his  moral  conduct  and  nature — and  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  state  and  operations  of  this  moral  faculty,  the 


350  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

relations  of  every  human  being  towards  God  are  determined — 
and  are  felt  by  every  one  to  be  so  both  really  and  righteously.  In 
the  fifth  place,  the  work  of  New  Creation  in  man  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  has  direct  relation  to  the  Moral  Law — and  the  renewed 
soul  has  no  characteristic  more  decisive  of  its  increased  conformity 
to  God,  than  the  restoration  to  it,  through  divine  grace,  of  con¬ 
formity  to  his  moral  image.1  If  then,  upon  the  evidences  which 
are  common  to  all  the  laws  of  God,  and  under  which  no  one  is 
capable  of  disallowing  any  of  the  rest — -we  are  forced  to  allow  the 
existence  of  his  Moral  Law,  which  is  his  transcendent  law — and 
to  admit  our  unavoidable  subjection  to  it :  how  incalculable,  may 
I  not  add  how  sublime,  does  the  certainty  of  it  and  the  glory  of 
it  become,  when  we  consider  those  proofs  and  manifestations  of 
it,  which  are  peculiarly  its  own  !  Thou  hast  magnified  thy  word 
— says  David — above  all  thy  name  !2  Surely  such  renown  was 
never  put  on  any  thing  besides — that  the  Son  of  God  should  die 
upon  the  cross,  to  magnify  it  and  make  it  honourable  !3 

5.  The  supremacy  of  the  moral  sense  in  fallen  man,  and  the 
supremacy  of  the  moral  law  in  the  universe,  constitute  that  fear¬ 
ful  problem  of  a  guilty  race  hastening  to  deserved  perdition — * 
manifesting  its  sense  of  its  guilt  by  every  invention  through 
which  it  seeks  to  propitiate  God,  and  yet  continually  heaping  up 
for  itself  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.  It  is  God  who  has 
found  a  way  to  solve  this  problem,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure 
at  once  the  highest  glory  of  his  name,  and  the  highest  blessed¬ 
ness  of  his  fallen  creatures.  Not  by  changing,  in  the  slightest 
degree,  the  nature  of  his  righteous  law,  or  reducing  in  the  small¬ 
est  particular  its  claims  upon  us,  and  its  dominion  over  us.  Not, 
on  the  other  hand,  by  mitigating  in  the  least  the  enormity  of 
our  guilt,  or  reversing  the  just  judgment  of  our  conscience  against 
ourselves.  But  by  bringing  in  and  working  out  for  us,  through 
the  incarnation,  obedience,  and  sacrifice  of  his  only  begotten  Son, 
an  infinite  and  everlasting  righteousness — transcending  all  that 
his  law  demanded  of  us ;  and  by  restoring  us  through  his  Spirit, 
by  a  new  and  heavenly  birth,  to  a  higher  participation  of  him  than 
we  possessed  before  our  fall.  It  is  we  that  are  changed  in  our 
nature  and  in  our  estate  :  God  has  not  changed — the  supremacy 
of  conscience  abides,  the  supremacy  of  the  moral  law  abides;  but 

i  Gen.,  i.  27;  ii.  8-17 ;  Exod.,  xx.;  Bom.,  ii.  11-16;  Epk.,  iv.  17-32. 

a  Psalm  cxxxviii.  2.  a  Isaiah,  xlii.  21. 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE.  351 

it  is  conscience  enlightened  and  purified  by  the  Spirit  and  word 
of  God — it  is  the  law  satisfied  by  the  obedience  and  sacrifice  of 
Christ,  whose  righteousness  is  both  imputed  to  us  and  wrought 
in  us — it  is  the  supreme  triumph  of  infinite  rectitude  and  grace 
combined. 

6.  In  all  this,  two  things  are  pre-eminent  :  our  restoration  to 
the  moral  image  of  God  as  the  matter  of  our  salvation,  and  the 
work  of  redemption  by  Jesus  Christ  as  the  method  of  it.  In 
both,  the  existence,  the  perfection,  the  supremacy  of  the  moral 
law  are  fundamentally  involved,  and  the  moral  perfections  of 
God  are  those  which  are  conspicuously  exhibited.  The  form, 
therefore,  in  which  universal  morality  has  been  always  binding 
upon  our  fallen  race,  had  direct  relation  to  the  Son  of  God  as  the 
Saviour  of  the  world  ;  the  supremacy  of  that  law,  independently 
of  him,  necessarily  involved  the  destruction  of  the  transgressor, 
and  the  supremacy  of  conscience  availed  only  as  the  testimony 
of  our  soul  to  the  righteousness  of  our  condemnation.  In  like 
manner,  the  only  form  in  which  conformity  to  the  moral  law  was 
ever  possible  to  fallen  man,  and  the  purity  and  felicity  which 
attend  upon  obedience  to  it  were  ever  attainable  by  any  trans¬ 
gressor,  was  through  our  union  with  him  who  was  delivered  for 
our  offences,  and  was  raised  again  for  our  justification.1  The 
keeping  of  the  commandments  of  God,  the  New  Creature,  and 
that  faith  which  works  by  love,  have  always  been  inseparable  :a 
and  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God,  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
is  the  only  righteousness  attainable  by  fallen  man,  which  is  com¬ 
patible  with  wisdom,  sanctification,  and  redemption.3  If,  there¬ 
fore,  the  knowledge  of  what  is  at  once  unchangeably  true  and 
unalterably  good,  and  the  practice  of  what  is  at  once  universally 
right,  obligatory,  and  blessed,  be  any  part,  much  less  the  sum,  of 
that  universal  morality  of  which  God  is  at  once  the  fountain  and 
the  lawgiver  ;  then  it  is  inconceivable  that  dependent  creatures, 
who  are  also  fallen  and  depraved  sinners,  can  adequately  know 
or  adequately  do  what  is  required  in  order  to  their  acceptance 
with  God  ;  unless  they  be  furnished  by  God  himself  with  an  in¬ 
fallible  rule  of  all  truth  and  all  duty  needful  for  their  salvation, 
and  unless  they  be  provided  by  God  himself  with  light  and  power 
adequate  to  the  discovery,  the  comprehension,  and  the  use  of 

1  Rom.,  iv.  25.  2  1  Cor.,  vii.  19;  Gal.,  v.  6 ;  vi.  15. 

3  Phil.,  iii.  9  ;  1  Cor.,  i.  30;  2  Cor.,  v.  21. 


352  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

that  divine  rule  of  truth  and  duty.  And  from  the  first  promise 
of  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  through  the  wliole  life  of  the  human 
race,  this  has  been  the  need  of  man,  and  the  supply  of  that  need 
the  course  ..of  divine  grace.  Instead  of  obscuring  these  simple 
and  august  truths,  it  magnifies  and  exalts  them,  that  the  cost  at 
which  they  have  been  practically  wrought  out  has  been  so  amaz¬ 
ing — that  the  divine  perfections  have  been  so  illustrated,  and  the 
divine  glory  so  augmented  by  the  display  of  those  perfections  to 
the  universe — and  that  the  redemption,  the  purification,  and  the 
everlasting  glory  and  blessedness  of  lost  sinners  have  been  the 
fruits  of  God’s  sovereign  grace  ! 

T.  In  the  treatise  on  the  Knowledge  of  God,  Objectively 
Considered,  I  have  devoted  one  Book  to  the  consideration  of  the 
sources  of  our  Knowledge  of  God,  and  to  what  was  designed 
to  be  an  exhaustive  statement  of  the  manifestations  which  he 
makes  of  himself  to  man.  Except  as  God  manifests  himself  to 
man,  he  is  not  a  subject  of  human  knowledge  :  in  whatever 
manner  he  does  manifest  himself  to  man,  we  are  under  the  high¬ 
est  obligations  to  use  all  diligence  that  we  may  apprehend 
him,  and  become  conformable  unto  him  as  known.  Supposing 
him  to  be  known — and  I  think  I  have  proved  that  he  may  be 
known  with  infallible  certainty  unto  salvation — then,  as  I  have 
also  proved,  his  will  made  known  to  us  considered  simply  as  he 
is  our  God  and  we  are  his  creatures,  and  still  more  his  will  con¬ 
cerning  us  considered  as  he  is  our  Saviour  and  we  are  his  sinful 
creatures — becomes  an  absolute  and  infallible  rule  of  all  duty  to 
us,  as  the  knowledge  derived  from  him,  through  the  manifesta¬ 
tions  he  makes  of  himself  to  us,  is  supreme  and  infallible  truth. 
In  God  himself,  therefore,  the  sum  of  all  truth  and  all  goodness, 
and  the  fountain  of  both  to  all  creatures,  we  his  sinful  creatures 
are  to  seek,  and  may  find,  an  infallible  rule  concerning  all  that 
man  ought  to  believe  concerning  him,  and  also  concerning  all 
duty  required  by  him  of  man.  It  is  easy  to  be  understood  that 
the  very  multiplicity  of  the  ways  in  which  the  Knowledge  of  God 
is  attainable  by  man,  may  be  abused  by  us  in  our  blindness,  our 
ignorance,  our  inattention,  and  our  depravity,  to  our  own  confu¬ 
sion  and  perplexity — setting  one  manifestation  of  God  against 
another,  confronting  one  exhibition  of  his  nature  and  will  against 
another,  arraying  one  record  of  eternal  truth  against  another.  It 
is  easy  to  understand  how  this  should  be  done  with  design,  through 


THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE. 


853 


CHAP.  XVIII.] 

the  wickedness  of  man,  and  how  it  should  he  done  through  igno¬ 
rance  and  mistake  even  with  the  design  of  honouring  God  ;  and 
the  history  of  all  human  conduct,  belief,  and  speculation,  is 
crowded  with  examples  in  both  kinds.  That  we  may  go  astray 
even  when  we  profess  to  take  God  for  our  teacher,  need  not  be 
denied  ;  but  that  we  need  not  do  so  in  the  matter  of  salvation, 
seeing  how  God  has  taught  us,  is  equally  sure.  What  we  practi¬ 
cally  need  is  the  reduction  into  a  form — divinely  certain  and 
divinely  authoritative — of  this  knowledge  of  God  concerning  the 
true  and  the  good,  unto  our  own  salvation  ;  a  rule  in  this  sense, 
whereby  we  may  assuredly  believe  according  to  the  infallible 
teaching  of  God,  assuredly  live  according  to  the  infinitely  right¬ 
eous  and  omnipotent  will  of  God  ;  and  so  believing  and  living, 
may  have  peace  with  our  own  conscience  and  with  God,  and  may 
obtain  everlasting  life.  Thanks  to  the  infinite  faithfulness  and 
condescension  of  God,  we  have  such  a  form,  such  a  rule,  of  truth 
and  duty  ! 

8.  Supposing  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
to  be  what  they  purport  to  be — they  contain  a  divine  revelation, 
and  are  themselves  a  divine  revelation,  of  all  that  man  needs  to 
know,  and  all  that  man  needs  to  he  and  do,  in  order  to  escape 
punishment  for  his  sins,  obtain  the  favour  of  God,  and  inherit 
everlasting  blessedness.1  That  these  divine  records  are  what  they 
claim  to  be,  has  been  accepted  as  unquestionable  by  every  right¬ 
eous  man  who  ever  came  to  the  knowledge  of  them,  from  the  first 
uttering  of  them  to  the  present  moment.  That  they  are  so,  I 
have  incidentally  advanced,  throughout  this  Treatise  and  the 
one  preceding  it,  many  considerations  which  seemed  to  me  con¬ 
clusive — and  I  purpose,  in  another  place,  to  condense  the  proof 
into  a  formal  statement.  In  them,  therefore,  is  that  absolute 
truth  unto  salvation,  besides  which  no  truth  unto  salvation  exists 
— and  that  absolute  and  unchangeable  morality,  besides  which 
God  requires  of  man  no  moral  act.  In  them,  the  will  of  God 
concerning  fallen  men  in  the  matter  of  salvation,  is  revealed  to 
our  faith  with  absolute  certainty,  infallible  truth,  and  divine  au¬ 
thority.  Whatever  knowledge  of  God  is  attainable  by  man. 
through  all  other  manifestations  of  himself  to  man,  so  far  as  any. 
of  it  is  indispensable  to  salvation,  is  reiterated  in  these  inspired 
writings  :  and  creation,  and  providence,  and  the  human  soul, 

1  Isaiah,  viii.  20 ;  2  Tim.,  iii.,  15,  16 ;  2  Pet.,  i.  19,  20. 


VOL.  II. 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


nay,  even  the  Word  made  Flesh,  and  the  author  of  the  New 
Creation — which  I  have  proved  are,  besides  the  inspired  word, 
the  remaining  manifestations  of  God,  are  therein  fully  explicated 
by  God,  with  reference  to  the  matter  of  our  faith,  our  duty,  and 
our  salvation.  This  is  the  aspect  in  which  the  question  of  a  per¬ 
fect  rule  of  faith  and  obedience — in  other  words  the  question  of 
truth  and  goodness— of  knowledge  and  of  moral  duty— presents 
itself,  under  the  Gospel  Church  State,  to  a  race  of  fallen  men,  of 
whom  the  grand  necessities  are  declared  to  be,  Repentance  toward 
God,  and  Faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.1  This  is  the  as¬ 
pect  in  which  that  same  supreme  question  is  presented  to  peni¬ 
tent  and  believing  sinners,  followers  of  the  Son  of  God,  to  whom 
the  constant  exhortation  is,  Grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.2  It  seems  to  me  impos¬ 
sible  to  doubt,  that  under  the  principles  discussed  and  the  facts 
proved,  the  result  is  demonstrated.  There  are  laws  pervading 
the  universe — amongst  the  rest  moral  laws  :  these  laws  imply 
God  the  lawgiver  and  man  the  self-conscious  subject  of  them  : 
these  laws  are  the  infallible  and  unalterable  rule  of  all  moral  con¬ 
duct — and  all  transgressors  must  perish  under  them  :  but  if  all 
men — being  fallen — are  transgressors,  and  God  in  infinite  mercy 
reveals  a  Saviour  to  them — and  therewith  restates  his  Moral  Law, 
and  makes  plain  its  relation  to  the  great  salvation,  and  to  Faith 
in  the  divine  Saviour :  then  that  permanent  revelation  becomes 
the  perfect  rule,  at  once  of  Faith  and  of  Obedience  to  fallen  men: 
it  is  the  exclusive  and  infallible  guide  in  all  divine  truth  and  all 
morality,  unto  salvation.  What  makes  the  point  demonstrated 
as  efficacious  as  it  is  clear  and  precise,  is  that  these  same  Scrip¬ 
tures  reveal  to  us  a  divine  interpreter  of  their  sense,  a  divine 
enforcer  of  their  power,  a  divine  agent  in  their  effectual  and 
saving  application  to  our  souls,  a  divine  witness  to  their  truth 
and  to  the  blessedness  they  not  only  reveal,  but  convey.  Im¬ 
pregnable  in  their  outward  evidences,  irresistible  in  their  inward 
evidences — we  pass  to  a  still  higher  domain  of  certainty  and  con¬ 
viction,  when  through  the  Spirit  of  God  abiding  in  the  renewed 
soul,  the  truth  of  God  becomes  the  very  life  of  it,  through  the 
unction,  the  demonstration  and  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.3 

IT.— 1.  These  blessed  Scriptures,  thus  shown  to  be  the  Infel- 

i  Acts,  xx.  21.  2  j  Poter;  iU>  18> 

3  Ezek.,  xxxvi.  26,  27  ;  Rom.,  viii.  9-17  ;  John,  xiv.  15-27. 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE.  355 

lible  Rule  of  our  Faith  and  Obedience,  teacli  us  with  great  clear¬ 
ness  that  being  the  dependent  and  fallen  creatures  of  an  infi¬ 
nitely  good,  wise,  powerful,  holy,  just  and  true  God — our  Cre¬ 
ator,  benefactor,  lawgiver,  redeemer,  and  judge,  the  chief  end  of 
our  existence  is,  to  glorify  him  and  to  enjoy  him  for  ever.1  That 
he  will  glorify  himself,  one  how  or  other,  by  us  and  by  all  the 
works  of  his  hands,  he  has  told  us  plainly — nor  can  any  one 
imagine  any  other  result  to  be  possible.2  But  there  is  an  amazing 
difference  between  being  made  through  our  sins  monuments  of 
the  infinite  justice  of  God,  to  the  praise  of  his  glory  ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  illustrating  the  riches  of  his  glory  as  vessels  of 
mercy,  by  such  lives  as  become  penitent  and  believing  followers 
of  his  only  begotten  Son.3  Nor  is  it  a  light  thing  to  note,  that 
the  enjoyment  of  God  by  us  is  indissolubly  united  with  that  ser¬ 
vice  of  him  and  that  conformity  to  him,  whereby  his  glory  is  il¬ 
lustrated  and  promoted.  The  knowledge,  therefore,  which  we 
need  in  order  to  accomplish  the  chief  end  of  our  existence  by  glo¬ 
rifying  and  enjoying  God  ;  is  summarily  comprehended  in  know¬ 
ing  what  is  true  concerning  God,  and  in  knowing  what  his  will  is 
concerning  us.  It  is  this  which  the  Scriptures  principally  teach 
• — their  very  sum  being,  what  man  ought  to  believe  concerning 
God,  and  what  duty  God  requires  of  man.4  That  we  have  all 
sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God,  and  are  sunk  into 
blindness  and  ignorance  of  divine  things,  and  are  naturally  de¬ 
praved  and  averse  to  what  is  spiritually  true  and  good,  and  are 
under  the  dominion  of  divers  lusts  and  many  evil  passions  ;  are 
but  terrible  facts,  making  more  clearly  manifest  our  need  of  such 
a  light  and  such  a  power,  as  God  has  provided  for  us  in  his  blessed 
word.  However  miserable  our  estate  and  our  way  may  be — here 
is  a  lamp  unto  our  feet,  a  light  upon  our  path,  the  man  of  our 
secret  counsel  :  and  it  is  a  true  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  accep¬ 
tation,  that  Jesus  Christ,  whom  those  Scriptures  reveal,  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners — even  the  chief.  Nor  does  the 
helpless  guilt  into  which  we  are  plunged — disabling  us  in  our 
own  strength,  either  to  accept  the  divine  teachings  which  would 
make  us  wise  unto  salvation,  or  to  reap  that  great  reward  which 
attends  the  keeping  of  the  divine  commandments  ;  shut  us  out 
from  the  hope  of  glorifying  and  enjoying  God,  except  as  we  reject 

i  Rom.,  xi.  36  ;  1  Cor.,  x.  31 ;  Ps.  lxxiii.  20-26;  John,  xvii.  22-24. 

3  Prov.,  xvi.  4.  3  Rom  ,  ix.  22,  23.  *  John,  xx.  31 ;  2  Tim.,  i.  13 ;  Ps.  cxix.  106. 


A 


356  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

him  who  is  the  end  of  the  law  itself  for  righteousness,  and  who 
is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.1  It  is  he  alone  who  has  glo¬ 
rified  God  by  a  perfect  obedience  :  it  is  he  alone  who  is  the  truth  : 
it  is  in  him  alone  that  the  true  and  the  good  are  made  available 
to  us.  As  long  as  his  words  remain,  All  that  the  Father  giveth 
me,  shall  come  to  me  ;  and  him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no 
wise  cast  out  ;2  every  true  disciple  of  his  should  be  ashamed  of 
his  unworthy  doubts  and  fears,  and  every  humble  seeker  of  him 
should  blush  at  his  unbelief. 

2.  Considering  the  Scriptures  as  the  perpetual  and  infallible 
rule,  in  general,  of  what  all  men  ought  to  believe  concerning 
God,  and  in  particular,  as  a  similar  rule  of  the  faith  of  all  Chris¬ 
tians  ;  the  light  in  which  they  present  themselves  would  seem  to 
be  too  clear  to  allow  the  possibility  of  doubt — if  the  world  had 
not  been  filled  with  dishonouring  allegations  of  their  insufficiency 
for  such  a  purpose.  I  omit  to  say  any  thing  here,  of  the  ability 
of  God  to  make  himself  intelligible  to  man  :  I  omit  all  proof 
that  he  himself  exhorts  and  commands  us  to  accept  and  believe 
his  word,  as  a  way  of  life  perfectly  clear  and  sure  :  I  omit  any 
use  of  the  overwhelming  demonstration,  that  from  the  beginning 
of  time  this  way  of  life  has  been  accepted  and  understood  in  ex¬ 
actly  the  same  sense,  as  to  every  thing  these  Scriptures  declare 
to  be  essential  to  salvation,  by  every  human  being  who,  there  is 
any  reason  to  believe,  was  ever  saved.3  What  supersedes,  in 
this  place,  the  necessity  of  urging  any  other  consideration — is 
the  subject-matter  itself,  viewed  as  an  object  of  human  know¬ 
ledge.  The  teachings  of  the  Scriptures,  touching  faith  and  touch¬ 
ing  morals,  are  widely  distinct  in  their  essential  nature.  The 
Moral  Law,  as  has  been  shown,  was  written  on  the  soul  of  man 
at  his  creation  :  the  sacred  writings,  as  has  been  shown,  do  not 
change  this  law — they  restate  it,  enforce  its  obligation  by  adding 
the  express  to  the  natural  authority  of  God,  and  explain  its  rela¬ 
tions  to  the  plan  of  salvation — the  relations  of  morality  to  grace. 
But  the  grace — the  faith — the  salvation  with  which  the  word  of 
God  is  replenished — every  thing  that  makes  it  a  Gospel — the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  :  none  of  them  were  written  on  the 
soul  of  man  at  his  creation — none  of  them  were  embraced  even 
dn  the  Covenant  of  Woeks.  All— absolutely  all— are  matters  of 
pure  Revelation.  Touching  the  whole  Plan  of  Salvation  by  Jesus 

Rom.,  x.  10;  John,  xiv.  6.  2  John,  vi.  37.  3  2  Tim.,  iii.  14-17. 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE.  357 

Christ — touching  all  that  is  known  concerning  God  by  means  of 
the  Revelation  of  this  plan — -touching  the  entire  relations  of  sal¬ 
vation  by  grace  to  the  moral  law,  as  well  as  to  every  thing  else 
in  the  universe  ;  all  the  knowledge  that  man  ever  possessed,  is 
revealed  knowledge — and  is  contained  in  the  sacred  Scriptures. 
It  is  all  knowledge  which  transcends  human  knowledge  ;  God 
alone  possessed  it — he  alone  could  reveal  it.  Of  two  things, 
therefore,  one  is  unavoidable.  Either  the  whole  of  what  purports 
to  be  a  divine  Revelation  of  a  new  and  living  way,  whereby  life 
and  immortality  are  brought  to  light  through  the  word  of  God, 
and  all  the  pretended  knowledge  of  God  and  of  salvation  con¬ 
nected  therewith,  is  one  vast  and  absolute  imposture  ;  or,  being 
true,  real,  and  divine,  it  is  itself  the  absolute  and  infallible  rule 
of  belief  in  all  that  it  reveals,  and  all  men,  in  general,  must  ac¬ 
cept  it  as  such,  and  Christians,  in  particular,  must  receive  it  as 
the  sole  ground  and  rule  of  Faith  unto  salvation.  It  is  true 
there  is  an  infallible  interpreter  of  it :  but  he  is  the  Holy  Ghost, 
who  is  the  author  of  it  all.  It  is  true,  each  rational  being,  using 
his  best  endeavours,  and  seeking  the  promised  divine  assistance, 
must  determine,  for  himself,  the  sense  of  the  word.  But  this  he 
would  have  to  do,  if  God  spoke  to  him  face  to  face  ;  this,  he  will 
be  obliged  to  do  concerning  the  final  sentence  which  will  be 
passed  on  him  ;  this,  he  cannot  avoid,  without  abnegating  his 
rational  and  moral  nature — and  staking  eternal  life  on  a  creature 
like  himself,  rather  than  on  the  God  who  created  him,  the  Sa¬ 
viour  who  redeemed  him,  and  the  Spirit  who  sanctifies  him. 

3.  When  we  reflect  that  the  very  possibility  of  religion  de¬ 
pends  on  the  existence  of  our  personal  intelligence  and  accounta¬ 
bility,  and  consider  that  truth  is  the  natural  aliment  of  the  human 
understanding,  and  that  the  pursuit,  the  acquisition,  and  the  en¬ 
joyment  of  it,  are  the  fittest  occupation  and  chief  glory  of  our 
nature  ;  how  greatly  should  we  magnify  the  name  of  God,  for 
that  he  has  opened  to  us  the  very  fountain  of  eternal  truth,  and 
revealed  it  to  us  in  himself,  so  that  there — precisely  where  we 
were  most  in  darkness,  and  where  it  most  behooved  us  to  get 
knowledge,  the  soul  is  delivered  from  its  bondage,  and  God,  who 
commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  in  our 
hearts  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  That  we  have  this  treasure  in  earthen 
vessels,  only  makes  it  the  more  evident  that  the  excellency  of  the 


358  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

power  is  of  God,  and  not  of  us.  This  manifestation  of  the  truth 
ought  to  commend  itself  to  every  man's  conscience,  in  the  sight 
of  God.  But  if  our  gosjoel  he  hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost : 
in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them 
which  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ, 
who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  shine  into  them.1  To  believe 
any  thing  that  is  not  true  upon  any  subject  whatever,  is  always 
a  manifold  evil  to  us,  and  is  always  a  proof  of  the  weakness  of 
our  fallen  nature.  But  to  believe  what  is  false  concerning  God 
himself,  wrho  is  the  sum  of  all  truth,  is  an  evil  the  whole  extent 
of  which  we  do  not  state,  when  we  say  that  in  this  way  the 
very  end  of  our  being,  in  glorifying  and  enjoying  him,  is  most 
thoroughly  frustrated.9  On  the  other  hand,  This,  says  the  Re¬ 
deemer,  is  eternal  life,  that  they  might  know  thee,  the  only  true 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent.3  These  Scriptures, 
therefore,  the  repository  of  that  saving  knowledge,  and  the  record 
of  that  eternal  life  to  which  it  conducts  us,  are  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  everyone  that  believeth.4  And  concerning  their 
efficacy  in  making  us  wise  unto  salvation,  he  who  judged  himself 
to  have  been  the  chief  of  sinners,  and  whom  God  has  made  one 
of  the  most  illustrious  channels  of  conveying  divine  knowledge 
to  man,  declares  that  the  word  of  God  is  quick  and  powerful, 
and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the 
dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  mar¬ 
row,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.5 
They  who,  in  the  greatness  of  their  gifts  and  their  attainments, 
perceive  the  most  clearly  those  boundaries  within  which  human 
knowledge  is  circumscribed,  are  the  readiest  to  acknowledge  our 
need  of  the  revelation  which  God  has  given  us  concerning  divine 
things  :  and  they  who  have  searched  the  deepest  into  this  ex¬ 
haustless  store  of  divine  knowledge  and  wisdom,  are  the  last  to 
claim  that  without  it  thev  could  have  found  the  wav  of  life,  or 
that  without  it  they  can  now  walk  in  the  way  it  has  disclosed. 
What  marvel  is  there  that  the  Christian  loves  his  Bible  with  a 
fervour,  which  not  even  an  enthusiast  in  his  devotion  to  any  other 
truth  can  comprehend  ?  Has  it  not  made  God,  of  whom  he  had 
some  dim  conceptions  before,  perfectly  known  to  him,  as  the 
fountain  of  all  truth,  all  goodness,  all  glory,  all  blessedness,  and 

1  2  Cor.,  iv.  2-7.  2  Psalm  L.  21,  22;  Frov.,  xiv.  12  ;  xvi.  25. 

3  John,  xvii.  3.  4  John,  v.  39;  Rom.,  i.  16.  5  Ileb.,  iv.  12. 


CHAP.  XVIII.] 


THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE. 


359 


as  such  his  God  in  Christ  ?  Has  it  not  made  Christ,  of  whom, 
independently  of  revelation,  he  knew  nothing,  and  in  whom  at 
first  he  saw  no  beauty  that  he  should  desire  him,  perfectly  known 
to  him  as  the  Saviour  of  his  soul,  and  his  satisfying  and  eternal 
portion  P  Has  it  not  taught  him  truths  so  high,  so  precious,  so 
full,  so  certain,  so  wonderful,  that  all  things  are  become  new,  and 
that  in  their  mighty  working  in  him  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  he  also  himself  has  become  a  new  creature  ?  Has  it  not 
been  unto  him  as  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  by  which  mighty  victo¬ 
ries  have  been  won  in  him,  and  won  through  him,  and  by  which 
mighty  victories  are  still  to  be  won — conquering  and  to  conquer? 
Surely  there  is  no  marvel  in  such  confidence  and  love  :  but  there 
is  wondrous  proof  therein.  Whether  this  divine  word  be  the  in¬ 
fallible  teacher  as  to  what  we  ought  to  believe  and  do,  let  the 
countless  millions  of  redeemed  souls  attest,  whose  faith  and  new 
obedience  it  was  the  instrument  to  beget,  the  means  to  nourish, 
and  the  rule  to  direct.  And  then  let  the  universe  be  searched  for 
a  single  soul,  that  knows  the  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he 
has  sent,  irrespective  of  the  divine  truth  herein  revealed ;  or  whose 
faith  and  life,  guided  by  any  other  rule,  availed  to  save  him  from 
the  wrath  to  come. 

4.  It  is  not  possible  to  conceive  of  any  thing  as  good,  irre¬ 
spective  of  its  nature  as  true  also  ;  so  that  evangelical  righteous¬ 
ness  has  its  root  in  revealed  truth,  no  less  really  than  universal 
morality  has  its  root  in  truth  cognizable  to  man  as  he  was  cre¬ 
ated.  The  performance  of  duty  cannot  precede  knowledge — 
knowledge  cannot  precede  truth — obedience  cannot  exist  inde¬ 
pendently  of  belief.  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  God 
but  yet  it  is  after  God  that  the  new  man  is  created  in  the  holi¬ 
ness  of  truth  :2  and,  therefore,  it  is  through  the  righteousness  of 
faith  that  sinners  are  saved,  and  become  heirs  of  all  the  promises  :3 
and  that  is  a  righteousness  which  is  itself  revealed,  from  faith  to 
faith.4  Hot  only,  therefore,  are  the  Scriptures  the  rule  of  all 
belief  touching  divine  things,  as  has  been  proved  ;  but,  explicitly, 
both  from  the  nature  of  the  case  and  from  their  own  express 
statements,  the  truth  they  reveal,  and  the  faith  they  require,  un¬ 
derlie  the  whole  of  that  New  Obedience  they  exact,  and  are  the 
foundation  of  it.  In  the  perfect  state  of  man,  to  say,  do  and 

1  Heb.,  xii.  14.  2  Eph.,  iv.  24;  ii.  10. 

3  Rom.,  iii.  22;  iv.  13.  4  Rom.,  i.  17. 


360  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

live,  might  bring  eternal  life  within  reach  of  him  who  already  knew 
God.  But  to  man,  fallen  and  ignorant  of  God,  no  other  wray  of 
life  is  possible,  except  that  the  just  shall  live  by  faith.1  The  dis¬ 
tinction  involves  the  whole  difference  between  the  Covenant  of 
Grace,  on  one  side,  and  the  Covenant  of  Works  and  the  primeval 
state  of  man,  on  the  other.  To  the  sinner,  obedience  to  God 
neither  is,  nor  can  be,  the  ground  of  his  interest  in  God  :  it  is 
the  fruit  and  evidence  of  that  interest.2  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,3 
are  the  words  with  which  God  prefaces  the  Moral  Law,  which  is 
the  rule  of  all  obedience  :  it  is  because  God  is  the  Lord,  and  our 
God  and  Redeemer,  that  we  are  bound  to  keep  all  his  command¬ 
ments.  The  part  of  sinners  is  to  accept  the  Saviour  sent  of  God, 
and  the  eternal  life  revealed  in  him  ;  and  then  the  obedience 
which  is  of  faith — embracing  every  commandment  of  God,  is  to 
be  accomplished  throughout  their  whole  life  of  faith,  repentance, 
the  new  obedience,  good  works,  and  the  spiritual  warfare.  Faith, 
so  far  from  making  the  law  void,  establishes  it.4  For  it  is  Christ 
Jesus  our  Saviour,  who  alone  has  perfectly  kept  the  law — it  is 
the  Holy  Ghost  our  Comforter  and  Sanctifier,  who  inspired  it 
all,  and  it  is  the  new  creature  alone  who  is  conformed  to  it.  The 
connection  between  the  true  Knowledge  of  God  and  true  obedi¬ 
ence  to  his  holy  law,  between  the  faith  and  the  duty,  of  both  of 
which  the  Scriptures  are  the  perfect  rule — is  in  its  very  nature 
such  as  to  make  the  true  obedience — the  duty — wholly  impossi¬ 
ble  irrespective  of  the  true  knowledge — the  faith.  Greatly,  there¬ 
fore,  as  we  err  if  we  imagine  true  religion  to  be  possible,  independ¬ 
ently  of  the  strict  observance  of  all  morality  ;  the  error  is  not 
less  grievous,  to  suppose  that  any  obedience  to  the  moral  law, 
which  will  avail  in  the  sight  of  God,  is  possible  to  us,  independ¬ 
ently  of  that  knowledge  of  him  which  is  revealed  in  Christ 
Jesus.  In  effect,  it  is  the  Scriptures  alone  which  teach  us  this — 
and  through  them,  both  ways,  we  are  complete  in  him  who  is 
the  head  of  all  principality  and  power.5  By  union  and  commu¬ 
nion  with  him,  we  are  made  partakers  of  the  riches  of  the  re¬ 
vealed  grace  of  God,  in  the  knowledge  of  his  adorable  name,  and 
the  holiness  of  his  blessed  law.  It  is  thus  that  the  riches  of 
Christ  are  indeed  unsearchable.® 

4  Rom.,  iii.  31. 

5  Col.,  ii.  10. 

6  Eph.,  ii.  8-12;  i.  3-12;  Col.,  i.  24-28. 


i  Gal.,  iii.  8-14. 

3  1  John,  ii.  3-5. 
8  Exod.,  xx.  2. 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE.  361 

5.  Manifestly,  where  no  law  is,  there  is  no  transgression.1 
Manifestly  again,  whosoever  committeth  sin  transgresseth  also 
the  law  :  for  sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law.2  And  yet  once 
more,  manifestly,  all  unrighteousness  is  sin.3  These  propositions, 
each  one  of  which  is  precisely  asserted  by  God,  and  clear  to  hu¬ 
man  reason  and  conscience,  are  decisive  of  the  whole  subject. 
Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.4  But  whether  we 
be  considered  as  the  creatures  of  God,  or  as  sinners  redeemed  by 
the  blood  of  Christ,  it  is  mockery  of  God  to  suppose  we  can  enjoy 
his  favour  while  we  lie  under  the  curse  of  his  law  ;  and  it  is 
mockery  of  us  to  say  we  can  have  any  fruition  of  him  while  our 
nature  revolts  at  that  which  he  requires  of  us,  and  is  prone  only 
to  that  which  is  forbidden  by  him.  Always,  therefore,  and  under 
all  possible  estates,  the  law  of  God  is  the  rule  of  life  and  death, 
the  rule  of  sin  and  holiness,  the  rule  of  happiness  and  misery 
unto  us.  It  avails  nothing  to  say  we  are  fallen  and  cannot  keep 
the  law  :  that  only  renders  more  obvious  our  necessity  for  union 
with  Christ,  who  did  perfectly  keep  it  on  our  behalf.  It  avails 
nothing  to  urge  that  being  united  to  Christ,  it  is  the  righteous¬ 
ness  of  faith  whereby  we  are  saved  :  for  the  New  Creature,  who 
alone  can  exercise  faith  in  Christ,  has  the  law  of  God  written 
anew  on  his  heart,  and  loves  that  law  and  abhors  himself  for  every 
transgression  of  it,  and  every  want  of  conformity  unto  it,  exactly 
in  proportion  to  his  growth  in  grace.  The  restoration  by  revela¬ 
tion  from  heaven  of  the  knowledge  of  that  law  effaced  in  man  by 
the  fall,  was  an  act  of  God,  with  reference  to  the  law,  responsive 
to  his  act  restoring  man  to  the  lost  image  of  himself.  Both  acts 
appertain  to  the  Covenant  of  Grace — both  have  direct  relation  to 
true  religion  and  the  salvation  of  the  soul — and  the  impiety  is 
no  greater  to  deny  the  new  birth,  than  to  assert  that  the  new 
birth  is  irrespective  of  our  moral  nature  and  obligations.  Now  it 
is  in  the  divine  word  that  all  these  truths  are  made  known  unto  us 
— this  divine  restoration  of  man,  this  divine  restatement  of  the 
moral  law,  these  divine  relations  between  the  one  and  the  other 
wonderful  work  of  God  :  and  in  it  they  are  so  made  known,  that, 
in  their  glorious  fulness,  they  become  the  Gospel  of  Christ— - 
which  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation.  There  only  is  a  divine 
Saviour  made  known  to  us,  in  whose  incarnation,  obedience,  and 
sacrifice,  a  divine  righteousness  is  attainable  by  us,  through  which 

1  Rom.,  iv.  15.  2  1  John,  iii.  4.  3  1  John,  v.  It.  4  Heb.,  xii.  14. 


362  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

oar  imperfect  obedience  is  acceptable  to  God  ;  there  only  is  a 
divine  agent  revealed  to  us,  by  whom  a  righteousness  fitting  us 
for  the  service  and  enjoyment  of  God  is  wrought  in  us,  these  very 
Scriptures  being,  as  has  been  proved,  the  instrument  of  the  sanc¬ 
tifying  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  If,  therefore,  any  reliance  is  to 
be  placed  on  the  express  declarations  of  these  sacred  writings — - 
or  on  the  knowledge  they  impart  to  us  concerning  God,  and  man, 
and  the  relations  between  them  ;  then  there  is  no  room  to  doubt 
that  the  invariable  judgment  and  experience  of  all  souls  truly 
enlightened  in  divine  things  are  just,  and  that  herein  is  delivered 
to  us  infallibly,  the  sum  as  well  as  the  rule  both  of  obedience  and 
faith.  It  may  be  added  with  confidence,  that  the  clear  accep¬ 
tation  of  the  divine  truths  revealed  to  our  faith,  and  the  living 

y  O 

conformity  to  the  duties  divinely  required  of  us,  are  the  very 
measure  of  the  power  of  the  divine  life  within  us. 

6.  I  have  spoken  with  particular  reference  to  the  moral  law 
— and  more  generally  of  the  whole  will  of  God  no  matter  how  we 
may  come  to  the  knowledge  of  it — and  very  specially  of  the 
written  revelation  of  the  divine  will,  as  containing  all  that  God 
requires  man  to  believe  concerning  him,  and  the  whole  duty  that 
God  requires  of  man.  Those  positive  commands  and  ordinations 
of  God  which  he  has  at  any  time  made  known  to  man,  and  those 
intimations  of  his  will  through  his  infinite  providence,  which  con¬ 
tinually  attend  the  progress  of  our  whole  race  and  that  of  every 
individual  of  it,  and  that  working  of  his  divine  Spirit  in  the  souls 
of  men,  which  is  so  specially  the  life  of  all  God’s  children  and  so 
universally  the  scoff  of  every  form  of  unbelief :  all  these  will  be 
found  to  have  the  most  intimate  relations  with  each  other,  and  a 
perpetual  relevancy  to  that  unalterable  faith  and  morality,  the 
claims  of  which  and  the  rule  of  which  I  have  been  urging.  This 
renders  it  needless,  at  this  time,  to  enter  upon  the  discussion  of 
topics  so  numerous  and  so  great,  whose  special  exposition  belongs 
to  the  regular  ministrations  of  the  pulpit,  and  to  treatises  whose 
form  and  object  are  different  from  the  present  one.  I  have 
shown  in  a  previous  Treatise,  that  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath 
day  was  coeval  with  the  creation  of  man  *  and  that  the  consecra¬ 
tion  by  God  of  man,  to  his  special  service  and  enjoyment,  and  the 
consecration  of  the  seventh  day  with  special  reference  thereto, 
were  the  primeval  acts  of  God’s  sovereign  goodness  in  the  way 
of  dominion  over  the  exalted  being  he  had  just  created  in  his  own 


363 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE. 

image.1  When,  so  many  ages  afterwards,  God  spoke  and  re¬ 
corded  with  his  own  finger  on  tables  of  stone,  the  law  which  he 
had  first  written  on  man’s  heart ;  it  is  not  strange  that  he  placed 
in  the  midst  thereof  that  law  of  a  blessed  Sabbath,  which  was 
from  the  beginning  of  time  and  of  human  existence,  indepen¬ 
dently  of  which  in  some  form  man  had  never  known  any  moral 
law,  nor  had  any  idea  of  his  own  consecration  to  his  Creator. 
Nor  is  there  the  least  cause  of  surprise,  when  we  consider  these 
things,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  should  have  made  his  exercise  of 
lordship  over  the  Sabbath  day,  one  of  the  crushing  proofs  of  his 
own  divine  authority ;  and  that  he  should  have  taught  with  so 
much  emphasis  that  in  its  very  nature  and  existence  it  had,  like 
the  law  written  on  the  heart,  relation  to  the  very  being  and 
blessedness  of  man.2  With  that  restoration  of  the  moral  law  by 
God,  moreover,  commenced  the  written  revelation  of  his  will — 
and  everv  word  he  has  caused  to  be  revealed  and  written  since, 
stands  in  indissoluble  connection  with  it.  It  lay  at  the  basis  of 
the  ceremonial,  political,  and  Levitical,  as  well  as  religious  system 
erected  by  Moses  at  the  command  of  God  :  and  the  Gospel 
Church  founded  on  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  him¬ 
self  being  the  chief  corner  stone,  is  so  far  from  being  independent 
of  this  unalterable  rule  of  right,  that  every  member  of  it  is  cre¬ 
ated  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  Good  Works,  which  God  hath  before 
ordained  that  we  should  walk  in  them.8  Nor  is  the  New  Birth 
itself  more  inscrutable  to  us,  than  is  the  power  of  God  in  creation 
by  which  the  law  written  in  man’s  heart  should  be  reproduced 
in  us  through  endless  generations,  just  as  it  stood  in  the  first 
fallen  man  ;  nay,  reproduced  with  the  record  also  of  its  primeval 
violation,  in  the  same  terror  of  God’s  presence  in  every  child  of 
Adam,  which  Adam  himself  felt  as  soon  as  he  had  fallen  ;4  a 
terror  from  which  nothing  can  deliver  us  but  faith  on  the  Son  of 
God.5  In  every  direction  all  these  sublime  truths  illustrate  and 
fortify  each  other  :  and  each  one  of  these  great  topics  may  be 
taken  in  succession,  and  made  the  centre  from  which  all  the  rest 
may  be  displayed.  In  itself,  not  one  is  more  distinct  than  this 
of  God’s  unalterable  moral  law  ;  and  however  the  exact  nature 
of  particular  duties  may  sometimes  perplex  us,  nothing  can  be 
more  certain  than  the  nature  of  duty  itself — nothing  more  assured 

1  Gen.,  i.  28;  ii.  3.  2  Matt.,  xii.  1-8;  Mark,  ii.  23-28.  3  Epb.,  ii.  10-22. 

4  Gen.,  iii.  10;  1  John,  iii.  20,  21.  5  Rom.,  v.  1,  2. 


364  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

than  its  infallible  sum  and  rule.  A  law  emanating  from  God 
himself — written  on  every  human  heart  hy  nature — restored  by 
the  finger  of  God — incorporated  with  all  revealed  religion — illus¬ 
trated  throughout  the  whole  sacred  Scriptures — perfectly  fulfilled 
and  complete  satisfaction  made  to  it  hy  the  divine  Redeemer 
in  our  room  and  stead  :  we  are  born  again  hy  his  Word  and 
Spirit  into  the  lost  image  of  God  and  a  new  conformity  to  his 
holy  law — the  love  of  that  blessed  law  the  very  fruit  of  our  new 
life  as  we  increase  in  conformity  to  God,  and  in  fitness  for  his 
service  and  enjoyment !  Well  may  God's  prophet  declare,  He 
hath  showed  thee  0  man  what  is  good  ;  and  what  doth  the  Lord 
require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justice,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk 
humbly  with  thy  God  ?  1  Well  may  the  inspired  preacher  pro¬ 
claim  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  to  be,  that  we  should, 
Fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments  :  for  this  is  the  whole 
duty  of  man.2  It  is  Jesus  who  crowns  all  :  I  am  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life  :  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me  : 
all  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  to  me  :  and  him  that 
cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.3 

T.  Thus  connecting  all  duty  with  all  faith — thus  uniting  all 
the  good  with  all  the  true — thus  laying  in  the  very  nature  of 
man  an  original  ability,  and  in  his  fallen  state  a  susceptibility  of 
restoration,  to  the  service  and  enjoyment  of  God — thus  founding 
in  God  himself,  the  author  and  first  cause  of  all  things,  the  root, 
and  course,  and  end  of  all  the  mysteries  of  nature  and  of  grace 
— thus  accepting  the  Son  of  God  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
in  whom  all  these  mysteries  are  solved,  and  all  things  are  reca¬ 
pitulated  and  redressed  :  we  turn  to  the  written  word  of  God,  the 
repository  of  all  these  sublime  truths,  and  confessing  it  to  be  the 
infallible  source  of  knowledge,  whereby  we  may  be  enabled  to 
glorify  God  and  enjoy  him  for  ever,  which  is  the  chief  end  of  our 
existence — we  seek  in  these  Scriptures,  in  order  to  that  end,  spe¬ 
cifically  what  we  ought  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  what  duty 
God  requires  ol  us.  They  give  us,  specifically,  that  knowledge — 
line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept :  they  give  it  with  divine 
authority  as  to  the  matter,  and  with  divine  certainty  as  to  the 
form  :  through  them,  we  receive,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  a  divine 
illumination  wherein  a  true  insight  of  them  is  attainable — a 
divine  regeneration  and  sanctification  wherein  a  continually  in- 

1  Micah,  YL  8.  2  Eccles.,  xii.  13.  3  j0hn  xiv.  6;  vi.  3t. 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE.  365 

creasing  conformity  unto  them  is  attainable  :  and  as  the  founda¬ 
tion,  at  once,  and  consummation  of  all,  we  receive  the  Saviour 
of  our  souls,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  righteous¬ 
ness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption.1  Touching  all  duty,  he 
has  himself  laid  down  the  universal  and  unalterable  rule,  Observe 
all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you.2  And  thus  all  that 
has  been  written  of  him,  was  in  order  that  we  might  believe  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ  the  Son  of  God :  and  that  believing  we  might 
have  life  through  his  name.3  And  thus  repentance  and  remission 
of  sins  have  been  preached  in  his  name  among  all  nations,  begin¬ 
ning  at  Jerusalem.4  So  that  beyond  all  doubt,  if  there  be  no 
other  name  under  heaven,  given  amongst  men,  whereby  we  must 
be  saved,  but  the  name  of  Jesus  ;  there  can  be  no  other  rule  of 
salvation  given  under  heaven  amongst  men,  but  that  which  Jesus 
gives  us  ;  and  there  can  be  no  other  infallible  assurance  that  we 
possess  either  the  Saviour,  the  salvation,  or  the  rule,  except  that 
which  is  grounded  in  the  word  inspired,  and  the  work  wrought  in 
us,  by  the  Spirit  of  Jesus. 

8.  If  we  would  know  with  certainty  that  the  things  com¬ 
manded  by  Jesus  touching  all  duty,  are  the  very  things  embraced 
in  that  unalterable  law  of  God  which  he  himself  perfectly  ful¬ 
filled,  and  under  which  he  shed  his  most  precious  blood  to  redeem 
us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zeal¬ 
ous  of  good  works  ;  we  have  but  to  hearken  to  his  own  emphatic 
words,  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the 
prophets  :  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  For  verily  I 
say  unto  you,  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle 
shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law  till  all  be  fulfilled.5  As  re¬ 
stated  by  God,  the  first  four  commandments,  composing  the  first 
table  of  the  law,  comprise  a  summary  of  man’s  duty  to  God,  and 
the  last  six  commandments,  composing  the  second  table  of  the 
law,  comprise  a  summary  of  man’s  duty  to  his  fellow-man.6  That 
we  shall  accept  the  true  God  and  renounce  every  other  God  :  that 
we  shall  avoid  all  idolatry  even  in  the  worship  of  the  true  God  : 
that  we  shall  avoid  all  irreverence  towards  God  :  that  we  shall 
devote  six  days  to  the  diligent  pursuit  of  our  lawful  business, 
and  keep  the  seventh  day  as  a  Sabbath  consecrated  to  God  : 
this,  a  human  interpreter  would  give  as  the  general  sense  of  that 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  30.  2  Matt,  xxviii.  20.  3  John,  xx.  31. 

4  Luke,  xxiv.  47.  5  Matt,  v.  17,  18.  6  Exod.,  xx. 


866 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  III. 


first  table,  which  our  Lord  sums  up  in  the  one  sentence,  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  with  all  thy  mind.1  That 
we  shall  honour  our  parents,  that  we  shall  not  kill,  that  we  shall 
respect  the  property  of  others,  that  we  shall  preserve  our  own 
and  their  chastity,  that  we  shall  adhere  to  the  truth,  and  that 
we  shall  be  content  with  our  lot  :  this  is  what,  according  to 
human  thinking,  would  be  the  general  sum  of  the  second  table, 
whose  sum  our  Lord  teaches  us  is,  That  we  should  love  our 
neighbour  as  ourselves,  and  that  All  things  whatsoever  we  would 
that  men  should  do  unto  us,  we  should  do  even  so  to  them.2  The 
republication  of  this  universal  law  was  in  the  form  of  a  cove¬ 
nant,  entered  into  at  Mount  Sinai,  between  God  and  his  peo¬ 
ple  ;3  wherein  was  recognized  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  and 
the  moral  law  as  the  law  of  Christ,  and  a  rule  of  life  to  his 
seed  ;4  and  wherein  was  recognized,  also,  the  binding  obligation 
of  the  penalty  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  to  be  inflicted  on  the 
wicked  in  the  great  day,  and  to  be  borne  by  Christ  for  his  peo¬ 
ple.5  Let  us  remember,  also,  that  God  has  declared  this  law  to 
be  perfect,  to  be  spiritual,  and  to  be  exceeding  broad  :8  and  then 
we  shall  easily  realize  the  propriety  of  those  perpetual  exposi¬ 
tions  of  its  irresistible  penetration  and  force,  its  illimitable 
depth  and  completeness,  its  all-pervading  compass  and  energy, 
its  divine  rectitude  and  majesty,  which  pervade  the  sacred 
Scriptures.  And  when  we  consider  the  relations  of  this  law  to 
God,  to  the  nature  of  man,  to  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  to  the 
Mediator  of  that  Covenant,  and  to  salvation  as  wrought  out  by 
Christ,  and  explained  in  the  Scriptures,  and  actually  and  trium¬ 
phantly  applied  to  fallen  man ;  the  exposition  of  its  sum  as  being 
love  to  God  and  love  to  our  fellow-men — the  love  of  a  renewed 
soul- — -the  love  by  which  faith  works — so  far  from  being  an  ex¬ 
aggeration,  is  perceived  as  soon  as  Christ  utters  it,  to  be  the 
unavoidable  consummation  of  the  sublime  argument  involved  in 
the  sublime  data.7 

9.  It  is  impossible  to  address  ourselves  to  any  particular  man- 


1  Luke,  x.  27;  Deut.,  vi.  5.  2  xxii.  39;  vii.  12. 

3  Deut.,  v.  2;  Exod.,  xxxiv.  28 ;  Deut.,  ix.  9.  <  Rom  ,  vii.  4;  Gal.,  iii.  16,  17. 

5  Psalm  lxix.  4;  Deut.,  v.  22,  26;  Heb.,  xii.  21. 

6  Psalm  xix.  7 ;  Rom.,  vii.  14 ;  Psalm  cxix.  96. 

7  Rom.,  xiii.  10;  Gal.,  v.  6;  Deut.,  xxx.  6;  Rom.,  xii.  9;  Isa,,  xxvi.  8,  9;  Matt., 
x.  37,  38 ;  Psalm  lxxiii.  24-26. 


CHAP.  XVIII.]  THE  INFALLIBLE  RULE.  367 

ner  of  analysing  the  law  of  God,  considered  in  itself  and  in  the 
great  relations  of  it  which  have  been  suggested,  and  to  accom¬ 
plish  this  in  a  manner  as  exhaustive  as  our  faculties  allow  ; 
without  continually  arriving,  by  one  process  after  another,  at 
those  clear  and  grand  results,  which  Christ  has  declared  to  us, 
and  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  state  and  estimate.  Thus,  if 
we  consider  the  law  under  its  successive  aspects  of  preceptive  on 
the  one  side,  and  penal  on  the  other  ;  it  is  only  as  Christ,  in  our 
nature  and  in  our  stead,  has  perfectly  kept  every  precept  of  it, 
that  we  in  him  can  be  considered  and  treated  as  if  we  had  kept 
those  precepts  ;  and  only  as  he,  in  our  nature  and  in  our  stead, 
has  paid  its  penalty  and  endured  its  curse,  that  we  in  him  can 
escape  the  wrath  to  come.  While  all  this  involves  the  whole 
mediatorial  office  and  work  of  Christ,  and  our  union  and  com¬ 
munion  with  him  ;  it  involves,  at  the  same  time,  the  complete 
recognition  of  the  law  as  being  the  holy,  just,  and  unalterable 
law  of  God ;  it  involves  the  complete  recognition  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  as  the  repository  of  that  law  and  as  the  infallible  rule 
both  of  our  faith  in  Christ  and  our  obedience  to  the  law  :  and  it 
involves  the  complete  recognition  of  the  infinite  righteousness 
and  grace  of  God,  as  the  giver  both  of  the  law  and  the  Saviour. 
The  result  is  still  the  same  if  we  endeavour  so  to  analyze  the 
law,  as  to  consider  separately,  what  duty  it  requires  of  us  to¬ 
wards  God,  what  towards  ourselves,  and  what  towards  others  ; 
and  then,  passing  farther,  consider  under  the  last  of  these  three 
divisions,  the  multiplied  subdivisions  which  the  order  and  pro¬ 
gress  of  nature  and  society  beget — the  relative  duties  of  parents 
and  children,  husbands  and  wives,  masters  and  servants,  chil¬ 
dren  of  the  same  family,  citizens  of  the  same  commonwealth — 
nay  even  members  of  the  same  fallen  race.  Passing  by  all  but 
the  last  and  most  universal  relation — how  immeasurable  in  its 
influence  upon  that,  is  the  idea  of  a  divine  Kedeemer  for  lost 
men,  when  added  to  the  idea  of  a  divine  law  for  them,  which 
he  comes,  in  their  common  nature,  to  obey,  to  satisfy,  and  mag¬ 
nify  for  them  !  Taken  as  a  race,  under  the  law,  with  and  with¬ 
out  the  idea  of  their  brotherhood  in  Christ  Jesus,  with  and 
without  a  common  Saviour  and  a  common  salvation — how  im¬ 
measurably  different  in  the  two  cases,  is  their  condition  and  their 
destiny  !  We  must  never  permit  ourselves  to  forget  that  law¬ 
lessness,  everywhere  and  in  every  estate,  signifies  ruin,  to  every 


368  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  III. 

dependent  creature  :  and  that  law  means  death  as  well  as  life — 
life  and  death  being  the  only  alternatives  that  are  possible,  when 
God,  and  man,  and  a  moral  law,  are  the  elements  from  which  a 
conclusion  must  flow.  Under  the  law,  we  are  already  lost  sin¬ 
ners.  To  alter,  to  abolish,  to  evade,  or  to  keep  the  law — are  all 
impossible.  A  Saviour  is  the  sole  remedy — 'the  sole  alternative 
against  perdition.  Therefore  it  is,  that  Faith,  Bepentance,  New 
Obedience,  Good  Works,  Spiritual  Warfare — have  such  immense 
significance — and  the  Infallible  Buie  of  them  all  such  boundless 
importance. 

10.  Such  is  the  relation  of  the  sacred  ScrijDtures  to  the 
human  race,  and  more  especially  to  the  Messianic  Kingdom,  from 
the  point  of  view  occupied  in  the  present  inquiry.  The  truth 
contained  in  them  is  the  only  truth  whereby  we  can  be  made 
wise  unto  salvation — the  duties  revealed  in  them  are  the  only 
duties  which  a  soul  thus  made  wise  admits — the  Saviour  who  is 
their  centre  and  sum  is  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and 
man,  the  only  Bedeemer  of  God’s  Elect.  They  are,  therefore, 
the  revealed,  the  unalterable,  and  the  universal  Buie  of  Faith, 
and  of  Morality ;  and  in  them,  being  divinely  taught  what  we 
ought  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  what  duty  God  requires 
of  us,  we  are  plainly,  powerfully,  and  completely  guided  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  the  chief  end  of  our  existence,  in  glorifying  God 
and  enjoying  him  for  ever. 


1 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD 

SUBJECTIVELY  CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FOURTH  BOOK. 

What  maybe  called  the  purely  individual  and  personal  aspect  of  the  Religion 
of  Cod,  in  its  influence  upon  the  soul  and  life  of  each  particular  Christian,  was 
concluded  in  the  preceding  Book.  The  fundamental  conditions  of  what  may  be 
called  the  purely  social  and  organic  effects  of  that  Religion,  with  regard  to  those 
whose  separate  experience  has  been  traced  to  the  end,  are  disclosed  in  this  Fourth 
Book.  Our  relations  are  direct  with  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  our  Union  and  Commu¬ 
nion  with  him ;  they  are  also  direct  with  all  our  brethren  in  Christ,  in  the  sense 
that  all  of  them  have  communion  with  each  other,  by  reason  of  their  mutual 
union  with  Christ.  That  union  with  Christ,  is  the  immediate  basis  of  grace  and 
salvation,  personally  considered:  communion  with  each  other,  the  immediate 
basis  of  organized  Christianity — the  Church. — Christ  is  equally  the  head,  supreme 
and  exclusive,  of  every  particular  Christian  having  communion  with  him ;  and 
of  every  organic  union  of  Christians,  having  communion  with  each  other,  in 
consequence  of  the  previous  union  of  all  of  them  with  him;  and  this  is  equally 
true,  in  every  conceivable  state  of  the  developement  of  this  Christian  brotherhood. 
The  extent  to  which  these  truths  are  used  in  producing  an  organism,  is  different 
under  different  dispensations.  The  Kingdom  of  Cod  is  exhibited  to  u.s  in  the 
Scriptures  in  such  a  manner  as  to  involve  perpetually  a  threefold  aspect ;  namely, 
from  its  head  Christ,  it  is  exhibited  as  the  Kingdom  of  Messiah — from  its  author 
the  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  New  Creation — and  from  its  members  the  Children  of 
Cod,  as  the  Body,  the  Bride,  the  Fulness,  the  Church  of  Christ.  It  is  this  last 
aspect  of  the  Kingdom  of  Cod,  now  militant  in  its  gospel  state,  which  is  the 
direct  effect  of  those  dealings  of  Cod  with  men  in  the  matter  of  salvation,  which 
is  now  to  be  discussed,  in  tracing  the  Subjective  Knowledge  of  Cod  into,  and 
afterwards  through,  that  divine  organism.  In  the  Nineteenth  Chapter,  there¬ 
fore,  which  is  the  First  of  this  Fourth  Book,  it  is  shown  that  the  fundamental 
conception  ot  the  Church  of  Christ,  considered  as  the  Kingdom  of  Cod,  is  that 
it  is  the  body  organized  of  those,  whom  the  Mediator  redeems  as  their  Priest, 
teaches  as  their  Prophet,  and  rules  over  as  their  King ;  and  that  the  supreme 
and  exclusive  Headship  of  Christ,  and  the  Communion  of  Saints,  are  the  two 
elemental  principles  of  the  divine  Organization  thus  conceived ;  this  being  a 

24 


370 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FOURTH  BOOK. 


Peculiar  Kingdom,  not  commensurate  with  the  human  race,  but  created  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  out  of  those  chosen  out  of  all  kingdoms,  by  God’s  free  and  sover¬ 
eign  Grace :  and  the  divine  procedure,  in  the  gradual  and  permanent  organiza¬ 
tion  of  the  Visible  Church,  is  traced  through  all  past  Dispensations — the  effects 
of  every  successive  act  of  God  are  stated — the  result  reached  and  the  principles 
yielded  to  us  in  the  Gospel  Church  are  demonstrated — and  the  great  conception 
and  elemental  principles  pervading  all,  are  shown  to  be  unchangeable,  in  all 
future,  as  in  all  past  dispensations.  The  Twentieth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Second 
of  this  Book,  is  devoted  to  the  disclosure  of  the  Nature  and  Ends  of  this  King¬ 
dom  of  God,  and  the  exposition  of  the  means  of  estimating  the  one  and  the 
other :  these  means  being  supremely,  the  word  of  God,  in  its  historical,  its  pro¬ 
phetical,  and  its  ethical  teachings,  with  direct  reference  to  the  special  matter ; 
in  illustration  of  which,  is  the  actual  Church,  since  the  Canon  of  Scripture  closed, 
historic  and  present:  the  nature  of  this  Kingdom  being,  that  it  is  spiritual,  ever¬ 
lasting,  and  universal — witnessing  for  God  in  time,  and  through  eternity :  the 
immediate  object  of  its  divine  organization  being  its  own  Perfection  and  Exten¬ 
sion — therein  saving  sinners,  perfecting  saints,  illustrating  its  own  nature  and 
end — and  the  nature  of  God’s  Being  and  Grace :  the  obligatory  force  of  its 
divine  organism — its  own  relation  to  Faith  and  Duty — and  the  resources  given 
to  it  by  God,  being  all  complete.  The  Twenty-first  Chapter,  which  is  the  Third  of 
this  Book,  is  occupied  with  an  attempt  to  deduce  and  to  explicate  this  Kingdom 
of  God,  in  its  intimate  Nature  and  fundamental  Principles,  considered  as  the 
Visible  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  wherein  the  gracious  Interposition  of 
God,  and  the  Probation  of  the  human  race,  are  considered  in  their  actual,  their 
theoretical,  and  their  revealed  results;  and  God’s  manifold  dealings  with  the 
human  race — responsive  to  these  manifold  results,  and  the  concatenation  of  his 
Providence  and  his  Grace,  are  traced  to  the  separate  and  visible  organization  of 
his  Kingdom,  and  the  simultaneous  visible  rejection  of  the  world :  the  relation 
between  the  Nature  of  Man,  the  Nature  of  Society,  and  the  Nature  of  the 
Church  Visible  of  Christ,  is  carefully  traced — the  fundamental  principles  com¬ 
mon  to  all  are  disclosed — the  relevancy  of  all  to  God,  and  to  each  other,  is 
pointed  out — the  peculiar  and  divine  distinction  between  the  Church  and  the 
Body  Politic  is  explicated — and  the  strict  definition  of  the  Church,  thus  demon¬ 
strated,  is  given.  The  Twenty-second  Chapter,  which  is  the  Fourth  of  this  Book, 
is  devoted  to  the  Demonstration  of  the  Freedom  of  the  Church  of  the  living  God ; 
which  is  shown  to  consist  outwardly,  in  its  total  separation  from  the  Civil  State, 
and  inwardly  in  its  absolute  consecration  to  Christ:  to  the  establishment  of  the 
first  element  of  this  Freedom,  it  is  shown  that  the  Household,  the  State,  and 
the  Church,  are  all  equally  ordained  of  God — that  they  alone  are  ordained  of 
him — that  unitedly  they  exhaust  the  social  susceptibilities  of  man — that  the 
sphere  of  each,  where  all  exist,  is  both  naturally  and  divinely  incompatible  with 
that  of  both  the  others — that  all  tendency  to  the  union  of  the  Civil  State  and 
the  Church,  is  destructive  alike  of  the  freedom  of  Nations  and  of  the  Nature  of 
the  Church — and  contrary  to  the  Will  of  God ;  most  especially  in  that  any  such 
union  obscures  the  Visibility  of  the  True  Church,  by  confounding  it  with  the 
world  whose  rejection  by  God,  is  an  elemental  part  of  that  Visibility :  to  the 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FOURTH  BOOK. 


371 


establishment  of  the  second  element  of  the  Freedom  of  the  Church,  the  relation 
of  the  Glorified  Redeemer  to  his  Church  and  that  of  his  Church  to  him,  and  her 
Blessedness  in  his  infinite  Dominion  over  her,  are  disclosed;  and  her  true  inward 
Freedom,  without  which  she  can  have  no  outward  Freedom,  nor  be  his  Church 
at  all,  is  shown  to  result  from  her  union  and  communion  with  him,  and  to  be  ex¬ 
pressed  and  exercised  in  her  absolute  consecration  to  him,  as  the  true  and  high¬ 
est  expression  of  her  Spiritual  Freedom.  The  Twenty-Third  Chapter,  which  is 
the  Fifth  of  this  Book,  starts  from  an  advanced  point  in  the  enquiry ;  the  funda¬ 
mental  Idea  of  the  Church  and  its  elemental  Principles — the  Nature  and  End  of 
it — the  deduction  and  solution  of  its  great  Problem — and  the  Spiritual  Freedom 
of  it  in  Christ,  having  been  disclosed,  and  a  fixed  and  complete  conception  of  it 
obtained.  This  Chapter,  therefore,  proceeds  to  settle  the  principles  upon  which, 
at  the  end  of  so  many  centuries  and  vicissitudes,  we  may  practically  and  infalli¬ 
bly  determine  the  True  Church  Visible  of  the  Lord  J esus  Christ,  amongst  innu¬ 
merable  religions  and  sects.  It  discusses  the  elements  of  the  Question  of  the 
Church,  showing  that  there  are  three  of  them,  to  wit,  the  Historical,  the  Logi¬ 
cal,  the  Supernatural — explicating  all  three,  demonstrating  their  use  and  relative 
importance,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Supernatural  element  over  both  the  others 
— and  that  of  the  Logical  element  over  the  Historical:  all  possible  forms  of  re¬ 
ligion  are  then  reduced  to  three,  which  are  stated,  discussed,  and  the  only  true 
one  demonstrated ;  and  then  the  principles  upon  which  the  infallible  Marks  of 
the  True  Church  are  to  be  settled,  are  demonstrated  with  reference  to  the  only 
true  form  that  is  possible  to  Religion.  The  three  remaining  Chapters  are  devoted 
to  the  discussion  of  the  three  divine  Marks  by  which  the  true,  visible,  universal 
Church  of  God  is  infallibly  determined — one  Chapter  to  each  infallible  Mark. 
The  Twenty-Fourth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Sixth  of  this  Book,  is  occupied  with 
the  demonstration  that  Purity  of  Faith  is  the  first  of  those  infallible  Marks.  The 
causes  of  the  alleged  difficulties  in  ascertaining  the  True  Church,  are  designated 
— and  the  nature  and  design  of  the  impostures  resorted  to  are  disclosed : — the 
state  of  the  renewed  soul — the  nature  of  revealed  salvation — and  the  religion  of 
the  True  Church,  are  shown  to  be  absolutely  correlates  of  each  other — the  fun¬ 
damental  characteristic  of  the  whole  being  Faith  in  the  divine  Mediator,  through 
whom  is  all  Grace  :  the  divine  word  which  reveals  the  Saviour,  the  Faith,  and 
the  Church — is  shown  to  be  the  infallible  Rule  of  Faith  in  that  Saviour ;  and  the 
infallible  Arbiter  of  every  Church  that  can  be  his — and  the  question  of  salvation 
being  settled,  no  matter  how,  the  questions  of  the  Church — of  the  Rule  of  Faith 
— and  of  the  Judge  of  Controversies  follow,  as  necessary  Corollaries,  the  nature 
of  the  salvation — the  whole  of  which  are  discussed:  the  relation  of  true  Faith 
to  all  Christian  graces  is  explained — and  the  saving  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
shown  to  be  the  vital  fact  with  reference  to  Faith,  and  by  consequence  to  the 
life  of  God  in  every  believer,  and  in  the  Church — which  is  the  Body  of  Christ : 
and  in  the  end,  the  nature  and  ground  of  our  judgments  concerning  true  Faith 
and  the  True  Church — the  nature  and  force  of  the  symbolical  statements  of  the 
True  Church — and  the  hatred  of  God  towards  corrupt  and  apostate  churches — 
are  pointed  out.  The  Twenty-Fifth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Seventh  of  this  Book, 
is  devoted  to  the  explication  of  the  Idea  of  the  true  and  spiritual  Worship  ol 


372 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FOURTH  BOOK. 


God,  as  revealed  in  the  sacred  Scriptures ;  showing  that  it  is  elemental  and  all 
pervading,  in  the  religion  therein  revealed  to  man;  the  recognition,  service,  wor¬ 
ship  of  the  true  God,  through  the  only  Mediator,  by  the  divine  Spirit,  being  the 
very  method  of  the  fruition  of  him — and  of  the  manifestation  of  his  glory,  both 
by  his  children  individually,  and  by  his  organized  Visible  Church,  of  which  it  is 
an  Infallible  Mark :  in  the  demonstration  of  which,  the  relation  of  the  word  of 
God,  and  tire  life  of  God  in  the  soul,  to  each  other,  and  to  the  worship  of  God ; 
the  relation  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation,  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  divine  Idea 
and  organism  of  the  Church,  to  each  other,  and  to  the  Worship  of  God ;  the  re¬ 
lation  of  Worship,  to  Religion,  and  to  God;  the  relation  of  the  Priesthood,  and 
Sacrifice  of  Christ,  and  of  his  Ascension  Gifts,  to  the  Idea  of  true  Worship  in  the 
Church  of  God ;  the  Royal  Priesthood  of  the  Peculiar  People ;  and  the  special, 
revealed  Worship  of  the  Christian  Church;  are  all  briefly  considered — and  closed 
with  a  summary  demonstration  of  the  infallible  certainty  of  this  Mark.  The 
Twenty-Sixth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Eighth  and  last  of  this  Book,  is  devoted  to 
the  exposition  of  Holy  Living,  as  the  third  Infallible  Mark  of  the  True  Church : 
the  relation  of  all  righteousness  in  man  to  the  law  of  God — and  of  all  gospel  holi¬ 
ness  to  Christ,  to  Faith,  and  to  the  spiritual  Worship  of  God,  is  disclosed:  the 
reality  of  Moral  Distinctions,  and  the  demonstration  they  afford  of  God,  and  of 
his  nature  as  the  fountain  of  all  Goodness,  is  pointed  out :  the  neglect  and  the 
perversion  of  these  as  fatal — the  indissoluble  connection  between  Blessedness 
and  Holiness — and  the  nature  of  the  Ploliness  which  distinguishes  the  True 
Church — are  explicated,  and  the  unity  of  that  Holiness,  with  each  of  the  pre¬ 
ceding  Marks  of  that  Church  is  proved :  then  the  unity  of  the  Mystery  of  God¬ 
liness  is  pointed  out,  and  the  perfection  of  Knowledge,  of  Duty,  and  of  Grace, 
is  shown  to  coincide  with  Goodness :  the  Chapter  and  the  Book  close,  with  an 
exhibition  of  the  true  life  of  the  Church,  as  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost — of 
the  conclusive  effect  of  the  supremacy  of  the  Supernatural  Element  in  the  Ques¬ 
tion  of  the  Church — and  of  the  Majesty  and  Glory  of  that  Church.  This  brief 
synopsis  of  a  somewhat  extended  attempt  to  demonstrate,  upon  the  divine  word, 
the  precise  nature  of  the  Gospel  Church,  independently  of  the  great  Gifts  of  God 
to  his  Church,  which  will  be  discussed  in  the  next  Book,  and  which  make  every¬ 
thing  more  specific ;  is  itself  capable,  perhaps,  of  being  reduced  to  a  more  con¬ 
densed,  and  still  intelligible  statement  of  the  leading  truths.  Thus — God  has  a 
Visible  Church  in  this  World,  which  is  held  forth  in  his  regenerate  children,  or¬ 
ganized  by  him  upon  the  twofold  basis,  of  the  Union  and  Communion  of  Christ, 
its  only  Head,  with  every  member  of  it — and  the  communion,  through  Christ, 
of  all  the  members  with  each  other :  The  Means,  divine  and  human,  of  appre¬ 
ciating  the  Nature  and  End  of  this  Visible  Church,  are  complete;  and  they 
clearly  demonstrate  that  it  is  the  manifestation,  in  time,  of  a  Spiritual,  Universal, 
and  Eternal  Kingdom,  whose  End  is  the  illustration  of  the  Glory  of  God,  in  the 
salvation  of  fallen  men :  This  Church,  visible,  universal,  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
now  militant  in  its  Gospel  state  as  shaped  by  his  inspired  Apostles — is  deduced 
through  all  God’s  Acts  of  Providence  and  Grace  touching  the  salvation  of  man, 
from  the  beginning  of  time  and  the  creation  of  man ;  and  is  unchangeable  in 
form  and  substance,  until  the  second  Coming  of  the  Son  of  Man :  It  possesses 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FOURTH  BOOK. 


373 


a  peculiar  divine  organization,  separate  from  tlie  world,  and  not  commensurate 
with  the  human  race ; — whoso  functions,  based  on  principles  inherent  in  human 
nature,  and  common  to  all  forms  of  society;  are,  in  their  exercise,  limited, 
boundedj^  and  directed,  by  the  Will  of  God  revealed  in  the  sacred  Scriptures — 
which  are  its  infallible  Buie,  in  all  things :  By  the  Will  of  God,  this  Church  is 
Free;  made  Free,  inwardly,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  its  inward  Freedom  depends 
upon  and  is  manifested  by  its  consecration  to  Christ,  its  only  Head ;  made  Free, 
outwardly,  by  the  command  of  God,  its  outward  Freedom  depends  upon  its  com¬ 
plete  organic  separation  from  the.  world ;  thus  Free,  the  subject-matter  of  its  mis¬ 
sion  is — all  things  whatsoever  Christ  has  commanded — all  things  that  are  to  be 
addressed  to  the  Faith  of  men:  This  Church  is  perfectly  manifest  to  all  men  who 
come  in  contact  with  it,  and  is  incapable  of  being  mistaken,  when  duly  consid¬ 
ered,  by  God’s  children ;  there  being  but  one  possible  form  of  true  Religion, 
namely,  that  which  is  the  sum  and  result  of  God’s  Revealed  Truth ;  there  being 
but  few  Elements  in  the  Question  of  the  True  Church,  and  they  simple  and  de¬ 
cisive,  and  the  supreme  one  being  Supernatural ;  so  that  the  Marks  which  the 
Church  of  the  living  God  has,  are  few,  clear,  and  infallible :  These  Infallible  Marks 
of  this  True  Church  of  Christ,  are  the  constant  and  inevitable  product  of  the 
Grace  of  God  in  every  renewed  soul,  and  of  the  life  of  God  in  his  Church ;  they 
are  responsive  to  the  whole  nature,  end,  and  power,  of  Revealed  Religion ;  they 
are  correlates  of  the  fundamental  divisions  of  the  scienee  of  the  Knowledge  of 
God,  namely,  God,  man,  Godman ;  they  are  expository  of  the  mode  of  God’s 
existence,  and  of  the  way  of  man’s  salvation ;  and  finally,  they  are  distinctly  and 
verbally  revealed  to  be,  Faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  Worship  of  God  in  Spirit  and 
in  Truth,  and  Holiness  of  heart  and  life;  which  being  absent — there  is  no 
Christian — no  Church. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  GOD  UNITED  INTO  A  VISIBLE  KINGDOM  FOR 
CHRIST.  FUNDAMENTAL  IDEA  AND  ELEMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  OF 
THE  CHURCH  OF  GOD. 

I.  1.  Communion  of  the  Saints  with  Christ  through  Faith,  and  their  Communion  with 
each  other  in  Love. — 2.  The  Idea  of  the  Church  based  on  the  Headship  of  Christ 
and  the  Communion  of  Saints. — 3.  Nature  of  the  Bonds  which  are  involved  in 
this  Divine  Institute. — 4.  Absolute  and  Supreme  Relation  of  Christ  to  each  Saint, 
and  to  the  great  Brotherhood  of  Saints. — 5.  The  Church  of  Christ  and  the  Human 
Race  are  not  commensurate  with  each  other. — II.  1.  The  Divine  Procedure  in  the 
gradual  and  permanent  Organization  of  the  Visible  Church. — 2.  The  Saints  desti¬ 
tute  of  a  Visible  Organization  before  the  Call  of  Abraham :  Effects  of  the  Sacra¬ 
ment  of  Circumcision  — 3.  Giving  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Passover:  Its  Relation 
to  Christ,  to  the  Organization  of  his  Kingdom,  and  to  the  World. — 4.  The  Institu¬ 
tions  of  Moses ;  Complete  Rejection  of  the  World,  and  Organization  of  a  Kingdom 
for  Messiah  out  of  God’s  Covenant  People. — 5.  Appreciation  of  the  Church  under 
its  Mosaic  Form,  in  itself,  and  in  comparison  with  preceding  and  succeeding  Forms. 
— 6.  The  Advent  of  Christ :  New  Form  of  the  Church :  Call  of  the  Gentiles :  The 
Sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord’s  Supper:  Authority  and  organizing  Work 
of  the  Apostles. — I.  The  Gospel  Church  State :  Brief  Appreciation  of  it. — 8.  The 
Future  of  the  Church :  The  same  Principles  under  more  glorious  Forms. — 9.  Re¬ 
statement  of  elemental  Truths. 

I. — 1.  The  Knowledge  of  God  Subjectively  Considered,  may 
be  divided  into  two  great  portions,  tbe  first  of  which  would  em¬ 
brace  what  has  gone  before,  and  the  second  would  begin  here. 
For,  considering  everything  to  result  from  our  union  with  Christ, 
the  distinction  would  be  between  such  things  as  are  personal  and 
individual,  and  such  as  require  a  general  and  aggregate  treat¬ 
ment  :  that  is  to  say,  such  things  as  result  to  the  individual  be¬ 
liever  united  to  Christ,  by  reason  of  his  communion  with  Christ  ; 
and  such  as  result  to  all  believers  by  reason  of  their  communion 
with  each  other,  resulting  from  their  mutual  union  and  commu¬ 
nion  with  Christ.  What  has  been  done  thus  far  being,  that  I 
have  endeavoured,  in  the  First  Book,  to  disclose  that  eternal 
Covenant  of  Grace  through  which  all  mercy  comes  to  us  as  sin¬ 
ners  ;  in  the  Second  Book,  to  explain  the  chief  blessings  and 


376  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

benefits  which,  by  this  means,  we  individually  receive  ;  and  in 
the  Third  Book,  to  point  out  the  great  offices  which  every  fol¬ 
lower  of  Christ  is  individually  obliged  and  enabled  to  discharge  : 
what  remains,  would  belong  more  especially  to  the  aggregate 
consideration  of  these  followers  of  the  Lord,  contemplated  in  the 
various  aspects  they  present  as  composing  the  Kingdom  of  Mes¬ 
siah — the  people  and  Church  of  the  living  God.  It  is,  first,  the 
nature  of  the  covenant  itself,  together  with  the  method  of  its 
application  to  individual  persons,  and  the  personal  results  which 
uniformly  follow  :  and  then,  it  is  the  social  and  public  results, 
which  follow  with  the  same  uniformity,  together  with  their  me¬ 
thod  and  effects.  Throughout,  it  is  the  absolute  and  unlimited 
Headship  of  the  divine  Redeemer ;  throughout,  it  is  the  union 
of  the  believer  with  him  ;  the  difference  is  between  personal 
effects  and  results,  flowing  to  us  individually  from  our  commu¬ 
nion  with  him  by  Faith  ;  and  the  social,  general,  organic  ef¬ 
fects  and  results,  flowing  to  believers  in  common,  by  reason  of 
their  communion  with  each  other  in  Love.  It  is,  first,  the  indi¬ 
vidual  Christian  ;  then,  it  is  the  Church  of  Christ.  And  though 
it  is  impossible  to  treat  either  aspect  of  the  subject  wholly  dis¬ 
regardful  of  the  other — still  there  is  an  obvious  distinction  be¬ 
tween  the  two  ;  a  distinction  which  I  have  hitherto  constantly 
regarded,  in  treating  the  question  of  religion  in  its  eminently 
personal  aspect ;  and  which  I  shall  henceforth  equally  regard,  in 
treating  the  more  corporate  and  public  aspect  of  it.  It  is  as  re¬ 
ally  true  that  Christ  has  a  Kingdom,  as  that  he  has  disciples  ; 
but  the  former  is  composed  out  of  the  latter  ;  and  while  the 
outward  form  of  the  one  has  changed  and  will  change  again, 
the  terms  of  true  discipleship  never  did,  and  never  can  change. 
Christ's  kingly  office,  in  its  strict  sense,  has  relation  to  those 
only  to  whom  his  priestly  sacrifice  and  intercession,  and  his  pro¬ 
phetic  teaching  have  relation  ;  and.  in  the  order  of  thought,  as 
well  as  in  that  of  practical  development,  he  is  first  our  Priest 
to  redeem  each  one  of  us,  and  then  our  Prophet  to  teach  each 
one  of  us,  and  then  our  King  to  rule  over  us,  not  only  indi¬ 
vidually,  but  unitedly  as  constituting  his  Church— his  King¬ 
dom. 

2.  God’s  dealings  with  us  as  individual  persons,  our  duties 
and  relations  to  him  as  distinct  and  separate  beings — each  one 
acting  for  himself,  and  with  God  *  this  is  the  manner  in  which 


377 


CHAP.  XIX.]  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

God  knoweth  from  eternity  them  tliat  are  bis/  the  manner  in 
which  the  work  of  Grace  is  begun  in  our  souls,  the  manner  in 
which  we  shall  give  account  to  God  in  the  last  day.  Created  in 
the  image  of  God,  restored  by  Grace  to  that  lost  image,  each 
separate,  self-conscious,  ever-living  personality,  is  a  shadow  of 
the  infinite  personality  of  God  ;  just  as  the  wonderful  method 
of  the  unity  of  the  whole  race,  is  a  shadow  of  the  infinite  unity 
of  God  ;  and  as  the  reproduction  of  the  race  upon  itself,  in  an 
endless  unity,  of  endless  fathers  and  sons,  is  a  shadow  of  the 
infinite  relations  between  the  unity  and  the  personality  of  the 
incomprehensible  God.2  So  God  does  not  deal  with  men  ex¬ 
clusively  as  individual,  separate  personalities  :  hut  he  deals  with 
the  whole  race  as  one — and  he  deals  with  the  great  subdivisions 
of  that  race,  which  his  own  providence  has  created  and  sustained: 
and  he  has  by  divine  ordination,  organized  those  permanent  and 
universal  institutions  which  we  call  households,  and  common¬ 
wealths,  which  touch  us  so  nearly,  and  affect  our  destiny  so 
deeply.  Above  all,  there  is  that  divine  fellowship,  and  the  divine 
institute  erected  upon  it,  springing  immediately  and  universally 
from  our  mutual  fellowship  with  our  common  Lord  ;  that  com¬ 
munion  with  each  other,  of  all  who  are  united  to  him,  and  the 
Kingdom  of  Messiah  as  the  result,  instantly  dependent  upon  our 
common  union  with  Messiah  himself.  Thus  new  relations  and 
duties,  other  blessings  and  benefits,  further  manifestations  of 
Faith  and  Obedience,  additional  developments  of  the  life  of  God 
in  the  renewed  soul,  open  widely  before  our  advancing  footsteps 
and  urge  us  forward  to  higher  efforts  and  wider  attainments. 
The  fellow-citizens  of  the  saints  are  builded  together  for  a  habi¬ 
tation  of  God  through  the  Spirit  /  and  every  one  of  them  as  a 
spiritual  stone  is  built  up  in  that  spiritual  house.4 

3.  As  all  our  relations  to  God,  as  sinners  saved  by  Grace,  are 
through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  whom  alone  we  have  access  to 
the  Father  /  so  all  our  relations  to  each  other  as  the  children  of 
God,  are  through  his  only  begotten  Son  our  Saviour.6  We  be¬ 
come  heirs  of  God  by  becoming  brothers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  :7  and 
we  become  brethren  to  each  other,  in  the  bonds  of  the  Spirit,  by 

1  2  Tim.,  ii.  19;  Rom.,  viii.  29  ;  Rev.,  xiii.  8. 

2  Gen.,  i  26—28;  ii.  7.  a  Eph.,  ii.  19-22. 

*  1  Pet.,  ii.  5.  5  John,  xiv.  6 ;  Col.,  i.  IS. 

*  Matt.,  xxiii.  8—10;  Eph.,  iv.  15,  16.  7  Gal.,  iv.  4,  5  ;  Ileb.,  ii.  11,  12. 


378  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

becoming  brethren  of  the  Saviour  of  sinners.1  In  neither  case  is 
this  spiritual  bond  the  exclusive  bond  which  binds  us  to  God  and 
to  each  other  ;  for  God  is  our  Creator,  Lawgiver,  and  Ruler,  as 
well  as  our  God  in  covenant ;  and  we  are  brethren  by  nature  as 
well  as  through  grace.  But  this  spiritual  bond  unites  us  to  God 
and  to  each  other  by  a  common  salvation,  whereby  a  new,  spirit¬ 
ual,  and  eternal  life  common  to  us  all,  is  added  to  all  other  bonds 
which  unite  us  to  God  and  to  each  other  ; — this  bond  depending 
for  its  efficacy — nay  for  its  existence — upon  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  taken  in  its  fullest  sense.  We  may,  in  our  ignorance,  deny 
— or  in  our  spiritual  pride,  reject  the  claims  of  Christ's  brethren 
upon  us,  as  our  brethren  ;  or  we  may,  in  our  folly  and  unfaithful¬ 
ness,  admit  the  claims  of  those  who  deny  Christ.  But  in  neither 
case,  can  our  conduct  change  the  eternal  nature  of  things.  If  we 
are  the  children  of  God,  every  true  follower  of  Christ  is  our  bro¬ 
ther  ;  and  in  the  sense  of  divine  things,  no  one  else  can  be.  We 
may  make  schism  in  the  Church,  which  is  the  body  of  Christ,  by 
rejecting  our  brethren  ;  but  they  are  our  brethren  still.  We  may 
waste  and  defile  our  inheritance,  by  acknowledging  as  joint  heirs 
such  as  have  no  title  ;  but  this  does  not  make  them  sons  of  God. 
It  is  God  who  made  them  his  sons  by  adoption,  through  their 
brotherhood  with  Jesus  Christ ;  it  is  not  we,  who  by  calling  them 
our  brethren,  can  constitute  them  brethren  of  Christ  and  sons  of 
God. 

4.  This  is  that  great  brotherhood  which  is  described  so  vari¬ 
ously  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  Unitedly,  they  are  the  Church  of 
the  living  God — the  Bride  of  the  Lamb — the  General  Assembly 
of  the  First  Born— the  Innumerable  Host  whose  names  are  writ¬ 
ten  in  the  Book  of  Life.  They  are  the  objects  of  the  eternal  love 
of  the  Father,  of  the  redeeming  love  of  the  Son,  of  the  renewing 
and  sanctifying  love  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  in  Christ  their  Head  and 
Lord — their  Priest  and  Prophet  and  King — their  Redeemer — 
their  Saviour,  that  they  must  always  be  considered  ;  whether  in¬ 
dividually  as  he  was  given  for  them  and  as  they  were  chosen  in 
him  ;  or  as  gathered  into  one  body  and  so  sustaining  new  rela¬ 
tions  to  each  other,  to  the  universe,  and  to  God.  They  are  Christ's 
people,  given  to  him  from  eternity,  and  purchased  with  his  blood  ; 
and  from  that  grand  truth  all  their  fitness  to  be  a  people  arises, 
and  all  their  relations  as  such  are  controlled  by  it.  The  portion 

1  Eph.,  ii.  passim ;  iv.  1-7. 


CHAP.  XIX.]  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  379 

of  them  at  any  time  on  earth,  constitutes  Christ’s  Kingdom  at 
that  time  in  the  world  ;  and  in  that  conception  all  their  fitness 
to  he  members  of  a  spiritual  Kingdom  is  grounded,  and  all  their 
duties  as  such  find  both  their  form  and  their  foundation.  Upon 
any  other  basis,  the  whole  subject  is  liable  to  be  involved  in  end¬ 
less  difficulties  :  upon  this  clear,  divine,  and  eternal  foundation, 
it  is  susceptible  of  a  simple  and  complete  exposition.1 

5.  The  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth  under  the  Covenant  of 
Grace,  is  not  commensurate  with  the  whole  of  mankind,  as  it 
proposed  to  be  under  the  Covenant  of  Works  ;  and  this  great 
distinction  lying  at  the  foundation  of  the  subject,  is  felt  in  every 
subsequent  part  of  it.  The  first  Adam  being  the  natural  head 
of  his  race,  was  constituted  the  federal  head  of  all  that  race  de¬ 
scending  from  him  by  natural  generation  :  the  second  Adam  is 
the  head  of  those  supernaturally  united  to  him — they  being,  as 
the  Scriptures  plainly  teach  and  as  universal  experience  shows, 
only  a  part  of  the  human  race.  The  Church  of  Christ  is  a  King¬ 
dom,  taken  out  of  all  other  kingdoms,  and  existing  in  the  midst 
of  them  all.  It  is  a  Kingdom  creating  itself  by  divine  means, 
out  of  the  members  of  all  kingdoms  in  whose  bosom  it  exists, 
maintaining  with  the  whole  of  them  a  perpetual  conflict  of  life 
and  death.  These  great  truths  modify  every  other  part  of  the 
subject ;  and  it  is  idle  for  us  to  evade  the  most  distinct  recogni¬ 
tion  of  them.  However  free  the  Gospel  offer  may  be — however 
infinite  the  riches  of  the  Grace  of  God — however  boundless  the 
merits  of  Christ  ;  nothing  in  the  history  of  the  world  is  so  pal¬ 
pable,  as  that  the  whole  race  of  mankind  has  not  followed  Christ, 
or  constituted  his  Church ;  and  the  Scriptures  teach  us  nothing 
more  plainly,  than  that  this  great  fact  was  as  fully  recognized  in 
the  eternal  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  the  eternal  purpose  and  de¬ 
cree  of  God  connected  therewith,  as  it  is  in  the  all-pervading 
course  of  his  providence,  and  the  practical  manifestation  of  his 
grace.2 

II. — 1.  Having  thus  obtained  a  precise  and  elemental  concep¬ 
tion  of  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  as  regards  the  members  of 
it — the  fundamental  principles  of  its  existence — and  the  absolute 
relation  of  Christ  to  it ;  we  turn  from  this  analysis  to  behold  the 

1  Eph.,  i.  10,  21-23;  1  Cor.,  xii.  12,  13. 

2  Matt.,  xi.  25;  xiil  15;  John,  iii.  19;  vi.  44;  Acts,  vi.  44;  xiv.  18;  Rom.,  ix. 
22,  23;  1  Cor.,  ii.  8. 


0 


380 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


universal  brotherhood  itself,  realized  in  successive  ages,  and  strug¬ 
gling  under  all  outward  conditions,  through  a  world  from  which 
they  were  inwardly  separated  by  their  divine  calling,  and  out¬ 
wardly  by  their  divine  organization.  W e  have  in  the  divine  record, 
every  step  taken  by  God — slowly,  distinctly  taken,  through  long 
ages,  whereby  his  individual  children  were  visibly  separated  to 
himself,  and  visibly  united  with  each  other — and  the  world  itself 
by  the  same  slow  and  reiterated  process,  more  and  more  visibly 
rejected  by  God,  as  forming  no  part  of  the  Kingdom  of  Messiah. 
We  have  the  consummation  of  the  whole  in  the  Gospel  Church 
State,  founded  and  ordered  by  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord.  God 
has  declared  to  us  the  principles  on  which  he  acted,  and  the  end 
he  had  in  view ;  he  has  narrated  to  us  the  successive  steps  he 
took ;  he  has  set  before  us  the  result  reached,  when  the  volume 
of  Inspiration  closed  ;  and  his  people  have  had  in  their  hands  for 
eighteen  centuries,  his  word  to  guide  them,  as  they  compared  what 
he  had  caused  to  be  so  plainly  written  for  their  guidance,  with  all 
the  vicissitudes  which  the  Christian  Church  has  endured.  Situ¬ 
ated  as  the  present  generation  is,  we  are  as  completely  without 
excuse  when  we  pervert  the  ordinances  of  God,  touching  our  du¬ 
ties  and  our  blessings  considered  as  members  of  the  Church  of 
God,  as  when  we  do  the  like  considered  merely  as  personal  fol¬ 
lowers  of  Christ. 

2.  For  a  long  course  of  ages,  it  does  not  appear  that  there 
was  any  visible  mark  of  separation  by  which  the  people  of  God 
were  distinguished  from  his  enemies  round  about  them  ;  further 
than  their  more  reverent  observance  of  the  Sabbath-day,  their 
more  godly  lives,  and  their  more  habitual  and  sincere  offering  of 
sacrifice  to  God,  may  be  considered  as  having  thus  distinguished 
them.  The  Church,  as  such,  seems  to  have  had  no  outward  or¬ 
ganization  ;  further  than  those  immense  households,  which  sup¬ 
plied  for  so  many  ages  the  place  of  the  civil  State,  may  have 
supplied  also  the  place  of  the  spiritual  commonwealth,  during 
the  patriarchal  times.  This  ancient  state  of  society,  both  as  it 
regarded  the  civil  and  religious  state  of  man,  was  extremely  re¬ 
markable  when  compared  with  what  we  behold  now  ;  and  yet  it 
lasted  largely  more  than  a  third  part  of  the  past  life  of  the  hu¬ 
man  race.  For  about  twenty-two  centuries  after  the  Fall,  God 
appears  to  have  forborne  to  organize  his  Visible  Church  in  any 
special  outward  manner ;  allowing  his  people  to  occupy  such  a 


CHAP.  XIX.]  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  381 

relation  towards  the  human  race,  as  if,  by  any  means,  through 
his  great  mercy,  the  whole  race  would  accept  him  for  their  God 
and  Saviour,  and  thus  avoid  the  necessity  of  any  special  organiza¬ 
tion  of  his  Church,  distinct  from  society  itself.  It  is  striking  to 
note  that  this  long  forbearance  of  God  to  reject  the  race,  and 
organize  his  kingdom  as  one  separate  and  distinct,  was  attended 
by  two  apostacies  of  mankind,  both  almost  universal.  For  it 
was  not  till  the  old  world,  except  the  family  of  Noah,  had  for¬ 
saken  God  and  perished  in  the  deluge — nor  until  the  new  world, 
four  centuries  after  the  flood,  had  forsaken  him  again  ;  that  he 
called  Abraham  to  be  the  father  of  the  faithful,  and  placed  in 
his  flesh  the  mark  which  typically,  visibly,  and  sacramentally 
divided  between  God's  people  and  his  enemies.1  Thenceforward 
an  outward  and  perpetual  separation  of  the  people  of  God  from 
all  people  besides,  was  openly  ordained  of  God.  God  has  visibly 
begun  to  reject  the  world — by  the  same  act  of  sovereign  grace 
and  love  whereby  he  signalizes  all  the  mercy  yet  in  store,  not  only 
for  his  elect,  but  for  the  world  itself,  through  the  seed  of  Abra¬ 
ham,  and  whereby  he  commences  the  new  condition  of  the  King¬ 
dom  of  Messiah,  as  a  visible  Kingdom  which  is  to  subvert  all 
kingdoms.  And  yet,  after  how  many  ages  of  sin  was  it,  on  the 
part  of  the  world,  and  of  long-suffering  on  the  part  of  God,  that 
he  thus  rejected  it  !  How  little  did  the  world,  thus  permanently 
rejected  of  God,  take  heed  of  what  was  done  P  How  small  a 
part  of  the  elect  of  God  were  privy  to  this  act — and  how  small 
a  part  of  all  it  signified  and  sealed  was  then  comprehended  ? 

3.  For  more  than  four  hundred  years  longer,  God  bore  with 
the  sins  of  man,  and  with  their  oppression  of  his  Chosen  people, 
upon  whom  he  had  placed  his  name  and  his  love,  and  to  whom 
he  had  hound  himself  afresh  by  covenant.  Then  lie  interfered 
again,  organizing  still  further  the  Kingdom  of  Messiah,  and  by 
a  new  and  visible  mark  of  separation  between  his  people  and  all 
other  people,  sealed  unto  himself  afresh  the  seed  of  Abraham  at 
the  darkest  hour  of  their  long  bondage  in  Egypt.  Amidst  the 
universal  lamentation  of  their  oppressors,  wailing  for  their  first 
born  in  every  house,  he  bestowed  on  Israel  the  second  Sacra¬ 
ment  of  his  ancient  Church,  setting  forth  their  true  deliverer 
and  the  manner  of  the  deliverauce  itself.2  By  Circumcision  they 
had  been  organized  as  a  distinct  people,  rejecting  all  other  peo- 

8  Exod.,  xii.  passim. 


1  Gen.,  xii.  1-3;  xvii.  passim. 


382  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

pie.  and  cut  off  from  them  :  and  in  the  light  of  this  great  truth 
they  walked  four  hundred  years.  By  the  Passover  they  were  still 
further  separated  and  organized,  and  sealed  over  to  the  Saviour 
crucified  for  them — 'Christ  their  Passover1 — the  Lamb  of  God 
which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world  :2  and  in  the  light  of  this 
still  more  glorious  truth,  they  walked  as  a  people  for  fifteen  cen¬ 
turies,  till  the  fulness  of  the  time  had  come,  that  Christ  should 
be  offered  up.  This  sovereign  act  of  God  in  Egypt,  full  of  mercy 
to  his  people,  and  the  forerunner  of  overwhelming  ruin  to  his 
enemies,  was  pregnant  with  intimations  of  his  eternal  purpose 
concerning  his  Church,  on  which  it  rested — and  of  the  wonderful 
manifestations  thereof  which  succeeding  ages  have  witnessed. 
But  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  long-suffering  of  God  had 
waited  more  than  twenty-five  centuries,  before  his  people  were 
brought,  in  this  miraculous  Exodus  from  Egypt,  into  complete, 
visible,  organic  consecration  to  him  ;  and  before  the  world,  as 
such,  was  utterly,  and  finally,  and  sacramentally  rejected,  from 
all  hope  of  participation  in  the  Messianic  Kingdom.  And  the 
amazing  event  was  signalized  upon  the  Seed  of  the  Serpent,  by 
the  ruin  of  the  greatest  nation  then  existing,  and  followed  by  the 
slaughter  of  many  inferior  but  still  powerful  communities  ;  and 
then  it  was  confirmed  and  illustrated  by  the  miraculous  pilgrim¬ 
age  of  Israel,  passing  through  forty  years  of  wonders,  from  cen¬ 
turies  of  bondage  on  the  Nile,  to  longer  centuries  of  glory  beyond 
the  Jordan. 

4.  Until  Israel  pitched  their  tents  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai, 
the  people  of  God  on  earth  had  no  written  revelation  of  his  will, 
unless  the  Book  of  Job  may  be  supposed  to  be  of  earlier  origin 
than  the  writings  of  Moses ;  neither  had  they  any  separate,  and 
visible  organization,  as  such,  earlier  than  that  produced  by  the 
sacrament  of  Circumcision  given  to  Abraham,  and  the  sacrament 
of  the  Passover  given  to  his  Seed  according  to  the  promise,  in 
Isaac  ;  nor  any  settled  Church  State,  nor  any  outward  bond  dis¬ 
tinct  from  that  of  the  household,  nor  any  ordered  spiritual  com¬ 
monwealth  cognizable  by  the  world .  What,  precisely,  may  be 
inferred  from  the  extremely  ancient  existence  of  Elders  amongst 
the  people,  and  from  the  tribal  form  to  which  all  ancient  society 
had  a  necessary  tendency,  and  which  entered  so  early  and  so  per¬ 
manently  into  all  the  societies  formed  amongst  the  descendants 

J  1  Cor.,  v.  7.  2  John,  i.  29. 


CHAP.  XIX.]  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS.  383 

of  Abraham  ;  is  too  remote  in  its  nature,  and  too  indistinct  in  its 
immediate  bearing  upon  the  present  statement,  to  need  particular 
enquiry.  Everything  shows  that  a  new  dispensation  of  the  Church 
of  God  commenced  with  the  calling  of  Abraham.  And  whether  we 
consider  the  state  of  the  ancient  Church  before  his  call,  and  after 
it  as  long  as  any  traces  of  it  remain  amongst  peoples  not  de¬ 
scended  from  him,  or  even  among  those  actually  descended  from 
him  except  through  Isaac  :  or  consider  the  covenants  made  with 
him  by  God  ;  or  the  providence  of  God  towards  him  and  his  seed 
by  promise  ;  or  the  history  of  the  Church  in  his  family  down  to  the 
complete  establishment  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth  :  nothing  is 
more  distinct  than  the  gradual  organization  of  a  visible  Church, 
bv  means  of  outward  divine  ordinances,  in  their  nature  sacramen- 
tal,  and  outwardly  preclusive  of  all  who  were  not  God’s  people  in 
covenant.  It  was  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  and  by  the  hands  of 
Moses  the  servant  of  God,  that  this  great  conception  of  a  visible 
Church  outwardly  distinct  from  the  world,  and  of  the  rejection  of 
the  world,  had  its  perfect  realization.  It  is  of  no  consequence  to 
the  present  matter,  that  the  visible  Church  of  God  and  the  Hebrew 
commonwealth,  were  identified  in  so  many  respects,  by  the  insti¬ 
tutions  of  Moses.  Indeed  the  thorough  organization  and  visibility 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  its  complete  rejection  of  the  world, 
became  only  the  more  distinct  in  this  manner.  It  is  Jesus  Christ 
who  completes  the  realization  of  this  conception,  as  he  does  of  all 
divine  conceptions  ;  and  when  he  opened  again  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  to  the  Gentiles,  and  opened  up  to  the  brotherhood  of  the 
saints  the  natural  and  universal  brotherhood  of  man — it  was  by 
presenting  the  unqualified  rejection  of  the  world  in  every  aspect 
it  could  bear,  and  the  absolute  completeness  of  his  own  Kingdom, 
as  perfectly  distinct  from  it.  The  more  the  Headship  of  Christ, 
and  the  communion  of  his  saints  with  each  other  through  their 
universal  union  with  him,  are  realized  in  outward  forms,  the  more 
completely  do  we  find  the  Church  organized,  and  the  world  re¬ 
jected.  Nor  is  it  from  human  reason  or  human  authorit}q  much 
less  from  the  accidents  of  time  and  events,  that  these  things  take 
their  rise,  and  make  their  progress  :  they  spring  from  the  imme¬ 
diate  command  of  God,  and  proceed  under  his  immediate  guid¬ 
ance.  Whether  by  Abraham,  or  by  Moses,  it  is  by  God  himself 
that  his  Kingdom  passes  into  new  forms,  and  assumes  more  per¬ 
fect  outward  states.  It  is  this  which  is  everywhere  uppermost, 


384  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

in  the  writings  and  the  institutions  of  the  great  Jewish  Lawgiver. 
And  what  he  really  did  was,  in  obedience  to  the  divine  command 
to  erect  under  a  peculiar  form,  a  visible  Kingdom  for  God,  founded 
on  the  total  visible  rejection  of  the  world,  and  the  complete  visi¬ 
ble  organization  of  a  people  in  covenant  with  God  ;  the  two  ele¬ 
mental  ideas  of  it  being,  the  absolute  Headship  of  Messiah,  and 
the  communion  of  all  the  members  with  each  other,  through  their 
union  and  communion  with  him. 

5.  That  wonderful  dispensation  continued  for  fifteen  centu¬ 
ries,  as  the  outward  form  of  the  Church  ;  and  eighteen  subse¬ 
quent  centuries  of  persecution,  dispersion,  and  the  hidings  of 
God's  countenance,  have  not  sufficed  to  obliterate  from  the  minds 
of  the  ancient  people  of  God,  the  fixed  idea  that  Messiah  has  a 
distinct  people,  and  that  their  organization  springs  from  their  mu¬ 
tual  oneness  in  him  ;  which  I  have  shown  was  the  elemental  foun¬ 
dation,  in  this  aspect,  of  the  organizing  work  both  of  Abraham 
and  Moses.  It  was  a  dispensation  perfect  of  its  kind  :  and  if 
any  dispensation  of  its  peculiar  type  could  have  achieved  the 
whole  purpose  of  the  grace  of  God,  this  would  have  done  it.1 
Under  it,  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  was  com¬ 
pleted,  and  the  system  of  divine  truth  unto  salvation,  thus  per¬ 
manently  embodied  and  held  forth,  was  advanced  to  the  highest 
point  short  of  the  personal  teaching  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the 
perpetual  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  the  new  power  which 
began  at  Pentecost.  By  means  of  it,  the  Church  of  God,  how¬ 
ever  peculiar  and  temporary  in  its  general  aspect,  had  developed 
in  its  bosom  those  great  constitutions  concerning  her  rule,  her  in¬ 
struction,  and  her  worship — the  Elder,  the  Prophet,  and  the  Syn¬ 
agogue,  which  survived  the  civil,  and  ceremonial,  and  sacrificial 
systems,  and  became  the  basis  of  the  form  of  the  Gospel  Church. 
And  I  venture  to  add,  that  whenever  it  was  administered  in  its 
purity,  the  most  perfect  form  of  the  administration  of  the  tem¬ 
poral  interests  ot  society  ever  known  on  earth,  was  exhibited 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  to  which  a  great  people  can  be  ex¬ 
posed,  during  the  longest  national  career.  Yet  the  great  Apos¬ 
tle  of  the  Gentiles,  while  he  lauds  that  dispensation,  considered 
of  itself  and  considered  with  reference  to  its  real  design,  as  worthy 
of  all  reverence  ;2  allows  himself  to  call  its  elements  weak  and 
beggarly,  and  its  service  a  bondage,3  when  compared  with  the  d is- 

1  GaL,  iii.  21.  5  Gal.,  iii.  19,  24.  3  Gal.,  iv.  9. 


CHAP.  XIX.] 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 


385 


pensation  of  Christ  himself,  and  with  the  efficacy  and  glory  which 
attended  it.  It  was  as  if  God  would  show  that  no  legal,  no  sacri¬ 
ficial,  no  typical,  no  ritual  dispensation  can  suffice.  He  had  al¬ 
ready  shown,  before  he  rejected  the  world  and  separated  his  people 
visibly  from  it,  that  no  long-sutfering  would  move  it  to  serve  him  ; 
and  now  he  would  show,  that  even  those  consecrated  to  himself 
must  have  that  which  is  more  effectual  than  laws,  and  sacrifices, 
and  rites,  and  types,  in  order  to  their  due  service  and  adequate 
enjoyment  of  him.  However  long  the  delay  may  be,  the  Son  of 
God  must  come  in  the  flesh.  It  had  been  seen  from  eternity  that 
there  was  no  other  remedy  ;  and  everything  else  was  in  order  to 
this. 

6.  At  length  the  Saviour  came.  Emptying  himself  of  his 
glory,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law — he  who,  being  in 
the  form  of  God,  thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God — 
being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  humbled  himself,  and  became 
obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.1  He  gave  him¬ 
self  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify 
unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works.2  For  him¬ 
self,  he  was  a  minister  of  the  circumcision  for  the  truth  of  God  ; 
for  which  the  two  reasons  assigned  are,  to  confirm  the  promises 
made  unto  the  fathers,  and  that  the  Gentiles  might  glorify  God 
for  his  mercy.3  But  his  Kingdom,  neither  limited  by  the  call  of 
Abraham,  nor  by  the  institutions  of  Moses,  both  of  which  had 
been  only  stages  of  its  development ;  wras  to  embrace,  henceforth, 
those  who  loved  him,  whether  Jews  or  Greeks,  circumcision  or 
uncircumcision,  barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  or  free.4  And  so  he 
expressly  directed,  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should 
be  preached  in  his  name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem  :5  the  very  mission  of  his  Apostles  being,  to  teach  and  to  bap¬ 
tize  all  nations.6  Thus  he  said  directly  to  Peter,  that  he  gave 
unto  him  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  and  that  what¬ 
soever  he  should  bind  on  earth  should  bo  bound  in  heaven,  and 
whatsoever  he  loosed  on  earth  should  be  loosed  in  heaven  ;7  and 
he  said  as  expressly  to  all  his  Apostles,  whatever  ye  bind  or  loose 
on  earth,  shall  be  bound  or  loosed  in  heaven.8  And  there  is  re¬ 
corded  in  detail,  the  opening  of  the  Kingdom  so  long  closed  to 

1  Phil.,  ii.  8-11.  2  Titus,  ii.  14.  3  Rom.,  xv.  8-12. 

4  Col,  iii.  10,  11.  5  Luke,  xxiv.  47.  5  Matt.,  xxviii.  19. 

i  Matt,  xvi.  19.  8  Matt,  xviii.  18;  John,  xx.  23;  1  Cor.,  v.  4. 

25 


VOL.  II. 


386 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


all  except  the  descendants  of  Abraham,  by  the  hands  of  Peter, 
in  the  case  of  the  Gentile  Cornelius  i1  concerning  which  matter, 
we  have  Peter’s  own  repeated  assurance,  that  he  acted  by  the 
express  call  of  God  ;2  and  concerning  the  grand  truth  then  real¬ 
ized,  we  have  the  general  judgment  of  the  Apostles  and  Elders.3 
Touching  the  general  power  to  bind  and  loose,  vested  in  the 
Apostles — the  power  to  take  down  all  that  was  temporary  in  the 
ancient  institutions — to  transfer  all  that  was  permanent,  even 
from  the  creation  of  man,  into  the  new  dispensation — and  to  erect 
that  form  of  the  Kingdom  which  we  have  in  the  Gospel  Church 
State  ;  it  is  one  chief  design  of  one  entire  Book  of  the  Scriptures 
(the  Acts  of  the  Apostles)  to  teach  us  what  was  done,  and  in 
what  manner  :  and  throughout  all  the  subsequent  portions  of 
the  New  Testament,  this  is  one  of  the  great  matters  in  which  the 
will  of  God  is  continually  revealed  to  us.  Amongst  the  last  acts 
of  Christ  before  his  crucifixion,  was  the  institution  of  that  sacra¬ 
ment  which  commemorates  his  sacrifice  in  our  stead  :4  and  amongst 
his  last  commands  after  his  resurrection,  was  that  in  all  nations 
all  his  disciples  should  receive  that  other  sacrament  of  Baptism, 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.6  That  the  Kingdom  erected  in  this  form,  was  to  be  a 
visible  Kingdom,  not  of  this  world  but  wholly  separate  from  it — 
that  the  glorified  Redeemer  was  the  only  Head,  King,  and  Lord 
of  it — that  membership  in  this  Kingdom  depended  on  union  and 
communion  with  the  Head  and  Redeemer  of  the  Kingdom — and 
that  all  the  members  of  it  are  members  one  of  another,  by  virtue 
of  their  being  all  members  of  Christ :  these  are  the  common  and 
constant  doctrines  of  the  Scriptures,  which  it  is  needless  to  prove 
again  in  this  place.  The  whole  work  of  Christ  discloses,  every¬ 
where,  the  ideas  I  have  been  stating.  The  world  so  far  from  re¬ 
ceiving  him,  crucified  him.  His  own  knew  and  accepted  him. 
And  what  events  attended  and  followed  this  new  and  glorious 
development  of  God’s  purpose  concerning  his  Church  !  What  is 
the  silent  rejection  of  the  nations  in  the  gift  of  circumcision  to 
Abraham,  or  the  fearful  catastrophe  of  Egypt  at  the  institution 
of  the  Passover,  or  the  slaughter  of  many  nations  which  signal- 

1  Acts.  x.  passim.  2  Acts,  xl  1-18;  xv.  1.  3  Acts,  xv.  23-31. 

4  Matt,  xxv L  26-30;  Mark,  xiv.  22-26-  Luke,  xxii.  19,  20;  John,  xiii.  1,  2; 

]  Cor.,  xi.  23-29. 

5  Matt.,  xxviii.  19;  Mark,  xvi.  15,  16. 


CHAP.  XIX.] 


COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 


387 


ized  the  establishment  of  the  Jewish  dispensation  ;  what  are 
such  things,  to  the  crucifixion  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  to  all  that 
followed  it  of  mercy  and  of  wrath — and  to  all  of  both,  that  is  yet 
to  come  ! 

7.  It  is  this  Gospel  Church  which  we  now  behold,  with  its 
Sabbath,  its  Sacraments,  its  divine  Scriptures,  its  pure  faith,  its 
spiritual  worship,  its  holy  life,  its  Elders,  its  Teachers,  its  Con¬ 
gregations,  its  assemblies,  its  divine  Lord  !  Upon  us,  after  so 
many  centuries,  has  come  this  dispensation  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  with  power,  which  succeeded  the  Ascension  of  the  Lord. 
The  followers  of  Jesus  are  gathered  out  of  all  nations.  The 
promised  Comforter  abides  with  us.1  The  last  days  still  con¬ 
tinue  ;  the  last  manifestation,  and  the  most  complete,  of  God’s 
grace  in  saving  sinners.2  And  they  shall  all  continue  until  he 
whose  light  it  is,  shall  come  and  shall  take  the  Kingdom.  And 
while  they  continue,  whosoever  will  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
shall  be  saved.  Here,  as  in  each  preceding  case,  it  is  a  new  de¬ 
velopment  of  the  same  Kingdom,  as  distinct  from  all  that  went 
before,  as  they  were  from  each  other;  and  here,  as  always  before, 
the  same  fundamental  characteristics  are  not  only  preserved,  but 
are  more  and  more  distinct.  Assuredly  it  is  more  obvious  now, 
than  it  could  have  been  under  any  former  dispensation,  that  it  is 
the  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  that  this  Church  is  not 
coincident  with  the  world,  but  is  taken  out  of  it ;  that  each  suc¬ 
cessive  dispensation  as  it  gives  new  grace,  new  duties,  and  new 
powers,  at  the  same  time  makes  the  Church  more  distinctly  sep¬ 
arate,  and  consecrates  it  more  completely  to  Christ  Nor  does  the 
history  of  mankind  since  the  establishment  of  the  Gospel  Church, 
permit  us  to  doubt,  that  the  steadfast  power  with  which  the 
providence  of  God  conducts  all  things,  has  made  the  career  of 
his  Church  the  most  distinct  element  in  the  career  of  man,  and 
has  made  the  destiny  of  all  things  dependent  on  hers.  In  the 
fate  of  Egypt,  in  the  fate  of  the  nations  cut  off  by  Israel,  and 
in  the  fate  of  apostate  Israel  herself,  all  men  may  read  the  fate 
of  all  the  nations  that  forget  God,  and  of  every  power  that  exalts 
itself  against  Christ. 

8.  We  need  not  be  in  doubt  concerning  that  sublime  future 
of  the  Church  of  God,  which  is  hastening  upon  us — for  which 

1  John,  xiv.  1G,  26;  xv.  26;  xvi.  I. 

2  Joel,  ii.  28-32;  Zech.,  xii.  9-12;  Acts,  il.  16-21. 


388  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

the  world  is  so  little  prepared,  and  of  which  it  takes  so  little 
thought.  It  will  come  in  its  appointed  time— it  will  not  tarry. 
The  whole  analogy  of  all  the  past  dealings  of  God,  and  the  con¬ 
stant  declarations  of  his  word,  teach  us  sufficiently  that  while 
the  great  principles  which  underlie  the  whole  scheme  of  his  grace 
and  providence,  will  he  preserved  in  all  their  fulness,  and  applied 
with  increased  distinctness  and  force  ;  it  might — and  since  he 
has  said  so  it  will — be  under  new  and  still  more  glorious  forms, 
that  these  sublime  principles  will  foe  exhibited  and  applied. 
They  who  sit  calmly  and  silently  by,  listening  to  that  wonderful 
discourse  in  which  Jehovah  disclosed  to  Abraham  the  nature  and 
extent  of  his  covenant  with  him,  and  sealed  all  his  promises  with 
the  sacrament  of  circumcision  :  must  needs  make  an  almost  in¬ 
finite  progression,  before  they  can  hear  and  realize  those  loud 
hallelujahs,  which  will  fill  the  universe,  when  the  Kingdom  is 
delivered  up  on  the  Lamb’s  Book  of  Life.  Still  it  is  the  very 
same  Kingdom ;  and  the  grand  principles  which  distinguished 
its  feeblest  beginnings,  are  the  same  which  will  be  illustrated  in 
its  supreme  consummation,  and  its  eternal  glory.  Forevermore 
it  will  be  Christ,  and  his  saints,  and  a  Kingdom  composed  of 
them. 

9.  What  I  have  attempted  is,  to  appreciate  the  fundamental 
idea  of  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  and  to  that  end  to  disclose 
its  elemental  principles,  and  then  to  trace  in  an  unbroken  course, 
the  divine  procedure  wdiereby  these  principles  have  yielded  to  us, 
the  Gospel  Church  as  it  this  day  stands  before  us.  The  people 
of  God,  considered  in  their  union  with  Christ,  and  in  their  com¬ 
munion  wfith  each  other  through  their  mutual  communion  with 
him,  on  one  side  ;  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Bedeemer  of 
God’s  Elect,  the  only  Head,  Lawgiver,  and  King  in  Zion,  on  the 
other  ;  these  are  the  two  terms  upon  which  the  great  problem 
rests.  Between  them  are  the  will,  and  power,  and  providence  of 
God,  developing  these  two  elements  through  a  long  course  of  ages, 
and  a  succession  of  dispensations  ;  and  the  result  is  the  Gospel 
Church  State,  a  distinct,  divine  institute.  Of  this,  Messiah  is  the 
Prince,  and  all  his  brethren,  brethren  to  each  other,  are  the  mem¬ 
bers.  Separate  from  the  world,  its  mission  is  the  reconquest  of 
the  world.  Its  end  is  the  illustration  of  the  perfections  of  God, 
to  his  own  infinite  glory,  in  the  everlasting  blessedness  of  the  re¬ 
deemed. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


THE  NATURE  AND  END  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD:  WITH  THE 

MEANS  OF  ESTIMATING  BOTH. 

I.  1.  The  Perpetuity  of  the  fundamental  Ordinances  of  the  Church  of  God. — 2.  His¬ 
torical  Means  of  appreciating  the  Nature  and  End  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. — 3. 
Practical  Means. — 4.  Prophetical  Means. — 5.  Ethical  Means. — II.  1.  The  Church 
of  Christ  is  a  Kingdom  whose  Nature  is  exclusively  Spiritual. — 2.  The  peculiar 
Form  of  that  Spirituality:  Sinners  saved  by  Grace. — 3.  It  is  an  Everlasting  King¬ 
dom. — 4.  It  is  to  be  a  Universal  Kingdom. — 5.  Witness  Bearing  for  Christ,  the 
special  Mission  of  the  Gospel  Church. — 6.  The  immediate  Object  of  this  is,  the 
Extension  and  Perfection  of  the  Kingdom  itself. — 7.  Infinite  Freedom  and  Fitness 
of  the  Gospel  Offer. — 8.  The  Form  and  Action  of  the  Church  in  extending  and 
perfecting  itself,  illustrates  its  own  Nature  and  End,  as  well  as  the  Nature  of 
God’s  Being  and  Grace. — 9.  The  obligatory  Force  of  the  divine  Organization  of 
the  Church  thus  developed:  Its  Relation  to  Faith  and  to  Morals. — 10.  Resources 
of  the  Church  in  perfecting  and  extending  herself:  These  are  Marks  of  her  Na¬ 
ture  and  End. — 11.  The  Position  of  false  Professors  and  Sects,  with  reference  to 
the  Visible  Church. — 12.  The  Relation  of  the  Infant  Seed  of  Believers  to  the 
Visible  Church. 

I.  1. — I  have  shown  that  the  entire  organization  of  the  Church 
of  God  is  produced  from  within  outwardly,  and  has  been  obtained 
under  the  successive  and  special  ordinations  of  God,  by  the  direc¬ 
tion  which  he  gave,  from  time  to  time,  to  the  elemental  principles 
which  constituted  his  own  idea  of  his  Kingdom.  I  have  also 
pointed  out  more  incidentally  how  the  Church,  under  each  suc¬ 
cessive  form  of  it,  casting  off  whatever  was  peculiar  only  to  the 
preceding  dispensation,  has  preserved  through  all  dispensations 
every  outward  mark  responsive  to  its  own  absolute  nature,  which 
was  ever  bestowed  on  it  by  God.  The  Sabbath  ordained  by  God 
at  the  creation,,  and  ordained  afresh  as  part  of  the  Moral  Law  at 
Sinai,  endures  in  its  divine  force.  The  worship  of  God  by  bloody 
sacrifices  statedly  practised  from  the  fall  of  man,  observed  by  all 
the  patriarchs,  erected  into  the  form  of  a  sacrament  in  the  Pass- 
over,  and  thoroughly  incorporated  with  the  daily  life  of  the  Church 
under  the  Mosaic  dispensation  :  so  found  its  consummation  in  the 


390  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God,  that  the  one  offering  of  himself  by 
which  he  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  are  sanctified,  is  the 
living  way  whereby  alone  we  can  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the 
blood  of  Jesus.1  The  sacraments,  though  their  form  be  changed, 
are  even  more  distinctly  signs  and  seals  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace 
than  they  were  when  first  given  to  the  Church.  The  will  of  God 
made  known  to  us  by  his  most  holy  word,  is  just  the  same  infal¬ 
lible  rule  of  our  faith  and  our  obedience,  as  when  it  was  person¬ 
ally  addressed  by  God  to  the  ancient  saints,  or  when  it  was  com¬ 
municated  in  visions,  made  known  by  heavenly  messengers,  or 
spoken  by  inspired  Prophets  and  Apostles.  Divine  ordinances  of 
worship,  of  instruction,  and  of  rule,  however  their  form  may  vary 
under  successive  dispensations,  have  always  been  of  the  very  es¬ 
sence  of  the  visible  Church — have  always  sprung  from  God  him¬ 
self — have  always  been  grounded  in  the  exclusive  headship  of 
Christ  in  the  Church,  in  the  union  and  communion  of  his  saints 
with  him,  in  their  communion  with  each  other,  and  in  his  rejec¬ 
tion  of  the  world  and  their  separation  from  it.  I  am  not  come  to 
destroy,  but  to  fulfil,  were  the  emphatic  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus ; 
Till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  nowise 
pass  from  the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled.2 

2.  We  possess  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  a  plain  account  of  the 
progress  of  this  divine  Kingdom  on  earth,  from  the  fall  of  man 
till  about  the  close  of  the  first  century  of  the  Christian  era,  cov¬ 
ering  a  period  of  forty-one  centuries.  The  subsequent  progress 
of  this  Kingdom  for  seventeen  centuries  and  a  half,  to  our  own 
day,  is  preserved  in  its  own  annals,  in  the  records  of  those  who 
have  hated  and  sought  to  destroy  it,  and  in  the  testimonies  of 
those  nations  which  have  lived  side  by  side  with  it  through  all 
generations  ;  some  of  which  also  precede  the  advent  of  Christ  by 
many  centuries,  and  some  were  coincident  with  his  life,  and  with 
the  first  ages  of  the  Gospel  Church.  We  have  its  history  from 
the  origin  of  time  and  of  man  to  the  present  moment :  and  of 
all  that  has  existed  on  earth  this  is  true  concerning  it  alone.  In 
the  age  of  the  Apostles  themselves  it  seems  to  have  penetrated 
the  mass  of  all  human  society,  and  to  have  found  its  way  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth  ;  and  through  innumerable  vicissitudes,  in  de¬ 
fiance  of  perpetual  persecution,  and  notwithstanding  its  own  ter¬ 
rible  corruptions  and  apostacies,  it  finds  itself  recognized,  after 

i  Heb.,  x.  10-20.  2  Matt.,  v.  17-20. 


CHAP.  XX.] 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


891 


eighteen  centuries,  by  the  predominant  nations  and  races  of  man- 
bind,  as  a  divine  Kingdom  upon  which  are  staked  the  highest 
interests  of  man  and  the  greatest  glory  of  God.  We  have 
means  thoroughly  complete  of  estimating  its  nature  and  its 
progress. 

3.  Invested  with  such  a  history,  it  is  living  before  our  faces, 
the  most  important  and  the  most  wide-spread  of  all  existing  in¬ 
stitutions.  Rent,  indeed,  in  many  ways,  when  casually  observed  ; 
manifested  under  various  forms,  more  or  less  inconsistent  with 
each  other ;  exhibiting  in  its  separate  parts  an  extreme  variety 
of  condition,  from  one  of  fierce  persecution  by  the  world  up  to 
one  of  pampered  luxury — from  one  of  earnest  struggling  for  the 
truth  down  to  one  of  hopeless  indifference  concerning  Christ. 
But  this  diversified  state  of  things  affords  us  the  more  ample 
materials  for  an  enlightened  judgment,  concerning  that  true  and 
wonderful  commonwealth  of  the  saints,  which  has  survived  the 
endless  convulsions  in  which  all  other  institutions  have  perished, 
and  which  seems  not  only  to  he  established  in  the  heart  of  all 
existing  civilization,  but  to  he  the  very  parent  and  nurse  of 
it  all. 

4.  Moreover,  to  enlarge  and  rectify  our  appreciation,  alike  of 
this  vast  history  both  divine  and  human,  and  of  this  boundless 
existing  manifestation,  we  are  furnished  in  the  Scriptures  with 
the  prophetic  history  of  this  city  of  God  to  the  end  of  time.  If 
we  choose  to  allege  that  the  prophecies  which  constitute  so  large 
a  part  of  the  divine  word,  are  wrested  and  misapplied  by  the  most 
of  those  who  have  expounded  them  ;  this  only  leaves  to  us  a 
greater  mass  of  history  yet  to  he  enacted,  the  whole  of  which  we 
must  take  some  account  of,  in  forming  our  judgment  of  the  abso¬ 
lute  nature,  the  total  progress,  and  the  ultimate  destiny  of  the 
Messianic  Kingdom.  In  every  such  attempt  we  have  this  immense 
advantage,  that  besides  knowing  what  is  past,  and  seeing  what 
exists,  we  are  instructed  also  concerning  what  is  to  come.1 

5.  There  are,  however,  means  still  surer  than  those  already 
pointed  out — complete  as  they  appear  to  be — of  estimating  the 
nature  and  end  of  that  Kingdom  of  God  whose  divine  idea  and 
elemental  principles  I  have  endeavoured  to  trace  in  the  prece¬ 
ding  chapter.  God  has  himself  defined  everything  for  us.  He 
has  not  only  caused  the  detailed  history  of  his  Church  for  four 

1  2  Peter,  i.  19-21. 


392  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

thousand  years,  to  be  written  by  inspired  men,  and  the  prophetic 
history  of  it  to  the  end  of  time  to  be  added  in  like  manner — 
causing  also  the  whole  history  and  the  whole  prophecy  to  be  a 
perpetual  and  mutual  commentary  upon  each  other  ;  hut  he  has 
explained  clearly  the  motive  and  end  of  that  Kingdom  whose  de¬ 
sign,  progress,  and  final  triumph,  all  this  history  and  prophecy 
concerned.  To  what  end  he  set  up  such  a  Kingdom,  and  under 
what  inducements  ;  the  precise  nature  of  the  Kingdom  itself — 
what  objects  exactly  it  was  designed  to  accomplish — and  by  what 
means  ;  these  are  the  very  things  which  invest  the  progress  of 
the  Kingdom  with  such  importance,  and  lend  so  much  glory  to 
the  prophecies,  which  foretell,  and  to  the  histories  which  record 
its  career.  The  Lord  God  said  unto  the  serpent,  I  will  put  en¬ 
mity  between  tbee  and  the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed  and 
her  seed:  it  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel.1 
How  widely  separated  in  knowledge  as  well  as  in  centuries,  is  this 
earliest  form  in  which  the  nature  and  design  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Messiah  is  expressed,  from  the  form  in  which  its  triumph  is  ex¬ 
pressed — Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  Kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  :  Depart  from 
me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and 
his  angels  !2  But  that  vast  interval  of  time  is  not  more  com¬ 
pletely  filled  up  with  the  progress  of  the  Church,  than  that  vast 
interval  in  knowledge  is  filled  up  with  divine  instruction  concern¬ 
ing  her  nature  and  end.3 

II. — 1.  In  attempting  to  disclose,  briefly,  that  which  I  have 
just  shown  we  have  such  abounding  materials  for  appreciating 
justly  ;  the  whole  current  of  thought  which  distinguishes  this 
Treatise,  and  the  special  care  which  has  been  taken  in  explain¬ 
ing  the  doctrines  of  grace  and  salvation,  render  it  unnecessary  to 
prove  afresh  that  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  is  exclusively  a  spirit¬ 
ual  Kingdom.  Separated  unto  God  by  an  eternal  election,4  sep¬ 
arated  unto  Christ  by  the  effectual  calling  of  his  word  and  Spirit 
during  their  earthly  pilgrimage,5  separated  unto  eternal  glory 
and  blessedness  in  the  world  to  come  ;6  whatever  Kingdom  these 
children  of  God  may  constitute — to  the  exclusion  of  all  others — 
is  as  necessarily  a  Kingdom  created  and  held  united  by  the  Spirit 

i  Gen.,  iii.  14,  15.  2  Matt.,  xxv.  34,  41. 

3  Eph.,  v.  25-32;  Matt.,  xvi.  18;  1  Cor.,  xii.  12,  13;  Rom.,  xv.  8-17. 

4  John,  xi.  51,  52.  3  1  Cor.,  i.  9.  6  Rey.,  vii.  9,  10. 


393 


CHAP.  XX.]  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


of  God,  as  it  is  one  whose  Lord  is  the  Lord  of  glory.  And  so 
the  Saviour  said  plainly  to  Pilate,  My  Kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world.1  Nor  in  all  his  wondrous  teaching  is  anything  made  more 
clear,  than  that  in  order  to  see  his  Kingdom  we  must  he  horn 
again — in  order  to  enter  into  it  we  must  be  born  of  water  and  of 
the  Spirit.2  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh  ;  and  that 
which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  Spirit.3  Flesh  and  blood  cannot 
inherit  the  Kingdom  of  God  :  neither  doth  corruption  inherit  in¬ 
corruption.4  But  the  Church  of  Christ  is  his  body,  the  fulness 
of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all ;  and  God,  in  giving  him  to  be  its 
head,  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet,  and  given  him  to  be  the 
head  over  all  things  to  the  Church.5 

2.  This  spirituality  thus  disclosed  is,  however,  of  an  exceed- 
ingly  peculiar  kind.  For  what  is  demanded  is,  not  only  fitness 
for  a  Kingdom  altogether  spiritual,  but  a  spiritual  fitness  created 
by  a  new  and  divine  generation  of  a  human  soul  dead  in  tres¬ 
passes  and  sins.6  This  Kingdom  is  composed  exclusively  of  peni¬ 
tent  and  believing  sinners,  who  are  saved  by  divine  grace.  Christ 
loved  the  Church,  and  gave  himself  for  it  :7  but  it  is  sinners,  and 
not  the  righteous,  whom  Jesus  calls  to  repentance.8  They  that 
be  whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick.9  Utterly 
different  from  any  Kingdom  which  could  be  formed  of  fallen  men, 
who  are  unregenerate,  the  Kingdom  of  Messiah  is  also  wholly  dif¬ 
ferent  from  any  which  could  have  been  formed  of  men  who  had 
never  fallen.  At  the  foundation  of  this  latter  difference  lies  the 
sublime  reality,  that  saved  sinners  share  a  common  nature  with 
the  Son  of  God,  in  a  twofold  manner ;  namely,  by  his  assumption 
of  their  nature  in  his  incarnation,  and  by  their  participation  of 
his  nature  through  their  regeneration.10 

3.  This  is  also  an  everlasting  Kingdom.  For  Immanuel's 
throne  and  dominion  are  forevermore,  and  the  increase  of  his 
government  and  peace  shall  have  no  end  :n  and  the  Kingdom  of 
the  saints  of  the  Most  High  is  an  everlasting  Kingdom.12  How¬ 
ever  the  world  and  Satan  may  have  appeared  to  prevail  against 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  under  the  antecedent  forms  of  it  ;  as  soon 
as  there  was  written  upon  its  immovable  foundation — Christ ,  the 


1  Jolin,  xviii.  36,  37. 

4  1  Cor.,  xv.  50. 

7  Eph.,  v.  25. 

10  John,  i.  14 ;  2  Peter,  i.  4. 
13  Daniel,  ii.  44;  vii.  27. 


2  John,  iii.  1-13.  3  John,  iii.  6. 

5  Eph.,  i.  22,  23.  6  Eph.,  ii  .passim. 

8  Matt.,  ix.  13.  9  Matt.,  ix.  12. 

11  Isaiah,  vii.  14;  ix.  6,  7. 


394 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


Son  of  the  living  God  ; — from  that  moment  the  gates  of  hell  lost 
all  power  to  prevail.1  However  it  may  have  repented  God  when 
he  saw  the  exceeding  wickedness  of  man,  that  he  had  made  him 
on  the  earth  ;2  the  gifts  of  God  to  his  Church  and  his  saints,  and 
his  calling  of  his  saints  into  his  Kingdom,  are  without  repent¬ 
ance.3  If  God  spared  not  his  own  Son,  hut  delivered  him  up  for 
ns  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  freely  give  us  all  things  ?3  And 
if  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death 
of  his  Son,  much  more  being  reconciled,  we  shall  he  saved  by  his 
life.6  Always,  everywhere,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,  Christ 
is  with  us  :6  and  when  time,  and  earth,  and  sin,  are  done  with 
forever,  infinite  glory  and  blessedness  await  the  Kingdom  and 
the  saints  of  him  who  hath  on  his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh  a 
name  written,  King  of  kings ,  and  Lord  of  lords  V 

4.  This  Kingdom  is  to  be  universal,  even  upon  this  earth.  So 
far  is  it  from  being  possible  that  it  should  fail,  the  assured  end 
of  the  conflict  which  so  many  ages  have  already  witnessed  will 
be,  that  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  to  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and 
ever.8  The  followers  of  Christ  differ  widely,  as  to  the  times  and 
the  seasons  of  bringing  to  pass  this  great  purpose  of  God  :  they 
differ  also  as  to  the  form  and  as  to  the  substance  of  the  event 
itself:  nor  is  it  under  such  circumstances  the  part  of  wisdom  to 
assert,  as  of  faith,  peculiar  dogmas  concerning  this  glorious  hope 
common  to  us  all,  which  is  admitted  to  be  not  yet  realized.  As 
to  the  general  truth  involved,  no  one  may  call  himself  a  Christian 
and  deny  that  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  is  to  be  believed  on  in 
the  world,  any  more  than  he  may  deny  either  of  the  other  incon¬ 
trovertible  elements  of  the  mystery  of  godliness.9  It  is  no  more 
certain  that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain 
together  until  now  ;10  than  it  is  that  the  creature  itself  also  shall 
be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption,  into  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God  ;u  than  that  there  shall  be  new 
heavens  and  a  new  earth  wherein  shall  dwell  nothing  but  right- 
eousness,  and  none  but  they  whose  names  are  written  in  the 
Lamb’s  Book  of  Life  ;12  and  that  the  saints  shall  live  and  reign 


1  Matt.,  xvi.  13-18.  2  Gen.,  vi.  6. 

4  Rom.,  viii  32.  5  Rom.,  v.  10. 

7  Rev.,  xix.  16 ;  xxii.  1-5.  8  Rev.,  xi.  17. 

10  Rom.,  viii.  22.  11  Rom.,  viii.  21. 

12  2  Peter,  iii.  13  ;  Rev.,  xxi.  1,  27. 


s 


Rom.,  xi.  29. 
Matt.,  xxviii.  20. 
1  Tim.,  iii.  16. 


8 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


895 


CHAP.  XX.] 

with  Christ  upon  earth.1  The  stone  that  was  cut  out  without 
hands  shall  not  only  break  in  pieces  and  consume  every  earthly 
Kingdom,  but  it  shall  become  a  great  mountain,  and  fill  the 
whole  earth.3  Behold,  saith  God,  all  souls  are  mine  ;3  as  I  live, 
every  knee  shall  bow  to  me,  and  every  tongue  confess  to  God.4 

5.  The  children  of  this  Kingdom  have  an  unspeakable  mis¬ 
sion.  Nor  is  this  more  remarkable  in  anything,  than  in  their  re¬ 
lation  to  the  method  by  which  the  Kingdom  itself  is  perfected 
and  extended.  Almost  at  the  moment  of  Christ's  final  ascension 
to  heaven,  his  Apostles,  encouraged  by  the  condescension  and 
distinctness  of  his  parting  instructions  to  them,  ventured  to  in¬ 
quire  particularly  concerning  the  very  subjects  I  have  been  dis¬ 
cussing.  They  asked  him,  Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore 
again  the  Kingdom  to  Israel  ?5  His  answer  was  clear  and  deci¬ 
sive.  It  is  not  for  you  to  know  the  times  or  the  seasons,  which 
the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own  power.  But  ye  shall  receive 
power,  after  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you  :  and  ye  shall  be 
witnesses  unto  me,  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in 
Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth.6  To  be  wit¬ 
nesses  for  Jesus,  both  in  the  testimony  they  bear,  and  in  the  war¬ 
fare  they  carry  on,  is  the  especial  mission  of  every  member  of  his 
Kingdom  in  its  present  form,  involved  in  the  very  nature  and 
end  of  the  Kingdom  itself.  Each  one,  no  doubt,  in  his  place  and 
according  to  his  lot  and  the  grace  given  to  him  ;7  but  every  one 
of  the  chosen  generation,  the  royal  priesthood,  the  holy  nation, 
the  peculiar  people,  showing  forth  the  praises  of  him  who  hath 
called  them  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light.8  The 
Gospel  Church,  in  the  form  given  to  it  by  the  Apostles,  is  the 
fruit  of  their  divine  vocation  and  authority  received  from  the 
Lord,  and  of  their  anointing  with  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pen¬ 
tecost  ;  and  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  with  power  and  the 
militant  state  of  the  Gospel  Church,  both  lie  between  the  anoint¬ 
ing  and  the  fit  time  and  exact  season  reserved  by  the  Father  ex¬ 
clusively  to  himself.9  Our  fitness  to  bear  the  testimony  required 
of  us  as  members  of  Christ  and  members  one  of  another,10  de- 

1  Rev.,  xx.  4—10;  2  Tim.,  ii,  11,  12.  2  Daniel,  ii.  35,  44. 

3  Ezekiel,  xviii.  4.  4  Rom.,  xiv.  11;  Pliil.,  ii.  10,  11. 

5  Acts,  i.  6.  6  Acts,  i.  7,  8. 

7  Eph.,  iv.  1-16.  8  1  Peter,  ii.  9. 

9  Matt.,  xxiv.  30;  Mark,  xiii.  32  ;  1  Thess.,  v.  1,  2. 

10  Eph.,  v.  30 ;  iv.  25 ;  Rom.,  xii.  5. 


396  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

pends  upon  our  own  communion  with  Christ  through  faith,  and 
with  each  other  in  love  :  and  both  of  these  depend  immediately, 
as  I  have  shown,  upon  the  power  and  the  illumination  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  shed  abroad  within  us.  The  promise  of  the  Father,  the 
crowning  proof  of  the  glorification  of  the  risen  Saviour,  and  the 
final  unction  of  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord,  all  agree  in  one,  and 
all  have  direct  relevancy  to  the  infinite  Spirit  whose  peculiar 
presence  is  our  great  heritage  in  these  last  days,  by  whose  power 
all  our  witness-bearing  is  accomplished,  and  all  who  call  on  the 
name  of  the  Lord  are  saved.1 

6.  This  glorious  witness-bearing  for  Christ,  under  the  support 
and  guidance  of  his  own  Spirit,  brings  us  in  the  special  dispen¬ 
sation  allotted  to  us,  face  to  face  with  all  the  powers  of  this  world, 
in  all  our  endeavours  to  extend  the  Kingdom  of  God  ;  and  it 
brings  us  face  to  face  with  our  brethren  in  Christ  in  all  our  en- 
deavours  to  perfect  the  Kingdom  in  itself.  But  to  extend  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ,  and  to  perfect  it — by  both  methods  hasten¬ 
ing  it  forward  to  its  glory — are  our  chief  duties,  stated  in  the 
most  general  manner,  and  considering  ourselves  as  of  the  House¬ 
hold  of  God,  and  as  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints.2  This  is  the 
form  in  which  the  Lord  himself  has  put  it :  Go  ye,  therefore,  and 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  teaching  them  to  observe 
all  things,  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you.3  And  the  entire 
nature  of  Christ's  Kingdom  is  involved  in  this  brief  statement. 
Its  mission  is  to  teach  :  to  teach  all  nations  :  to  teach  them  all, 
everything  commanded  by  the  Saviour.  Here  is  the  immense 
compass  of  our  duty,  and  the  exact  limit  of  our  authority,  in 
winning  souls  to  Christ.  And  when  they  have  been  won,  they 
must  be  gathered  into  his  fold,  and  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 
Triune  God,  and  taught  to  observe  every  command  of  the  Lord. 
They  must  be  as  his  children  are,  and  do  as  his  children  do.  And 
thus  new  conquests  are  made,  and  thus  the  Kingdom  is  perfected 
within,  and  thus  it  grows  both  in  the  breadth  of  its  reign,  and  the 
power  of  its  life,  and  thus  by  both  methods  our  witness-bearing 
hastens  the  glory  which  is  to  be  revealed  in  us.4  To  keep  alive 
in  our  hearts  an  interest  corresponding  with  the  work  we  are 
called  to  perform,  the  Lord  Jesus  has  set  before  us  the  most 

*  Joel,  ii.  28-32  ;  Acts,  it  16-21 ;  Rom.,  x.  12-15.  2  Eph.,  ii.  19-22. 

3  Matt.,  xvviii.  19,  20.  4  Rom.,  viii.  18. 


CHAP.  XX.]  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD.  397 

overwhelming  motives,  derived  from  his  own  glory  and  presence 
with  us,  and  from  the  infinite  reward  he  will  bestow  on  us.  All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  Be  thou  faithful 
unto  death,  and  I  will  give  you  a  crown  of  life.1 

7.  Thus  composed  and  marshalled,  this  Kingdom  proclaims 
continually  its  readiness  and  its  fitness  to  receive  every  penitent 
sinner  of  our  lost  race,  and  to  train  him  in  the  exalted  and  eter¬ 
nal  service  and  enjoyment  of  God.  Its  banners  have  no  legend 
more  broadly  inscribed  on  them  than  that  faithful  saying,  and 
worthy  of  all  acceptation — Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners.2  And  so  its  efforts  to  extend  itself,  are  made  in  the 
widest  sense  of  the  freedom  of  the  Gospel  offer  ;  and  against  the 
ranks  of  its  fiercest  enemies,  its  message  of  defiance  is,  Whoso¬ 
ever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely  !3  Amongst  its 
highest  obligations,  it  seeks  to  keep  alive  in  the  hearts  of  all  men, 
a  sense  of  the  infinite  perfectness  of  God's  claim  upon  the  whole 
universe  ;  sounding  through  all  lands  the  edict  of  Jehovah — All 
souls  are  mine  ;4  and  warning  every  creature  that  God  hath  ap¬ 
pointed  a  day  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteous¬ 
ness  bv  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained,  and  therefore  he  com- 
mandeth  all  men  everywhere  to  repent.5  Nor  is  its  duty  at  all 
affected,  whether  men  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear. 
The  infinite  fitness  and  freedom  of  the  offer  of  salvation,  and  the 
infinite  right  and  authority  of  God  by  which  that  offer  is  enforced, 
may  not,  indeed,  commend  our  message  to  the  hearts  of  men. 
Some  may  receive  it  after  many  repetitions,  some  may  reject  it 
fiercely  and  contemptuously,  some  may  turn  and  rend  those  who 
bring  it.  In  general,  men  will  be  brought  one  by  one  into  the 
Kingdom  ;  in  times  of  great  awakening  they  will  come  like  the 
countless  drops  of  dew  from  the  womb  of  the  morning  :  and  in 
the  day  of  glory,  a  nation  will  be  born  at  once.  He  who  made 
his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and 
shall  be  satisfied.6  And  the  children  of  God  insufficient  as  they 
may  be,  yet  in  all  their  endeavours  are  unto  God  a  sweet  savour 
of  Christ  in  them  that  are  saved,  and  in  them  that  perish  :  to 
the  one  the  savour  of  death  unto  death ;  and  to  the  other  the 
savour  of  life  unto  life.7 

i  Matt,  xxviii.  18-20;  Rev.,  ii.  10.  2  1  Tim.,  i.  15.  3  Rev.,  xxii.  17. 

4  Ezekiel,  xviii.  4.  6  Acts,  xvii.  30,  31.  a  Isaiah,  lii.  10,  11.  7  2  Cor.,  ii.  15,  16. 


398 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


8.  Every  one  of  the  heirs  of  this  Kingdom,  thus  gathered  into 
it,  thus  perfected  in  it,  and  thus  in  turn  extending  and  perfect¬ 
ing  it,  stands  related  to  God  in  such  a  manner  that  not  only  the 
infinite  grace,  hut  the  unsearchable  being  also  of  God,  is  mani¬ 
fested  upon  them  all.  What  is  more,  their  former  ruin,  and  the 
perfection  of  their  eternal  blessedness,  are  both  kept  continually 
before  their  hearts,  in  the  whole  method  of  their  recovery.  It  is 
the  eternal  electing  love  of  God  the  Father,  which  is  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  their  divine  call  into  this  Kingdom.  It  is  their  redemp¬ 
tion  through  the  infinite  sacrifice  of  God  the  Son,  that  is  the 
ground  of  their  actual  participation  of  this  Kingdom.  It  is  by 
the  work  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  their  fitness  for  this  King¬ 
dom  and  their  faithfulness  in  it,  are  produced.  It  is  through  the 
influence  of  the  divine  Word,  and  the  communion  of  the  saints 
with  Christ  and  with  each  other,  in  their  mutual  co-operation  for 
perfecting  and  extending  this  Kingdom,  that  the  love  of  God 
the  Father,  the  saving  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  make  themselves  practically  man¬ 
ifest  in  the  Body  of  Christ.  All  the  heirs  of  the  Kingdom  stand 
also  in  such  a  relation  to  each  other,  as  is  expressive  of  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  supernatural  change  which  has  been  wrought 
in  them  all.  Children  of  God  and  brethren  of  each  other — not 
rebels  against  God,  and  aliens  from  each  other — as  they  were  be¬ 
fore  ;  heirs  of  God,  joint  heirs  with  Christ,  inheritors  together  of 
crowns  of  glory — not  outcasts,  and  accursed,  and  hastening  to 
perdition,  as  they  once  were.  This  immeasurable  transformation 
is  expressed  by  saying,  they  are  brethren — being  all  brethren  of 
Christ  and  sons  of  God.  In  the  very  mode,  therefore,  in  which 
the  Kingdom  of  God  is  constituted,  in  its  most  elemental  aspect, 
we  find  the  expression  of  its  very  nature  and  end,  and  the  ex¬ 
pression  also  in  a  concrete  form,  of  the  chief  truths  which  enter 
into  the  plan  of  salvation. 

9.  It  is  this  Church  of  Christ  that  has  received  from  God  a 
particular  outward  organization,  suited  to  its  nature  and  end,  by 
means  of  which  it  may  accomplish  in  the  most  complete  manner, 
the  immediate  object  of  its  existence,  namely,  the  gathering  and 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  in  this  life,  to  the  end  of  the  world.1  If 
God  had  given  to  it  no  outward  organization,  no  sacraments,  no 
office-bearers,  as  he  appears  for  many  centuries  after  the  fall,  not 

1  Eph.,  iv.  passim. 


CHAP.  XX.] 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


399 


to  have  done  ;  the  Church  has  no  power  to  ordain  them.  If  God 
has  given  any  to  the  Church — as  indeed  he  has — -her  whole  duty 
and  authority  in  that  respect  are  exhausted,  in  accepting  and 
fulfilling  his  divine  ordinations.  To  presume,  in  either  case,  to 
depart  from  the  revealed  will  of  God,  is  as  really  to  set  aside  his 
divine  authority,  as  it  would  he  to  change  the  doctrine,  strictly  so 
called,  which  he  has  revealed  to  our  faith,  or  the  precepts  of  mo¬ 
rality  which  he  has  made  the  rule  of  our  obedience.  Such  at¬ 
tempts  deliberately  made,  concerning  human  sovereignties,  are 
treason,  rebellion,  revolution  :  in  the  Church,  they  are  direct  as¬ 
saults  upon  the  majesty  of  God,  upon  the  headship  of  Christ 
over  the  Church,  and  upon  the  freedom  of  the  Church  itself. 
How  far  they  may  be  carried,  on  either  hand,  without  destroying 
the  nature  and  defeating  the  end  of  the  visible  Church,  is  a  ques¬ 
tion  precisely  analogous  to  similar  questions  concerning  faith  and 
morals.  In  all  three  cases,  certain  departures  from  the  revealed 
will  of  God,  may  be  treated  as  endurable  ;  others  must  be  con¬ 
sidered  fatal.  Assuredly  it  is  one  of  the  most  distinct  character¬ 
istics  of  the  Gospel  Church,  that  it  is  the  Kingdom  of  Christ 
under  a  visible  form,  divinely  bestowed  on  it.  Its  organization 
is  expressly  so  created  and  distributed  by  God,  as  on  the  one 
hand,  to  make  full  account  of  the  nature  and  end  of  a  Kingdom 
so  remarkable  ;  and  on  the  other,  to  enable  it  to  move  and  act, 
within  itself,  with  the  greatest  freedom  and  perfection,  and  to 
exert  its  force  without,  in  a  manner  the  most  constant  and 
efficacious.  If  it  were  otherwise,  both  the  methods  by  which 
it  accomplishes  its  divine  mission  would  be  obstructed,  or  de¬ 
stroyed. 

10.  It  is  thus  that  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  is  fitted  for 
her  great  work  on  earth.  In  her  hands  are  all  the  words  of  eter¬ 
nal  life,  which  God  has  revealed  in  a  permanent  form  for  the  sal¬ 
vation  of  man.  In  her  bosom  are  all  the  instrumentalities,  by 
which  this  inspired  truth  is  ordinarily  made  effectual  in  the 
human  soul.  In  the  hearts  of  her  children  accompanying  her 
ordinances  in  their  faithful  use,  and  attending  the  divine  word 
committed  to  her  keeping  in  its  circuit  through  the  earth,  is  that 
divine  Comforter  whose  outpouring  was  the  great  promise  of  the 
Father,  and  whose  perpetual  presence  was  one  of  the  last  and 
greatest  promises  of  the  Son.  Over  her  and  around  about  her,  is 
that  ceaseless  and  irresistible  providence  of  God,  by  means  of 


400 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


which  he  brings  all  events  to  pass  according  to  the  eternal  pur¬ 
pose  of  his  will,  and  whose  whole  course  is  so  ordained  that  all 
things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God.  And 
higher  than  the  highest  heavens,  her  glorified  Redeemer  sits  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  on  high,  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour — • 
to  give  repentance  to  Israel  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins — head 
over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of 
him  that  filleth  all  in  all.  Surely  we  need  not  doubt  that  God 
will  make  known  through  his  Church,  unto  principalities  and 
powers,  his  own  manifold  wisdom  nor  that  in  the  dispensation 
of  the  fulness  of  times,  all  things  will  be  gathered  in  one,  in 
Christ,  both  which  are  in  heaven,  and  which  are  on  earth,  even  in 
him.2 

11.  There  are  two  topics  which  may  be  supposed  to  require  a 
few  words  of  explanation  under  the  view  I  have  presented  of  the 
Church  of  God.  One  of  them  concerns  the  position  of  such  pro¬ 
fessed  members  of  the  visible  Church,  as  are  not  the  children  of 
God  :  the  other  concerns  the  infant  seed  of  true  believers.  Con¬ 
cerning  the  former,  whatever  difficulty  may  exist  lies  in  the  do¬ 
main  of  Church  Discipline,  which  I  will  treat  in  another  place, 
and  not  in  that  of  the  organization  of  tbe  Church,  which  is  the 
subject  of  immediate  consideration.  In  the  nature  of  the  case, 
the  more  perfectly  the  apparent  Church  corresponds  with  the  real 
Church,  the  more  perfect  the  former  must  be  ;  and  the  more  com¬ 
pletely  our  definitions  in  a  Treatise  like  this,  express  what  actu¬ 
ally  is  according  to  the  ordination  of  God,  and  not  what  is  merely 
apparent  and  delusive,  through  the  wickedness  of  man,  the  more 
nearly  does  our  teaching  approach  the  truth  of  God.  As  a  ques¬ 
tion  of  Ethics  and  Philosophy,  nothing  would  be  more  absurd, 
than  to  make  our  definitions  false,  in  order  to  give  a  certain  validity 
to  appearances  which  are  known  to  be  deceptive.  Whatever  dif¬ 
ficulties  may  be  supposed  to  exist  in  the  just  application  of  the 
discipline  of  the  Church,  so  as  to  exclude  from  its  communion 
those  whom  God  has  forbidden  to  approach  it ;  nothing  in  the 
Sciiptures  is  more  obvious,  nothing  in  the  constant  faith  of  the 
Church  is  more  settled,  nothing  is  more  clear  to  human  reason, 
than  that  all  children  of  the  Devil  are  mere  intruders  into  the 
visible  Church,  and  ought  to  be  cast  out  of  it.  They  who  are  not 
the  true  followers  of  Christ,  cannot  be  members  of  Christ ;  they 

1  Eph.,  iu.  10.  3  Eph.,  i.  10. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD. 


401 


CHAP.  XX.] 

who  are  not  members  of  Christ  cannot  he  members  one  of  an¬ 
other,  in  any  Christian  sense  ;  but  the  possibility  of  making  the 
body  of  Christ  visible  by  means  of  any  external  organization, 
rests  upon  these  two  truths,  namely,  that  we  are  members  of 
Christ,  and  of  each  other.  Whatever  organization  is  composed 
on  opposite  principles,  is  necessarily  corrupt :  whatever  individ¬ 
ual,  destitute  of  fellowship  with  Christ  and  with  Christ's  people, 
intrudes  into  a  true  Church,  is  merely  an  intruder.  We  delude 
ourselves  by  a  word,  forgetting  that  it  is  not  the  same  thing  to 
be  visibly  a  member  of  some  organization  or  denomination  of 
Christians,  and  to  be  a  member  of  Christ  visibly  by  being  a  true 
member  of  his  visible  body.  It  is  another  question,  altogether, 
what  evidence  shall  be  deemed  sufficient,  against  an  individual 
or  against  a  sect.  Concerning  which,  in  both  cases,  it  is  very  ob¬ 
vious  that  if  either  the  evidence  itself,  or  the  matters  established 
by  it,  be  insufficient,  it  is  at  once  to  usurp  the  prerogative  of 
Christ,  and  to  outrage  our  brethren  in  him,  if  we  reject  as  false 
a  profession  of  discipleship,  which,  for  aught  that  appears,  is 
true. 

12.  The  covenanted  duty  of  Christian  parents  to  dedicate 
their  infant  children  to  God,  and  the  covenanted  right  of  the 
seed  of  believers  to  membership  in  the  Church  of  God,  will  be 
discussed  hereafter.  At  present,  it  is  sufficient  to  observe  that 
if  such  a  duty  rests  on  Christian  parents,  and  such  a  right  is 
given  by  God  to  their  infant  seed  :  then  all  I  have  said,  so  far 
from  excluding  such  infant  members  from  the  visible  Church  of 
Christ,  necessarily  embraces  them.  Their  position  is  determined 
absolutely  by  the  decision  we  arrive  at,  concerning  the  effect  which 
the  faith  of  the  parent  has,  on  the  relation  of  his  infant  seed  to 
the  covenant  through  which  he  is  himself  saved.  When  the  pa¬ 
rent  is  not  in  covenant  with  Christ,  it  cannot  be  pretended  that 
he  has  any  covenant  duty  to  his  infant  seed,  or  that  it  has  any 
covenanted  right  based  on  the  faith  of  a  parent,  who  has  no  faith. 
I  suppose  that  nothing  concerning  God's  dealings  with  man, 
whether  in  creation,  in  providence,  or  in  grace,  is  more  remarka¬ 
ble,  than  the  use  he  has  made  of  the  parental  relation,  and  the 
pains  he  has  taken  to  explain  to  us  that  use,  and  the  ground 
of  it. 


VOL.  II. 


26 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


DEDUCTION  AND  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD,  CONSIDERED 

AS  THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 

1.  1.  The  Effect  of  God’s  gracious  Interposition  after  the  Fall,  upon  Man’s  Relation  to 
God. — 2.  The  practical  Result  of  that  Interposition,  generally  stated. — 3.  Theo¬ 
retical  Issue  of  the  Probation  of  the  Human  Race,  upon  the  Conditions  stated. — 
4.  Revealed  Result:  Coming  of  the  Son  of  Man. — II.  1.  Divisions  of  the  Human 
Race,  Spiritually  Considered :  God’s  manifold  Dealings  responsive  to  those  Divi¬ 
sions. — 2.  Manifold  Aspect  of  the  Kingdom  of  God:  Visible  Church  of  Christ. — 
3.  Separate  from  the  World,  and  organized  for  the  Special  Ends,  and  by  the  Spe¬ 
cial  Means  of  its  Visibility :  Concatenation  of  God’s  Providence  and  Grace.— 
III.  1.  Nature  of  Man  and  of  Society — Fundamental  Principles  of  the  Church’s 
Organization — Revealed  Ordination  of  God :  Relation  between  them  all. — 2.  Ex¬ 
haustive  Statement  of  the  Functions  of  Society,  in  itself  considered : — (a)  The 
aggregate  Expression  of  what  is  Right:  Public  Will:  Law: — (&)  Enforcement 
of  the  Rule  of  Right — by  the  aggregate  Force:  Administrative  Authority: — 
(c)  Exposition  and  Application  of  Law,  to  Duties  and  Rights:  Judicial  Authority. 
— 3.  Dependence  of  these  Functions  of  Society,  on  the  Moral,  Rational,  and  Spi¬ 
ritual  Nature  of  Man:  Their  Relevancy  to  God,  the  universal  Lawgiver,  Judge, 
and  Ruler. — 4.  Application  of  these  Principles  to  the  Visible  Church :  Funda¬ 
mental  Distinction  between  the  Gospel  Church  and  the  Civil  State. — 5.  The  Law 
of  God  the  sole  Law  of  the  Church  of  Christ :  Nature  and  Ground  of  this  Pecu¬ 
liarity. — 6.  Her  judicial  and  executive  Functions :  Their  Nature  and  Extent. — 
7.  Definition  of  the  Visible  Church  of  Christ,  now  Militant  under  the  Gospel 
State  thereof. 

I- — 1.  The  Fall  of  Man  placed  the  human  race  in  such  an 
estate,  that  its  universal  perdition  could  he  prevented  no  other¬ 
wise,  than  by  the  sovereign  and  gracious  interposition  of  God, 
changing  the  relation  of  that  race  to  himself.  That  interposition 
occurred  :  and  a  clear  account  of  it,  in  its  whole  nature  and  de¬ 
sign,  has  been  given  to  us  by  God  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  Those 
inspired  writings  contain — and  they  alone  contain — the  true  re¬ 
ligion  of  man  considered  as  a  sinner  :  and  that  religion  embraces 
the  sum  of  God’s  sovereign  and  gracious  interposition  to  prevent 
the  universal  perdition  of  the  human  race,  and,  therefore,  the  sum 
of  what  man  can  need  in  order  to  be  saved.  Yet  that  interposi¬ 
tion  of  God  did  not  change  the  relation  of  our  fallen  race  to  him, 


THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH. 


403 


CHAP.  XXI.] 

by  abolishing  the  true  religion  natural  to  man,  considered  merely 
as  a  creature  ;  but  by  graciously  adding  to  it,  in  a  way  of  divine 
revelation,  the  true  religion  needful  for  man,  considered  as  a  fallen 
and  depraved  creature.  By  what  is  added  God  becomes  the  Re¬ 
deemer,  without  ceasing  to  be  the  Creator ;  and  the  saved  sinner 
remains  the  dependent  creature  of  God. 

2.  In  point  of  fact,  the  whole  human  family  has  never  been 
brought  under  the  influence  of  this  new  form,  in  which  life  and 
immortality  are  brought  to  light  by  the  Gospel.  On  the  contrary, 
besides  the  original  apostacy  in  Adam,  God  when  he  has  made 
inquest  on  signal  and  widely  separated  occasions,  has  found  our 
sinful  race  alike  ignorant  of  him,  and  hostile  to  him.  In  the  days 
of  Noah  he  drowned  the  whole  race  in  the  flood  of  waters,  saving- 
alive  only  Noah  and  his  family.  In  the  days  of  Abraham  God 
chose  him  out  of  a  rebellious  world,  and  made  his  covenant  with 
him  as  the  father  of  the  faithful.  In  the  days  of  the  early  Gos¬ 
pel  Church,  God  set  aside  even  his  ancient  people  for  their  sins, 
and  has  scattered  them  and  hidden  his  face  from  them  ever  since. 
And  Christ  himself  hath  demanded  concerning  what  is  yet  be¬ 
fore  us,  When  the  Son  of  Man  cometh  shall  he  find  faith  on  the 
earth  P1  The  knowledge  of  the  written  word  of  God  has  never 
been  communicated  to  any  one  entire  generation  of  men  ;  and, 
even  at  the  present  hour,  it  is  probable  that  the  larger  part  of  the 
human  family  are  in  ignorance  of  God's  designs  of  mercy  to  fallen 
men.  And  of  those  who  have  obtained  knowledge,  more  or  less 
complete,  on  that  momentous  subject,  it  is  probable  that  the 
greater  part  do  not  profess  to  have  received  the  truth  in  the  love 
of  it  ;  and  of  those  who  make  that  profession,  neither  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  nor  our  own  most  charitable  judgments  permit  us  to  doubt, 
that  multitudes  are  alike  ignorant  and  destitute  of  the  power  of 
divine  love.2 

3.  Such  is  the  practical  result  of  the  sovereign  and  gracious 
interposition  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  sinners,  as  exhibited  by  its 
progress  from  the  beginning  of  time.  And  the  whole  is  announced 
when  two  most  pregnant  statements  are  added.  First,  that  it  is 
not  given  to  mortals  to  foresee  how  long,  how  sad,  or  how  variable 
the  struggle  between  light  and  darkness  may  be,  before  the  final 
victory  is  won- — nor  yet  how  soon  that  last  triumph  may  come.3 

1  Luke,  xviii.  8.  2  Matt.,  xxv.  passim. 

3  Matt.,  xxiv.  36-42;  Acts,  i.  7 ;  1  Tkess.,  v.  1-11. 


404  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

And  secondly,  that  God's  Kingdom  has  always  been,  and  will 
continue  immovably  established,  in  this  rebellious  world ;  and 
that  the  heirs  of  that  Kingdom  are  the  salt  of  the  earth — the 
light  of  the  world.1  Theoretically,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  this 
great  problem  could  have  worked  itself  out  in  a  different  man¬ 
ner,  upon  the  terms  stated  ;  nor  how  any  result,  substantially 
different.,  could  ever  be  reached,  or  the  subject  extricate  itself 
from  endless  conflict,  unless  some  of  the  conditions  of  the  prob¬ 
lem  are  radicallv  changed,  on  one  side  or  the  other.  For  it  has 
been  shown  that  the  actual  condition  of  the  universe  is  this, 
namely,  that  it  lies  under  the  curse  of  God — with  a  promise  of 
deliverance  ;  but  the  curse  is  broader  than  the  promise  in  this, 
that  in  some  sense  the  curse  embraces  all,  while  the  promise  takes 
one  and  leaves  another  ;  the  one  fastening  and  working  with  in¬ 
stant  and  universal  force,  while  the  other,  pointing  chiefly  to  the 
future  and  the  unseen,  works  in  the  midst  of  our  darkness  and 
pollution.  When  we  speak  of  the  grace  of  God,  the  sense  is  most 
true  and  real,  but  it  is  also  strict :  when  we  speak  of  the  pollu¬ 
tion  of  sin,  the  sense  is  not  only  true,  but  absolute  and  universal. 
And  the  grace  itself,  rich  as  it  is,  is  not  merely  for  our  deliver¬ 
ance,  but  for  deliverance  in  such  a  way  that  a  true  probation  is 
made,  alike  of  those  who  reject  it,  and  of  those  who  are  led  in 
willing  captivity  to  it. 

4.  The  Scriptures,  however,  leave  us  in  no  doubt  as  to  -what 
the  real  event  will  be,  and  how  it  will  be  brought  to  pass.  The 
nature  and  certainty  of  the  change  that  will  occur  in  the  terms 
of  this  problem,  so  endless  and  insoluble  to  human  reason,  on  the 
conditions  stated,  are  amongst  the  clearest  and  grandest  parts 
of  the  revealed  scheme  of  our  deliverance.  The  advent  of  Christ 
was  the  great  promise  of  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  : 
his  second  coming  is  at  once  the  great  promise  and  the  great 
threat  of  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament.2  However  we 
may  dispute  about  that  coming,  as  to  its  exact  manner,  its  set 
time,  and  all  its  sublime  incidents  and  results  ;  no  one  who  calls 
himself  an  heir  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  ought  to  doubt  the  great 
fact  itself,  or  its  decisive  and  eternal  efficacy.  He  whose  right  it 
is,  shall  take  the  Kingdom.  The  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  his 
glory*  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  and  then  shall  he  sit 

1  Matt.,  v.  13,  14 ;  xxviii.  19,  20. 

s  Matt.,  xxiv.  29-31 ;  xvi.  26 ;  Mark,  xiii.  24-21 ;  Rev.,  i.  4-8. 


CHAP.  XXI.]  THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH.  405 

upon  tlie  throne  of  his  glory  :  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered 
all  nations.1 

IT. — 1.  The  consequence  of  such  a  state  of  things  must  be 
the  division  of  the  human  family,  when  spiritually  considered, 
into  great  classes  :  and  then  the  subdivision  of  those  classes  into 
subordinate,  but  still  immense  masses  of  human  beings.  The 
first  division  would  separate  those  who  have  been  made  acquaint¬ 
ed  with  the  salvation  of  God,  from  the  remainder  of  the  human 
race  ;  on  the  one  side  nominally  believing,  and  on  the  other  un¬ 
believing  peoples,  races,  and  nations.  Passing  by  all  the  latter, 
the  second  division  would  separate,  amongst  the  former,  all  who 
profess  to  love  and  obey  the  Lord,  from  all  merely  speculative 
believers,  who  make  no  profession  of  being  the  people  of  God. 
And  again  passing  by  all  who  fall  into  this  latter  class,  the  third 
division  would  separate  amongst  the  professed  followers  of  Christ, 
such  as  are  the  true  children  of  God,  from  all  those  whose  pro¬ 
fession  is  merely  a  form  or  a  delusion.  It  is  only  after  these  re¬ 
peated  divisions  of  our  race,  that  the  true  heirs  of  eternal  life — 
the  true  members  of  the  Kingdom  of  God — can  be  even  theo¬ 
retically  extricated  from  the  mass  of  our  perishing  fellow-crea¬ 
tures,  and  contemplated  as  divinely  set  apart  for  the  special  glory 
of  God,  as  his  Church.  And  it  is  manifest  that  these  various 
distinctions  amongst  men,  must  be  responsive  to  a  manifold  me¬ 
thod  of  treatment  of  them  by  God.  His  dealings  and  his  mani¬ 
festations  of  himself,  are  not  the  same  towards  those  who  are 
wholly  destitute  of  all  knowledge  of  his  revealed  will — Towards 
those  who  know  his  will  and  despise  it — towards  those  whose 
professions  of  love  and  obedience  have  no  solid  foundation — and 
towards  those  penitent  and  believing  followers  of  the  Lamb  who 
shall  inherit  all  things.  These  things  are  not  merely  casual — 
any  more  than  those  explained  immediately  before  :  nor  are  these 
mere  speculations.  I  am  pointing  out  results  logically  unavoid¬ 
able — attested  by  the  word  of  God,  and  by  all  experience — which 
belong  to  the  very  system  of  the  universe,  under  the  conditions 
now  stamped  upon  it.2 

2.  In  a  somewhat  analogous  manner  to  these  spiritual  dis¬ 
tinctions  which  exist  amongst  the  human  family,  and  are  re¬ 
sponsive  to  a  manifold  treatment  on  the  part  of  God  ;  there  are 

1  Matt.,  xxv.  31,  32  ;  1  Thess.,  iv.  14-18;  2  Tliess.,  i.  1-10;  Jude,  14,  15. 

2  Luke,  xxiv.  25-21;  Matt.,  xxiii.  34-39;  xviii.  1.  • 


406  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

various  aspects  in  which  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  and  God's  deal¬ 
ings  with  it,  and  its  relations  to  man,  are  presented  to  us.  We 
may  consider  it  with  reference  to  its  absolute  unity  and  univer¬ 
sality;  embracing  everyone  of  the  elect  of  God,  whether  they 
be  now  in  glory,  or  in  the  flesh,  or  unborn.  Or  we  may  consider 
it  as  divided  by  the  stream  of  death  into  the  Church  triumphant, 
embracing  only  such  as  have  entered  into  their  rest,  and  the 
Church  militant,  embracing  such  true  followers  of  Christ  as 
are  passing  through  their  pilgrimage.  Or  we  may  consider  the 
Church  universal  under  the  ordinary  division  of  invisible,  and 
visible  ;  embracing  under  the  former,  the  universal  body  of  the 
Elect  of  God,  considered  not  as  they  are  sinners,  but  as  they  are 
his  children  ;  and  under  the  latter,  according  as  we  speak  loosely 
or  strictly,  all  living  men  who  profess  the  name  of  Christ,  or  more 
truly,  all  living  men  who  are  his  true  followers.  In  reality,  the 
visible  Church  can  have  no  existence,  except  just  so  far  as  it  is  com¬ 
posed  of  true  members  of  the  Church  universal ;  for  where  there 
are  none  of  these,  there  can  he  no  Church  of  God.  Properly 
speaking,  the  visible  Church  can  be  nothing  else  but  that  portion 
of  the  true  and  eternal  Kingdom  of  God,  which  is  apparent  on 
earth  :  and  we  might  as  truly  speak  of  another  head  of  the  King¬ 
dom  than  Christ ;  or  another  Creator  of  it  than  the  divine  Spirit, 
as  of  other  members  of  it  than  the  elect  of  God.  How  far  the 
Church  of  God  is,  at  any  time,  visible  on  earth,  can  be  known 
infallibly  only  to  him.  Whether  it  is  visible  to  us,  is,  both  the¬ 
oretically  and  practically,  capable  of  being  precisely  determined 
— as  I  will  show  in  subsequent  chapters  ;  and  the  knowledge  thus 
attainable,  is  the  guide  of  Christian  fellowship  between  the  vari¬ 
ous  sections,  whether  national  or  denominational,  into  which  the 
Church  is  divided.  Whether  particular  individuals  are  to  be  ac¬ 
cepted  as  worthy  members  of  the  visible  Church,  is  also  capable 
of  being  precisely  determined  ;  and  the  knowledge  thus  attain¬ 
able,  is  the  guide  for  those  entrusted  with  Government  and  Dis¬ 
cipline  in  the  Church  of  Christ — concerning  both  of  which  I  will 
treat  hereafter. 

3.  The  Kingdom  of  God,  presented  to  us  throughout  the 
Scriptures  in  a  light  distinctly  threefold,  is  called  the  Messianic 
Kingdom  from  its  head  Messiah— is  called  the  New  Creation  as 
being  the  spiritual  creation  of  the  Holy  Ghost— and  is  called  the 
Church  of  God,  and  of  Christ,  from  its  members,  who  are  indi- 


CHAP.  XXI.]  THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH.  407 

vidually  the  members  of  Christ,  and  are  collectively  his  Body. 
Nor  is  it  possible  for  us  to  have  a  clear  apprehension  of  its  na¬ 
ture,  if  we  omit  either  of  these  great  ideas  concerning  it.  As 
soon  as  this  Body  of  Christ  becomes  visible  on  earth — that  is,  ap¬ 
parent  to  the  world  as  an  institute  of  God  ;  it  becomes  at  the 
same  time,  by  the  same  means,  and  to  the  same  extent,  separate 
from  the  world  which  lies  in  sin.  And  every  additional  ordinance 
of  God,  by  which  its  visibility  is  made  more  distinct,  and  its 
organization  more  complete ;  is  an  additional  mark  of  its  separa¬ 
tion  from  the  world — an  additional  means  also  of  preventing  its 
confusion  with  a  world  which  has  rejected  God,  and  even  with 
every  other  institute  which  God  has  ordained  in  the  world.  More¬ 
over,  as  I  have  before  shown,  whatever  ordinance  of  God  makes 
the  Body  of  Christ  visible  and  separate,  in  the  same  degree  or¬ 
ganizes  it  for  all  the  ends  of  that  special  visibility  and  separa¬ 
tion  ;  and  every  additional  ordinance  of  God  by  which  its  visi¬ 
bility  and  separation  become  more  complete,  becomes  a  new  force 
in  its  own  distinct  organization,  a  new  means  by  which  the  great 
ends  of  its  existence  as  visible,  separate,  and  organized  may  be 
accomplished.  But  it  has  been  shown  that  these  great  ends  are 
its  own  perfection  and  increase  ;  that  is,  the  gathering  and  per¬ 
fecting  of  the  saints,  in  this  life,  to  the  end  of  the  world.1  So 
that,  considering  the  condition  of  the  universe  as  it  lies  under  the 
Covenant  of  Grace  as  thus  far  administered ;  we  behold  the  out¬ 
working  of  the  sentence  and  the  promise  of  God  uttered  after  the 
fall  of  man — the  spiritual  result  upon  the  human  race,  exhibited 
in  its  great  divided  masses,  and  the  manifold  dealings  of  God 
therewith — and  the  gradual  emerging  of  the  organized  Kingdom 
of  God  into  its  present  form  of  the  Gospel  Church.  God  him¬ 
self  has  explained  the  whole  to  us  in  his  blessed  word  ;  and  has 
pointed  out  the  amazing  concatenation  of  all  the  parts.  The 
sublime  order  which  pervades  nil  his  works,  and  the  infinite  fruit¬ 
fulness  of  all  his  acts,  are  nowhere  manifested  in  a  manner  more 
august,  than  in  those  vast  schemes  of  providence  and  grace,  which 
unite  in  the  career  and  present  state  of  the  visible  Church  of 
Christ. 

III. — 1.  Our  double  relation  to  God  as  dependent  creatures, 
and  as  sinners  saved  by  grace,  runs  through  every  part  of  his 
dealings  with  us,  and  is  felt  in  every  aspect  which  his  Kingdom 

1  Eph.,  iv.  1-16 ;  Matt.,  xvi.  15-20 ;  xviii.  15-20. 


408  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

presents.  We  are  children  of  Adam — brethren  also  of  Christ. 
Our  nature  is,  indeed,  depraved  by  the  fall ;  and  the  Covenant 
of  Works  is  abolished  as  a  Covenant  of  Life.  But  the  funda¬ 
mental  character  of  our  nature  as  personal,  human,  spiritual, 
and  immortal,  still  exists  ;  and  the  eternal  principles  on  which 
the  Covenant  of  Works  reposed,  are  still  true  and  operative. 
Both  that  nature  and  those  principles  are  made  full  account  of 
by  God,  in  every  part  of  his  dealings  with  us  under  the  new  and 
better  covenant ;  and  are  taken  for  granted  in  every  part  of  that 
organization  of  God’s  Kingdom,  which,  I  have  just  shown,  is  the 
unavoidable  accompaniment  of  its  separate,  visible,  existence  as 
a  divine  institute  in  this  world.  But  that  visible,  separate  ex¬ 
istence  in  the  world,  though  it  is  the  result  both  as  to  the  fact 
of  it,  and  the  form  of  it,  of  God’s  sovereign  ordination  ;  has  been 
shown  to  have  a  direct  connection  with  the  manner  in  which 
God’s  sentence  and  promise  work  themselves  out  upon  our  guilty 
race,  taken  as  a  whole — and  upon  the  spiritual  condition  of  that 
race,  considered  in  its  great  divided  masses.  It  remains  to  trace 
in  the  fundamental  nature  of  man,  and  of  society,  those  unal¬ 
terable  principles  upon  which  the  visibility,  the  separation,  and 
ihe  organization  of  the  Church  rest ;  and  which,  in  the  very 
manner  of  their  necessary  operation,  accord  with  the  revealed 
ordination  of  God  concerning  the  visible  Church. 

2.  However  large  and  obscure  what  is  called  the  science  of 
Government  may  be  supposed  to  be,  its  most  elemental  princi¬ 
ples  are  as  clear  as  those  of  any  science  whatever,  and  are,  per¬ 
haps,  fewer  in  number,  and  more  fruitful  in  operation,  than  those 
of  any  other  science.  As  soon  as  men  are  united  permanently  in 
what  we  call  society,  there  immediately  result  certain  necessities, 
operations,  forces,  which  spring  from  the  organization  itself,  which 
are  developed  by  its  formation  and  action,  and  without  which  the 
existence  of  society  is  impossible.  This  occurs  in  the  very  na¬ 
ture  of  the  case  ;  it  results  from  the  nature  of  man  and  of 
society — and  from  the  relations  of  both  to  God.  It  occurs  in 
every  possible  society  formed  of  men,  without  the  smallest  regard 
to  the  form  society  may  take,  or  the  object  for  which  it  exists,  or 
the  motive  of  its  creation.  And  so  complete  is  this  spontaneous 
and  unavoidable  development,  that  except  the  necessities,  opera¬ 
tions,  forces,  to  which  I  allude,  nothing  else  results  from  the  or¬ 
ganization  and  existence  of  society,  having  any  analogy  to  these  ; 


CHAP.  XXI.] 


THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH. 


409 


nothing  else  can,  by  any  possibility  be  made  to  result  from  its 
organization — and  every  exigency  of  every  possible  form  of  soci¬ 
ety,  capable  of  control  by  society  in  its  organized  form,  must 
seek  redress  from  one  or  other  of  these  functions.  Let  me  explain 
this  a  little. 

(a)  In  the  first  place,  there  results,  in  some  form  or  other, 
the  expression  of  the  aggregate  will :  the  manifestation,  in  some 
way  or  other,  of  the  dominant  sense  of  what  ought  to  be  done, 
or  left  undone,  in  everything  of  which  society  chooses  to  take 
cognizance.  Law,  in  some  form  or  other,  rules  whenever  society 
exists  :  and  in  whatever  form  law  exists  in  society,  it  exists  by 
whatever  will — power — is  dominant  there.  Whether  it  appears 
in  the  shape  of  immemorial  custom,  of  the  decree  of  an  absolute 
ruler,  of  a  written  constitution  and  ordinary  statutes — or  of  any 
other  conceivable  public  rule  ;  its  abiding  nature  is,  that  it  must 
appear,  and  must  predominate.  It  is  the  supreme  necessity,  op¬ 
eration,  force,  springing  out  of  the  existence  of  society — without 
which  that  existence  is  impossible.  This  is  the  fundamental 
principle,  which  underlies  the  possibility  of  organized  society  : 
and  its  efficacy  is  so  boundless,  that  no  limits  can  be  set  in 
thought,  nor  have  any  been  established  in  practice,  to  the  extent 
of  its  reign,  or  the  variety  of  its  applications.  Even  the  King-* 
dom  of  God,  and  in  that  blessed  form  of  it,  where  God  is  our 
God  and  we  are  his  people,  will  be  made  effectual  by  his 
putting  his  law  in  our  inward  parts,  and  writing  it  in  our 
hearts.1 

(b)  In  the  second  place,  what  occurs,  is  the  practical  enforce¬ 
ment  of  this  aggregate  will,  in  every  expression  of  it,  by  the  ag¬ 
gregate  force  of  society  ;  the  execution,  that  is,  of  the  law  ;  so¬ 
ciety  executing  its  purposes,  and  striving  to  secure  its  ends. 
Here,  as  in  the  preceding  instance,  it  is  wholly  immaterial,  in 
the  nature  of  the  case,  in  which  one  of  innumerable  ways,  these 
determinations  of  the  aggregate,  or  predominating  will,  are  ex¬ 
ecuted  under  the  aggregate,  public  force.  It  may  be  by  an 
armed  force,  directed  by  a  despot,  or  by  the  force  of  opinion 
amongst  a  few  people — or  by  any  of  the  countless  methods  be¬ 
tween  these  two.  The  fundamental  principle  is  the  same,  in 
every  manifestation  :  and  the  manifestation  itself  is  the  expres¬ 
sion  of  the  second  one  of  these  necessities,  operations,  forces, 

1  Jer.,  xxxi.  31-34. 


410  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

which  are  developed  by  the  organization  of  society,  and  without 
which  the  very  idea  of  society  disappears. 

(c)  In  the  third  place,  the  aggregate  justice,  rectitude,  of 
society  appears  in  the  form  of  interpreting,  applying,  and  ad¬ 
ministering  the  public  will,  in  the  innumerable  applications  of 
it,  to  all  the  varied  exigencies  of  individuals  and  of  society. 
This  is  what  we  call  the  judicial  exposition  and  enforcement,  in 
civil  society,  of  all  public  and  private  rights  and  duties,  which 
are  regulated  by  what  we  call  law  ;  which  it  appertains  to  what 
we  call  the  executive  power,  to  take  care  that  it  is  obeyed. 
Here,  as  in  both  the  previous  instances,  the  method  is  nothing, 
as  regards  the  nature  of  the  case.  It  is  the  principle,  which  is 
of  unalterable  certainty  and  necessity ;  and  which  is  the  third 
and  final  necessity,  operation,  force,  which  results  out  of  every 
possible  form  of  government,  and  without  which  none  can  exist 
or  act. 

3.  Now  it  is  wholly  indifferent,  as  matter  of  mere  science, 
whether  the  permanent  functions  of  all  government,  are  divided 
and  exercised  by  separate  bodies  of  magistracy — or  united  and 
all  exercised  by  a  single  person.  Such  questions  are  fundamen¬ 
tal  in  determining  the  particular  character  of  the  government  ; 
but  irrelevant  to  the  question  of  the  inherent  nature  of  govern¬ 
ment  itself.  And  we  might  content  ourselves  with  remarking 

o  o 

that  these  are  the  ordinary  powers,  legislative,  judicial,  and  ex¬ 
ecutive,  with  which  they  are  familiar  who  live  under  free  consti¬ 
tutions,  but  which  our  oppressed  race  has  been  so  slow  to  com¬ 
prehend.  But  what  is  now  insisted  on  is,  that  they  are  all 
inherent  in  the  very  nature  of  the  social  state — and  that  for  all 
the  purposes  of  the  existence  and  operation  of  society,  they  pre¬ 
sent  an  exhaustive  statement  of  its  possible  functions.  Then 
follows  the  decisive  conclusion,  as  to  their  use  in  this  place  :  the 
indestructible  foundation  of  them  all  lies  in  the  very  nature  of 
man.  The  first  function  is  the  result  of  man’s  natural  sense  of 
right  and  wrong — his  moral  nature  developed  in  union  with  his 
fellow-men,  in  settling  rules  of  rectitude,  which  he  calls  law — 
the  public  will.  The  last  function  is  the  result  of  man’s  natural 
sense  of  truth  and  falsehood — his  rational  nature  developed  in 
union  with  his  fellow-men,  in  determining  the  true  and  the  right, 
under  established  rules  ;  that  is,  truly  applying  in  practice  what 
had  been  already  declared  to  be  right.  The  middle  function  is 


THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH. 


411 


CHAP.  XXI.] 

the  result  of  man’s  free  and  active  nature,  developed  in  union 
with  his  fellow-men,  in  enforcing,  by  the  general  will,  the  general 
sense  of  the  right  and  the  true.  Conscience,  Reason,  Will :  these 
are  the  grand  characteristics  of  man’s  moral,  rational,  and  spirit¬ 
ual  nature — itself  a  faint  image  and  likeness  of  the  living  God. 
Legislative,  judicial,  executive  :  these  are  the  grand  functions  of 
society — which,  under  whatever  form,  can  be  considered  in  its 
fundamental  nature,  as  nothing  else  than  an  organized  develop¬ 
ment  of  man — ordained  by  God  ;  and  so,  in  a  certain  sense,  an 
image  and  likeness,  in  the  second  degree,  of  the  nature  of  God, 
as  the  great  Lawgiver,  Judge,  and  Ruler  of  the  universe. 

4.  These  principles  are  just  as  true  and  effective  with  regard 
to  the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  as  with  regard  to  any  other  or-  - 
ganized  society  of  human  beings.  All  ignorance,  abuse,  or  mis¬ 
use  of  them,  as  inevitably  works  spiritual  injury  to  it,  as  a  similar 
procedure  works  temporal  injury  to  civil  society :  while  it  may  no 
more  certainly  destroy  the  particular  portion  of  the  Church  so 
misguided  or  misorganized,  than  similar  conduct  may  destroy  a 
State.  But  in  the  application  of  these  principles,  the  Church 
of  Christ  is  placed  in  circumstances  altogether  peculiar,  the  just 
observance  of  which  does  involve  her  very  existence.  Nor  do  I 
speak  now,  particularly,  of  one  form  of  Church  government  as 
compared  with  another ;  but,  as  I  have  done  all  along,  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  all  authority  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 

In  all  communities  that  which  is  good  and  true,  is  obligatory 
upon  them  by  the  law  of  nature,  as  the  rule  whereby  they  should 
exercise  every  function  of  society  ;  and  it  is  because  all  commu¬ 
nities  are  constituted  of  persons  who  are  naturally  depraved,  that 
the  law  of  nature  is  ever  transgressed  by  authority  of  the  State. 
As  soon  as  the  God  of  nature,  restates  the  law  of  nature  by  way 
of  a  divine  Revelation,  and  adds  thereto  a  new  and  better  way 
of  life  for  fallen  men  ;  all  communities,  which  come  to  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  this  divine  rule  of  what  is  good  and  true,  are  bound  to 
observe  it  in  the  exercise  of  every  function  of  the  State.  I  say 
all  communities  are  so  bound — each  in  its  place  and  according  to 
the  special  ends  of  its  existence  ;  because  I  have  proved  else¬ 
where,  that  they  exist  by  the  ordination  of  God — and  I  have  just 
now  explained  how,  in  their  very  existence  and  operation,  they 
demonstrate  the  creative,  the  providential,  and  the  gracious  do¬ 
minion  of  God.  Throughout  all  ages,  the  civil  State  and  the 


412  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

Church  of  God  have  been  developed,  side  by  side — not  indeed 
among  all  peoples — hut  among  all  where  God  had  a  people. 
From  the  call  of  Abraham  to  the  establishment  of  the  Insti¬ 
tutions  of  Moses,  there  seems  to  have  been  little  distinction  be¬ 
tween  the  two.  From  the  establishment  of  those  Institutions  to 
the  erection  of  the  Gospel  Church  State,  the  distinction  between 
the  two  was  made  as  exact  as  the  union  was  close.  It  is  under 
that  Gospel  Church  State,  that  the  union  between  them  has  been 
dissevered — and  each  assigned  to  its  proper  sphere  ;  one  as  the 
ordinance  of  God  for  the  temporal  benefit  of  man,  the  other  as 
the  ordinance  of  God  for  the  eternal  salvation  of  sinners  ;  one 
fitted  to  be  universal,  the  other  obliged  by  its  very  nature  to 
ground  itself,  in  some  degree,  on  whatever  is  local,  peculiar, 
distinctive,  personal.  Of  necessity,  and  in  every  way,  there¬ 
fore,  the  law  of  God,  and  the  person  of  Christ,  have  a  relation 
to  the  functions  of  the  visible  Church,  different  from  the  rela¬ 
tion  of  both  to  the  civil  State.  It  is  this  which  remains  to  be 
explained. 

5.  I  have  proved  in  a  previous  chapter,  that  the  word  of  God 
contained  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  is 
the  only  infallible  rule  of  all  that  God  requires  of  man,  and  all 
that  man  ought  to  believe  concerning  God.  I  have  also  proved 
that  the  gathering  and  perfecting  of  the  saints  of  God,  in  this 
life,  to  the  end  of  the  world,  is  the  great  immediate  object  of  the 
organization  and  continued  existence  of  the  visible  Church  on 
earth.  It  follows  that  the  word  of  God  is  not  only  the  supreme, 
but  the  exclusive  law  of  his  Church  ;  the  whole  function  of  de¬ 
termining  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong,  what  is  good  and 
what  is  bad — the  whole  power  of  making  laic  in  its  proper  sense, 
and  for  the  proper  ends  of  her  existence — much  less  for  other 
ends — being  swallowed  up  and  exhausted  in  her  joyful  and  com¬ 
plete  acceptance  of  God  as  her  Lawgiver,  and  his  laws  as  hers. 
There  are  other  lines  of  argument  by  which  this  same  conclusion 
is  very  variously  established  ;  I  content  myself  with  remarking, 
that  the  express  command  of  God  himself  crowns  and  settles  all. 
The  absolute  sufficiency  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  is  the  funda¬ 
mental  principle  of  the  Reformed  religion — in  other  words  of 
Christianity  itself.  Every  addition  to  them,  and  every  subtrac¬ 
tion  from  them,  which  the  visible  Church,  or  any  portion  of  it,  may 
dare  to  attempt ;  is  a,  usurpation  of  the  prerogative  of  God,  an 


THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH. 


CHAP.  XXI.] 


413 


attack  upon  the  Mediatorial  office  of  Christ,  and  an  outrage  at 
once  upon  the  freedom  and  the  conscience  of  the  saints.1 

6.  Accepting,  therefore,  the  law  of  God — the  functions  which 
remain  to  the  organized  Church,  considered  as  a  visible,  hut  divine 
Institute  ;  are  the  true  interpretation  and  application,  and  the 
faithful  administration  and  execution  of  all  that  blessed  truth, 
of  which  her  Lord  has  made  her,  the  pillar  and  the  ground. 
While  her  whole  power  is  thus  limited  with  relation  to  the  Law  of 
God,  her  judicial  and  executive  power,  like  that  of  every  society, 
limited  to  the  exposition  and  enforcement  of  such  law  as  is  pecu¬ 
liar  to  them,  or  common  to  all  societies,  in  her,  is  limited  exclu¬ 
sively  to  the  law  of  God.  For  the  law  of  God  appertains  to 
her,  to  her  nature,  and  to  her  ends  ;  to  expound  it,  and  to  en¬ 
force  it,  for  the  gathering  and  perfecting  of  the  saints — is  her 
business  on  earth.  Considered  simply  as  God’s  Kingdom,  there 
is  no  other  law  which  appertains  to  her ;  and,  therefore,  there  is 
no  other  with  which  she  may  meddle,  either  to  expound  it,  or  to 
enforce  it.  Acting  always  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — uttering  always  the  mind  of  God  as 
made  known  to  her  through  his  word  and  Spirit — having  no  end 
but  the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  fallen  men  ;  it  is  God’s 
Kingdom  in  this  ruined  world,  made  visible  as  the  Church  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ — and  now  militant  in  its  Gospel 
State. 

T.  We  may  therefore  define  that  the  Church  visible  of  Christ, 
is  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  this  world,  created  through  the  com¬ 
munion  of  saints,  developed  externally  through  principles  inher¬ 
ent  in  human  nature  and  common  to  other  societies,  possessed  of 
a  peculiar  and  divinely  appointed  organization,  separate  from  the 
world,  and  so  a  divine  institute  among  men  :  that  all  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  it,  are  members  of  Jesus  Christ,  its  Lord  and  Head, 
whose  Body  it  is — the  infallible  rule  of  whose  faith  and  practice 
is  the  revealed  will  of  God — to  expound  and  apply,  to  adminis¬ 
ter  and  enforce  which,  are  its  sole  functions  as  a  government 
separate  from  the  world — the  scope  of  all  its  powers,  being  the 
scope  of  its  own  end,  is  exclusively  spiritual,  and  exclusively 
directed  to  the  gathering  and  perfecting  of  the  saints,  who  are 
lost  sinners  saved  by  grace. 

1  Gal,,  i.  8,  9 ;  2  Tim.,  in.  14-11 ;  Deut.  iv.  1,  2 ;  Rev.,  xxii.  18,  19. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


THE  FREEDOM  OF  THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH,  CONSIDERED  IN  ITS  INDE¬ 
PENDENCE  OF  THE  STATE,  AND  ITS  CONSECRATION  TO  CHRIST. 

L  1.  The  Family,  the  State,  and  the  Church :  Their  Relation  to  Human  Nature,  and 
to  God. — 2.  The  Impossibility  of  either  of  them  supplying  the  place  of  any 
other. — 3.  Relation  of  Christian  Duty  to  the  Commonwealth. — 4.  Tendency  of 
Society  to  engulph  the  Church  in  the  State :  Certainty  and  Nature  of  the  Retri¬ 
bution. — 5.  Results  of  the  Union  of  the  Church  and  the  State. — 6.  Their  distinct 
Nature  and  separate  Mission :  Their  mutual  Relation  and  Duty. — 7.  Fundamental 
Necessity  of  the  Spiritual  Independence  of  the  Church. — 8.  Absolute  Impossibility 
of  confounding  the  True  Church  and  the  Civil  Power :  Distinction  between  the 
inward  and  outward  Freedom  of  the  Church. — II.  1.  Relation  of  the  Glorified 
Redeemer  to  the  Visible  Church,  and  her  Relation  to  Him. — 2.  Infinite  Dominion 
of  Christ,  and  unspeakable  Freedom  and  Blessedness  of  the  Church  therein : — 
(a)  The  Head  of  the  Church,  head  over  all  things  : — (b)  The  Church  the  Purchase 
of  his  Blood: — (c)  She  Chosen  in  Him — chooses  Him  as  her  only  Lord: — (d)  His 
Worthiness  to  possess,  and  Competency  to  execute,  boundless  and  everlasting 
Authority: — (e)  In  Him  dwelleth  all  Fulness: — (/)  By  Him,  are  all  eternal  Re¬ 
tributions. — 3.  The  Crown  of  the  Redeemer  as  exclusively  his,  as  his  Cross. — 
4.  The  Root  of  our  inward  Freedom. — 5.  Consecration  of  the  Church  to  Christ, 
her  true  Freedom. — 6.  Nature  of  this  Freedom. — 7.  Condition  of  the  Visible 
Church,  when  possessed  of  it. — 8.  Relation  of  all  States  to  Christ’s  Free 
Church. 

I. — 1.  When  we  have  considered  man  as  an  individual  beinpr, 
and  then  considered  him  under  the  various  social  aspects  in  which 
he  is  united  with  his  fellow-creatures  ;  there  remains  nothing 
which  concerns  his  nature,  his  development,  or  his  duty,  which 
may  not  have  been  subjected  to  our  scrutiny.  For  there  is  no 
position  in  which  man  can  be  contemplated,  which  does  not  be¬ 
come  distinct  under  one  or  other  of  these  points  of  view.  I  have 
attempted  in  the  early  part  of  the  previous  Treatise  to  analyze 
what  may  be  called  the  social  possibilities  of  human  nature,  as  a 
necessary  part  of  the  demonstration  of  the  total  and  universal 
depravity  of  the  race.  The  result  reached  was,  that  all  the  so¬ 
cial  relations  which  have  been  ordained  and  regulated  by  God, 
and  of  which  human  nature  appears  to  be  capable,  are  embraced 


415 


CHAP.  XXII.]  FREEDOM  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

under  the  institutions  of  the  family,  the  State,  and  the  Church  ; 
these  three  institutions,  and  none  besides,  appearing  to  be  un¬ 
avoidable  under  the  scheme  of  creation,  providence,  and  grace, 
known  to  us  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  exhaust  the  social  capa¬ 
bilities  and  satisfy  the  social  necessities  of  human  nature,  in  its 
present  condition.  In  order  to  the  analysis  and  demonstration 
which  it  was  necessary  to  attempt,  neither  of  these  social  insti¬ 
tutions  was  required  to  assume  any  particular  form,  out  of  the 
innumerable  forms  in  which  all  of  them  have  existed,  or  might 
be  supposed  to  exist.  What  was  to  be  shown  was,  the  social 
capabilities  and  wants  of  human  nature,  concurring  with  the 
ordination  of  God,  and  uniformly  producing  the  organization 
of  families,  of  civil  communities,  and  of  religions — however  per¬ 
fect  or  imperfect  they  might  be  supposed  to  be  ;  by  means  of  the 
whole  of  which,  and  by  no  other  means,  those  social  capabilities 
and  wants  are  completely  exhausted  and  satisfied.  This  is  the 
result  on  the  side  of  Philosophy — illustrating  the  course  of  divine 
Providence  towards  man,  and  confirming  the  perpetual  teaching 
of  God's  word,  that  these,  and  only  these,  are  the  social  institu¬ 
tions  which  belong  to  human  nature  in  its  present  condition,  and 
which  have  been  ordained  by  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  uni¬ 
verse. 

2.  It  follows,  that  neither  of  these  institutions  can  discharge 
the  functions  which  are  peculiar  to  either  of  the  others ;  and  that 
neither  of  them  can  encroach  upon  the  proper  domain  of  any 
other,  without  jeoparding  the  highest  interests  of  man,  and  at 
the  same  time  attempting  to  disorder  the  course  of  divine  Provi¬ 
dence,  and  to  set  at  naught  the  revealed  ordinations  of  God.  If 
it  were  possible  to  obliterate  the  sense  of  religion  in  the  human 
soul,  we  should  become  a  race  of  fiends.  If  it  were  possible  to 
annihilate  the  irresistible  tendency  in  man  to  a  state  of  society, 
mankind  would  be  exterminated  by  mutual  violence,  unless  want, 
and  pestilence,  and  beasts  of  prey,  anticipated  the  savage  work. 
If  it  were  possible  to  extinguish  the  parental,  the  filial,  the  fra¬ 
ternal,  the  marital  affections  and  instincts  of  our  race — its  con¬ 
tinued  existence  would  be  impossible.  It  is  by  means  of  these 
profound  and  enduring  elements  of  our  nature,  that  our  race  has 
been  found  capable  not  only  of  existing,  but  of  making  progress, 
under  conditions  which  would  seem  capable  of  overwhelming  it 
with  ruin  and  despair. 


416  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

3.  Civil  society,  then,  is  by  divine  appointment — and  the 
commonwealth  is  an  ordinance  of  God.  The  magistrate  is,  in 
his  place,  the  servant  of  God.1  Obedience  to  the  laws  of  the 
land  in  which  we  dwell,  loyalty  to  the  community  of  which  we 
are  members,  zeal  for  the  advancement  of  the  commonwealth  to 
which  we  belong,  are  not  only  obligations  of  natural  religion,  and 
high  impulses  of  nature  herself ;  they  are  explicit  duties  of  re¬ 
vealed  religion,  enjoined  by  God.  But,  like  all  other  relative 
duties,  they  are  neither  exclusive  nor  absolute  ;  but  are  bounded 
and  regulated  by  other  duties  of  equal  dignity  ;  and  are  liable, 
on  one  hand  to  be  greatly  strengthened,  and  on  the  other  to  be 
even  effaced,  by  coincidence  or  by  conflict  with  duties  more  ex¬ 
alted  than  themselves. 

4.  Nothing  in  the  history  of  society,  is  more  remarkable  than 
the  strength  of  that  tendency  to  confound  and  identify  its  civil 
and  religious  institutions,  which  has  manifested  itself  in  all  ages. 
And  yet  from  the  moment  that  the  tribal  form  of  society  was 
superseded,  by  what  may  be  properly  called  the  State,  and  the 
Church  became  visible  and  separate  ;  nothing  would  be  more 
illogical,  and  nothing  has  been  more  disastrous.  When  God  or¬ 
ganized  his  ancient  people  under  a  form  of  administration  imme¬ 
diately  tlieocratical,  not  only  did  he  keep  the  functions  of  the 
Church  and  those  of  the  commonwealth  distinct ;  but  he  ren¬ 
dered  their  union  impossible — and  secured  the  freedom  of  both 
— by  making  one  tribe  royal,  and  another  priestly.  Yet  man¬ 
kind,  imbued  with  a  deep  instinct  of  the  divine  origin  of  society, 
while  they  apprehended  vaguely  its  true  principles  ;  overlooked 
the  divine  ordination  of  its  separate  organization  for  its  special 
and  limited  ends,  and  engulphed  under  the  one  ruling  idea  of  the 
State,  every  interest  of  man,  personal  and  public,  temporal  and 
eternal.  However  great  may  be  the  error  of  denying  the  divine 
authority  of  civil  society  ;  the  error  is  equally  great  that  swal¬ 
lows  up  the  individual — the  household — and  the  Church — and 
leaves  to  man  nothing  positive  but  the  State — and  no  distinct 
relation  but  that  of  citizen,  or  subject,  or  slave,  as  the  case  may 
be.  The  social  instincts  of  man,  not  less  powerful  in  their  reli¬ 
gious  than  in  their  civil  tendencies,  might  be  expected  to  seek  a 
terrible  retribution  ;  and  they  were  taught  the  way,  both  by  the 
spirit  and  the  method  to  which  governments  were  prone.  The 

1  Matt.,  xxii.  15-22 ;  Rom.,  xiii.  1-7. 


CHAP.  XXII.]  FREEDOM  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


417 


long  and  bloody  career  of  the  Latin  or  Roman  Apostacy  in  the 
bosom  of  the  last  of  the  prophetic  universal  world-powers  ;  and 
that  of  the  successors  of  Mohammed  in  the  bosom  of  the  three 
preceding  universal  monarchies  ;  have  exhibited  examples  of  this 
tendency  to  engulph  all  in  the  idea  of  the  Church,  more  tena¬ 
cious  and  more  frightful,  than  were  ever  exhibited  by  the  oppo¬ 
site  tendency  to  engulph  all  in  the  idea  of  the  State. 

5.  Supposing  the  visible  Church  to  exist  in  such  a  union  with 
the  civil  power,  that  the  distinctness  and  freedom  of  each,  with 
respect  to  the  other,  are  lost ;  then,  one  or  other  out  of  a  few 
clearly  appreciable  results,  seems  to  be  theoretically  inevitable — 
and  is  historically  certain.  The  civil  power  enslaves  the  Church  ; 
or  the  Church  enslaves  the  State  :  or  there  are  endless  conflicts 
between  the  two,  with  perpetual  alternations  of  mutual  domin¬ 
ion.  A  fourth  result  may  be  imagined — but  it  has  never  been 
attained,  and  cannot  be  ;  namely,  the  concurrent  action  of  both 
under  the  condition  just  stated,  with  a  perfect  mutual  observance 
and  freedom  of  the  functions,  duties  and  rights  of  each.  This 
cannot  be.  The  two  institutions — though  both  are  based  in  the 
very  nature  of  man,  and  both  are  manifested  through  principles 
fundamental  in  that  nature,  and  both  enter  into  that  vast  con¬ 
catenation  by  which  God  is  manifested  in  all  things  ; — yet  in 
their  scope,  and  end,  and  means,  and  sanctions,  are  utterly  dif¬ 
ferent  from  each  other.  No  State  has  existed  in  which  the  true 
followers  of  the  Lord,  were  even  numerically  coincident  with  the 
members  of  the  civil  community.  Even  in  the  Jewish  common¬ 
wealth,  when  the  union  between  the  visible  Church  and  the  civil 
institutions  was  in  many  respects  so  close,  the  distinction  between 
the  two  was,  as  I  have  shown,  complete  ;  while  it  was  one  great 
part  of  the  mission  of  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord  to  transform  the 
visible  Church  from  its  close,  and  ritual,  and  legal  form,  into  its 
open,  and  free,  and  Gospel  form.1 

6.  The  Church  of  Christ,  though  in  the  world,  is  not  of  it.3 
The  Kingdoms  of  this  world  are  exclusively,  both  in  it,  and  ot 
it.3  The  children  of  the  Lord  may  be  citizens,  or  subjects  ot  the 
State  ;  and  the  rulers  and  magistrates  of  all  States  may  be  heirs 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ;  and  the  institutions  and  laws  ot  all 

1  Matt.,  xxviii.  18—20;  xvi.  13-20;  xviii.  18;  John,  xx.  19-23;  1  Cor.,  v.,.4,. 

2  John,  xviii.  36 ;  vi.  15  ;  Daniel,  ii.  44 ;  vii.  9-14. 

3  Mark,  xii.  13-17;  Rom.,  xiii.  1-7. 


VOL.  II. 


27 


418  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

communities  ought  to  be  made  and  administered  in  the  fear  of 
God.  It  is,  no  doubt,  the  special  duty  of  the  Church,  to  have 
in  constant  remembrance  before  God,  all  who  are  in  authority 
and  it  is  their  special  duty  to  be  nursing  fathers  and  nursing 
mothers  to  the  Israel  of  God.2  The  State  is  for  things  temporal, 
things  local,  things  visible  and  transitory  ;  none  of  which  we 
brought  with  us  into  this  world — none  of  which  shall  we  take 
with  us  when  we  leave  it — none  of  which,  while  they  endure  are 
able  to  save  our  souls,  or  separate  them  from  the  love  of  God. 
Great  as  are  the  blessings  it  is  capable  of  bestowing,  so  far  is  it 
from  being  possible  that  the  political  millennium  for  which  men 
look,  can  be  secured  by  any  temporal  organization  of  society  ; 
that  the  end  of  all  the  Kingdoms  of  this  world  is,  that  they  shall 
he  broken  in  pieces  and  consumed,  and  become  the  Kingdom  of 
our  Lord  and  his  Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever.3 
In  that  spiritual  Kingdom  manifested  in  the  Visible  Church,  and 
whose  true  seat  is  within  us,  neither  time,  nor  place,  nor  condi¬ 
tion,  nor  race  has  any  vital  significance  ;  nor  can  flesh  and  blood 
inherit  it  ;  nor  does  anything  avail  but  the  new  creature.  Its 
union  with  the  civil  power  is  the  highest  aggravation  of  con¬ 
founding  it  with  the  world — for  the  State  is  the  highest  form  in 
which  the  world  appears.  So  that  neither  the  Visible  Church, 
nor  the  civil  joower,  can  have  any  duty  either  towards  God  or 
itself,  or  each  other,  more  clear  and  transcendent,  than  that  each 
should  confine  itself  with  respect  to  the  other,  to  its  own  obvious 
sphere — each  regarding  the  other  as  the  ordinance  of  the  com¬ 
mon  father  and  God  of  both.  Let  the  Church  so  act,  that  the 
State  ordained  of  God,  may  protect  and  nourish  her  as  the  Bride 
of  the  Lamb  :  let  the  State  so  act,  that  the  Church  ordained 
of  God,  may  reverence  and  obey  her  as  the  minister  of  God  on 
earth. 

T.  This  spiritual  independence  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in 
this  world,  is  a  necessity  so  fundamental,  that  no  portion  of  the 
Visible  Church  has  surrendered  it,  without  surrendering  in  an 
equal  degree,  the  spirit  of  its  divine  vocation.  And  all  corrupt 
Churches  which  have  sought  the  closest  union  with  the  civil 
power,  have  done  so,  not  in  order  to  submit  themselves  to  the 
dominion  of  the  State,  but  rather  to  subject  it  to  a  tyranny  as 

1  1  Tim.,  iu  1-4.  2  x]ix.  22,  23. 

3  Rev.,  xi.  14 ;  Daniel,  ii.  35,  44. 


CHAP.  XXII.]  FREEDOM  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


419 


relentless  as  that,  which  they  made  it  the  instrument  of  inflict¬ 
ing.  To  plead  for  the  freedom  of  the  Church  is,  therefore,  to 
plead,  at  the  same  time,  for  the  independence  of  States,  and  for 
the  security  of  mankind  against  the  cruelties  of  all  false  reli¬ 
gions.  If  the  Church  of  Cod  had  conferred  on  mankind  no  other 
boon,  than  to  disseminate  throughout  the  earth,  and  to  settle  in 
the  depths  of  the  human  soul  the  sublime  truth,  that  in  Christ 
Jesus  there  is  a  law,  separate  from  all  other  laws,  and  higher  far 
than  they  ;  that  in  him  there  is  a  power,  distinct  from  and  more 
enduring  than  all  power  besides  ;  she  would  have  bestowed  on 
our  suffering  race,  a  source  of  consolation  capable  of  sustaining  it 
through  all  its  sorrows,  an  instrument  of  deliverance  competent 
to  the  overthrow  of  all  its  oppressors,  an  assured  means  of  vic¬ 
tory — temporal  and  spiritual — efficacious  at  last  for  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  those  who  have  destroyed  the  earth.  In  those  blessed 
lands — where  this  great  truth  is  the  common  inheritance,  the 
Church  of  Cod  ought  to  beware  how  she  so  walks  in  the  light  of 
it,  that  all  peoples  may  see — and  live. 

8.  In  point  of  absolute  truth,  however  the  State  and  the 
Church  may  deprave  each  other — yet  the  confusion  of  the  two  as 
now  ordained  by  Cod — or  the  complete  subjection  of  either  to 
the  other — before  one  or  both  are  wholly  perverted — is  really, 
and  in  a  strict  sense,  impossible.  And  the  impossibility  results 
so  completely  from  the  absolute  nature  of  both  those  divine  in¬ 
stitutions — that  the  final  glory  of  the  Kingdom  of  Cod,  will 
be  exhibited  towards  the  Kingdoms  of  this  world — as  I  have  al¬ 
ready  shown — not  in  that  they  will  be  subjected  to  it,  but  in  that 
their  mission  being  ended,  they  will  pass  utterly  away.  In  the 
meantime,  innumerable  evils  are  engendered,  and  countless  in¬ 
juries  are  inflicted  on  humanity,  and  on  the  cause  of  Christ — by 
the  corruption  of  the  professed  people  of  Cod — by  the  oppression 
of  his  true  children — and  by  the  general  demoralization  of  man¬ 
kind  ;  through  perpetual  attempts  to  accomplish  that  which  in 
its  very  nature  cannot  occur,  so  as  to  leave  both  to  the  State  and 
to  the  Church  its  true  spirit,  and  its  real  nature.  The  fundamen¬ 
tal  conditions  of  the  visible  Kingdom  of  Cod  being,  its  separation 
from  the  world  and  its  spiritual  freedom — both  of  which  are  im¬ 
possible  as  long  as  it  is  confounded  with  the  State  no  mattei 
whether  the  State  is  subject  to  it,  or  it  is  subject  to  the  State  , 
all  that  remains  in  that  calamitous  estate  of  the  Chuich  is  the 


420 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


inward  freedom  which  every  member  of  Christ  possesses,  and  must 
vindicate  in  order  to  he  a  member  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  First 
Born  whose  names  are  written  in  heaven.  When  the  outward 
freedom  of  the  visible  Church  is  gone — this  true  inward  freedom 
of  God's  people  may  still  exist  in  its  highest  perfection.1  Kay 
this  condition  of  the  Church — when  brought  about  by  the  perse¬ 
cution  of  the  State,  is  so  far  from  being  impossible  or  unusual, 
that  it  is  that  in  which  it  has  ordinarily  existed  :  and  so  far  is  it 
from  being  helpless,  that  it  has  proved  to  be  one  of  mighty  power. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  no  more  the  mission  of  the  Church  to  court 
persecution,  than  to  shrink  from  it.  Her  normal  condition  is  that, 
on  the  one  side,  of  spiritual  freedom,  and  independence  of  the 
State — which  I  have  thus  far  attempted  to  exhibit  ;  and,  on  the 
other,  that  of  absolute  consecration  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — 
which  remains  to  be  considered. 

II. — 1.  Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  know  assuredly,  said  Peter 
in  the  name  of  all  the  Apostles,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  that 
God  hath  made  that  same  Jesus,  whom  ye  have  crucified,  both 
Lord  and  Christ.2  We  are  his  witnesses,  he  and  they  all  added 
not  long  afterward  to  the  council  of  the  Jews, — and  so  is  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whom  God  hath  given  to  them  that  obey  him,  that 
the  God  of  our  fathers  hath  raised  up  J esus,  whom  ye  slew  and 
hanged  on  a  tree,  and  hath  exalted  him  with  his  right  hand  to 
be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  for  to  give  repentance  to  Israel,  and 
forgiveness  of  sins.3  John,  in  his  vision  of  him  whose  name  is 
called  the  Word  of  God ,  and  who  was  clothed  in  a  vesture  dip¬ 
ped  in  blood,  saw  upon  that  vesture,  and  upon  his  thigh,  a  name 
written — King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords ;  and  all  the  armies 
which  are  in  heaven  followed  him.4  And  Paul  declares  that  God 
has  not  only  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead,  and  set  him  at  his 
own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all  principality, 
and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is 
named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come; 
but  that  he  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet,  and  given  him  to 
be  the  head  over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  his  body,  the 
fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all.6  And  the  risen  Saviour 
proclaimed  to  his  Apostles,  in  the  most  emphatic  manner,  and 


Gal.,  v.  1;  Jolm,  viil  32;  Kom.,  vi.  18;  1  Peter,  ii.  15,  16. 


2  Acts,  ii.  36. 

4  Kev.,  xix.  13-16. 


3  Acts,  y.  29-32. 
5  Eph.,  i.  20-23. 


421 


CHAP.  XXII.]  FREEDOM  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


as  part  of  his  last  charge  to  them  concerning  his  Kingdom, — All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.1  Him,  there¬ 
fore,  the  Church  of  the  living  and  true  God  accepts  as  the  one 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,2  her  sole  Foundation3 — Husband4 — Head6 — 
and  King.6 

2.  If  we  would  but  consider  in  how  many  and  how  decisive 
j)oints  of  view  the  Scriptures  place  this  absolute  right  and  do¬ 
minion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  over  his  Church  ;  and  his  infinite 
fitness  to  possess  them,  and  his  infinite  faithfulness  in  the  exe¬ 
cution  of  them,  and  the  unspeakable  freedom  and  blessedness  of 
his  people  therein  ;  we  should  perceive  clearly  how  deeply  our 
salvation,  and  the  glory  of  God  in  the  whole  work  of  his  redeem¬ 
ing  love,  are  staked  on  the  matter  we  are  now  examining.  Let 
me  suggest  a  few  particulars. 

(a)  As  Mediator  Christ  is  invested  with  all  power  in  heaven 
and  in  earth  :  as  Head  of  his  Church  he  is  Head  over  all  things, 
with  unlimited  dominion  and  lordship  over  them  all.7 

(b)  Christ  has  purchased  the  Church  with  his  own  blood, 
that  it  might  be  unto  him  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priest¬ 
hood,  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people — showing  forth  the  praises 
of  him  who  hath  called  them  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous 
light.8 

(c)  That  Church,  chosen  in  him — has  with  unanimous  and 
unfaltering  voice  and  consent  of  every  heir  of  God,  chosen  and 
declared  the  Lord  Jesus  to  be  its  Lawgiver,  Ruler,  Judge,  and 
Saviour ;  whose  glory  as  such,  is  above  the  heavens,  and  whose 
infinite  exaltation  as  her  Lord,  every  tongue  will  at  last  confess/' 

(cl)  Nor  is  there  anything  wanting  in  him,  to  make  him  wor¬ 
thy  to  possess  and  competent  to  exercise  this  boundless  dominion 
— since  it  is  he  which  searcheth  the  reins  and  hearts,  and  giveth 
to  everyone  according  to  his  works — he  by  whom  God  shall  judge 
the  secrets  of  men,  according  to  the  Gospel.10 

(e)  In  him  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowl¬ 
edge  ;  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and 
understanding,  the  Spirit  of  counsel  and  might,  the  Spirit  of 


1  Matt,  xxviii.  18.  2  1  Cor.,  viii.  6. 

*  2  Cor.,  xt  2.  3  Epli.,  i.  22. 

7  Matt.,  xxviii.  18;  Eph.,  i.  22;  Phil.,  t  9-11. 

8  Acts,  xx.  28 ;  1  Pet.,  ii.  9,  10. 

9  Isaiah,  xxxiii.  22  ;  Psalm  viii.  1,  10;  Phil.,  it  9—11. 

10  Rev.,  it  23 ;  Rom.,  ii.  16. 


3  1  Cor.,  iii.  H. 
6  Psalm  ii.  6. 


i 


422  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

knowledge  and  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  rest  immeasurably  upon 
him.1 

(/)  It  is  before  his  judgment  bar  that  we  must  all  appear, 
that  every  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body,  accord¬ 
ing  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad  ;  whereof 
God  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that  he  hath  raised 
him  from  the  dead.2 

3.  What  less  can  we  say  to  these  things,  than  that  the  crown 
and  Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  appertain  to  him  as  exclusively  as 
his  cross  ?  He  alone  is  King  in  Zion — as  really  as  he  alone  is 
the  Redeemer  of  Israel.  By  the  eternal  purpose  of  Jehovah — 
by  the  unalterable  covenant  between  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost — -by  the  purchase  of  his  own  most  precious 
blood — by  the  ratification  of  his  work  by  the  Father  in  the  in¬ 
finite  exaltation  of  the  glorified  Redeemer — by  the  ratification 
of  his  work  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  his  unbroken  testimony  to 
Christ — by  the  willing  obedience  and  joyful  suffrage  of  every  heir 
of  eternal  life — by  his  own  glorious  fitness  to  rule  over  and  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God — by  his  infinite  power,  and  wisdom,  and 
justice  in  the  final  judgment  of  the  quick  and  the  dead — by  the 
unsearchable  fulness  out  of  which  he  bestows  on  his  brethren  a 
weight  of  glory  which  no  heart  can  conceive,  and  upon  his  ene¬ 
mies  tribulation  and  anguish  beyond  their  wildest  fears  : — by 
rights  and  prerogatives  so  immense,  so  accumulated,  so  over¬ 
whelming — he  is  the  King,  the  Lawgiver,  the  Judge,  the  Lord 
in  Zion  ! 

4.  It  is  precisely  in  this  absolute  and  exclusive  headship  of 
Christ,  and  the  consecration  of  his  Church  to  him  responsive 
thereto,  that  the  root  of  her  inward  freedom  lies  ;  just  as  it  is  on 
her  entire  separation  from  the  world,  that  her  outward  freedom 
is  grounded,  and  can  be  made  manifest.  Nor  is  the  doctrine  of 
her  inward  freedom  barren — any  more  than  that  of  her  outward 
freedom.  Nay,  this  is  before  the  other  :  necessarily  before  it  in 
the  order  of  her  life — immeasurably  before  it  in  the  power  of  its 
operation.  For  without  this  inward  freedom  there  is  no  Church 
of  God,  to  which  that  outward  freedom  can  appertain.  Where- 
ever  Christ  reigns  in  the  human  soul,  there  the  Kingdom  of  God 
is  set  up,  even  though  men  and  states  recognize  it  only  to  reject 
and  oppress  it.  The  Kingdom  corneth  not  with  observation  :  it 

1  Col.,  ii.  3;  Isaiah,  xi.  2.  3  2  Cor.,  v.  10;  Acts,  xvii.  31. 


FREEDOM  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAP.  XXII.] 


423 


is  within  us — and  is  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost.1 

5.  The  manner  in  which  we  are  personally  made  free  by 
Christ,  has  been  fully  and  carefully  explained,  and  the  whole 
process  of  our  deliverance  traced.  Considering  all  those  who  are 
delivered  by  Christ  as  united  in  the  fellowship  of  saints,  and 
conducted  into  the  glorious  liberty  wherewith  Christ  makes  his 
whole  people  free  ;  we  have  before  us  that  great  company  of  the 
redeemed,  which  is  the  City  of  God.2  Their  individual  freedom 
is  the  result  of  their  personal  union  with  Christ  ;  the  aggregate 
freedom  of  the  whole  is  the  result  of  Christ's  headship  over  his 
Church.  Their  individual  consecration  to  Christ  as  their  Sa¬ 
viour,  is  the  clearest  manifestation  of  their  personal  deliverance 
by  him  :  their  public  and  organic  consecration  to  him  as  their 
only  King  and  Head,  is  the  clearest  proof  of  the  organic  freedom 
of  the  Church. 

6.  These  divine  realities  are  developed  in  a  way,  at  once  dis¬ 
tinct  and  irresistible.  The  mode  of  our  being  and  the  character 
of  our  nature,  alike  render  it  impossible  for  us  to  exist,  in  any 
independent  and  irresponsible  condition — which  we  might  choose, 
in  our  folly,  to  dignify  with  the  name  of  freedom,  and  which  we 
might  imagine  was  attainable  and  to  be  desired.  We  have  no 
freedom — -and  can  have  none — which  can  deliver  us  from  God, 
and  from  nature,  and  make  us  independent  of  those  ever-living 
forces  of  reason,  morality,  and  providence,  which  operate  within 
and  around  us,  and  amidst  which,  as  a  part  of  them,  and  not  as 
irrespective  of  them,  we  are  borne  onward  to  our  destiny.  We 
may  perish — or  we  may  be  saved  by  Christ  :  besides  which,  there 
is  no  alternative.  We  are  already  under  the  law  and  the  bondage 
of  sin  and  death  :  and  from  this  condition  nothing  but  the  law 
of  the  Spirit  of  life,  in  Christ  Jesus,  can  make  us  free.3  In  this 
condition  the  blood  of  Christ  is  efficaciously  applied  to  our  souls. 
The  infinite  dominion  of  the  Son  of  God,  which  pervades  the 
universe  with  absolute  completeness  and  perfection,  becomes  un¬ 
speakably  merciful  and  loving  towards  us,  and  supersedes  in  us 
every  other  dominion.  The  divine  agency  by  which  it  acts — even 
that  of  the  Holy  Ghost — is  infinitely  pure,  gentle,  ennobling, 

1  Luke,  xvii.  20,  2L;  Rom.,  xiv.  17,  18. 

2  Psalm  xlviii . passim ;  Rev.,  iii.  12  ;  xxi. passim;  Gal.,  iv.  22-31. 

8  Rom.,  viil  2. 


424  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

and  efficacious  ;  and  the  divine  truth  through  which  it  works, 
quick  and  powerful  as  a  two-edged  sword,  is  also  sweet,  and 
purifying,  and  healing,  as  the  halm  that  is  in  Gilead.  And  the 
company  of  the  Lord's  redeemed,  who  walk  in  white  bearing  the 
symbols  of  victory,  are  round  about  us,  every  one  a  monument 
like  ourself  of  divine  grace  and  glory.  Now,  is  this  bondage — • 
— or  is  it  deliverance  P 

7.  Freedom  of  the  human  conscience  from  all  control  but  that 
of  God — freedom  of  the  human  reason  from  all  authority  but  that 
of  truth — freedom  of  the  human  will  from  all  dominion  but  that 
of  the  Ruler  of  the  universe — freedom  of  the  human  soul  from 
all  subjection  but  that  to  its  Creator  and  Redeemer :  add  to  all 
this  majestic  freedom — the  freedom  to  use  it  all — freely  for  all 
good  !  This  is  the  feeble  expression  of  that  spiritual  condition 
proposed  to  the  Church  of  the  living  God — and  for  which  the 
Spirit  of  God  is  able  to  prepare  her.  This  is  the  true  condition, 
inadequately  expressed,  of  the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  which 
in  its  free  action  separates  itself  more  and  more  from  the  world, 
and  solicits  from  all  States  a  complete  separation  from  them,  in 
all  her  spiritual  life  and  movement.  This  is  the  result  of  the 
supreme  and  exclusive  headship  of  the  glorified  Redeemer,  to 
which  the  perfect  consecration  of  his  Church  to  him — -is  her 
responsive  act.  It  is  a  freedom  of  which  none  are  worthy — to 
which  none  are  competent — unto  which  none  can  attain — but 
the  Bride  of  the  Lamb  !  As  to  her,  the  more  perfectly  her  will 
is  swallowed  up  in  the  will  of  God,  the  more  complete  her  free¬ 
dom  is.  The  more  entirely  God’s  truth  obtains  possession  of  her 
mind  and  heart,  the  more  thoroughly  does  that  truth  make  her 
free.  The  more  constant  and  pervading  the  power  of  God's 
Spirit  within  her  is,  the  more  assured  and  enlarged  is  the  liberty 
of  her  service  and  her  love.  And  as  to  every  dependent  creature 
— fallen  and  renewed  by  grace — This  is  the  only  form  of  spiritual 
freedom  offered  to  them  by  God,  or  of  which  their  fallen  nature  is 
capable.  It  is  the  form  in  which  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  hath 
abolished  death,  and  hath  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light 
through  the  Gospel.1 

8.  The  present  enquiry  does  not  lead  us  to  the  particular  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  duty  of  the  State,  as  a  divine  institute,  and  that 
of  the  civil  magistrate,  as  in  his  office  a  servant  of  God.  It  may 

1  2  Tim.,  i.  T-10. 


425 


CHAP.  XXII.]  FREEDOM  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

be  observed,  however,  that  the  separate  ordination  of  States,  is 
very  far  from  releasing  them  from  the  duty  of  piety  towards  God 
— from  the  open  recognition  of  their  position,  as  powers  estab¬ 
lished  by  him  and  responsible  to  him — or  from  the  obligation  to 
respect  and  protect  every  other  institute  ordained  by  him.1  The 
obligation  resting  on  the  State  to  take  note  of  the  Church  of 
God,  is  in  its  nature  very  similar  to  that  resting  on  the  Church 
to  take  note  of  the  State  ;  the  duty  of  acting  righteously  in  the 
sphere  assigned  by  God,  is  as  clear  with  respect  to  one  as  to  the 
other ;  and  the  certainty  of  God*s  favour,  or  his  displeasure,  is 
equally  absolute  and  efficacious,  with  respect  to  both.  The  God 
of  the  Christian  is  the  only  God.  His  dominion  extends  to  all 
things — his  providence  directs  all  things — his  will  is  the  rule  by 
which  all  things  are  determined.  All  peoples,  all  States,  all 
rulers — all  that  exists,  in  every  relation  in  which  it  .exists,  is  his : 
and  so  the  whole  universe  is  his.  F or  his  own  glory  he  created 
all  things  :  for  that,  he  sustains  and  governs  all.  The  humblest 
creature  is  not  beneath  his  regard — and  the  most  exalted  is  as 
nothing  before  his  wrath.  Whoever  imagines  that  kindnesses  or 
injuries  done  to  the  least  of  his  children — are  forgotten  by  him, 
knows  nothing  of  him.  And  the  kings  of  the  earth  who  set 
themselves,  and  the  rulers  who  take  counsel  together,  against  the 
Lord,  and  against  his  Anointed ;  ought  to  know  that  he  that  sit- 
teth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh — that  the  Lord  shall  have  them 
in  derision.2 

1  Prov.,  viii.  15,  16;  Psalm  lxxxii.  3,  4;  2  Sam.,  xxiii.  3 ;  Rom.,  xiii.  1-8. 

2  Psalm  ii.  2,  4;  Matt.,  xxv.  31-46. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


THE  HISTORICAL,  LOGICAL,  AND  SUPERNATURAL  ELEMENTS  OF  THE 
CHURCH :  CONSIDERED  WITH  REFERENCE  TO  THE  MARKS  OF  THE 
TRUE  CHURCH. 

I.  1.  Posture  of  the  General  Exposition:  Marks  of  the  True  Church. — 2.  Elements 
of  the  Question  of  the  True  Church. — II.  1.  The  Historical  Element :  The  Sacred 
Scriptures  excluded  from  this  Element. — 2.  Uninspired  History  of  the  Church: 
Nature  and  Influence  thereof. — 3.  General  Career  of  the  early  Gospel  Church:  Its 
Fate  in  the  East :  The  Latin  and  the  Greek  Churches  and  Empires. — 4.  Career 
of  the  Gospel  Church,  and  of  the  Latin  Church,  in  the  West — till  our  Times. — 
III.  1.  The  Logical  Element:  Stated  and  explained. — 2.  Its  Force  when  directed 
by  Divine  Grace. — 3.  Sympathy  between  the  inward  and  outward  Life  of  the 
Church:  Unity  through  all  Generations. — IV.  I.  Supernatural  Element:  Its  Vital 
Supremacy. — 2.  The  total  Abnegation  of  Identity  between  the  Gospel  Church, 
and  every  Institution,  real  or  possible. — 3.  Positive  Exposition  of  it,  Supernatur- 
ally  Considered. — V.  1.  Infallible  Certainty  concerning  the  True  Church. — 2.  All 
possible  Forms  of  the  elemental  Idea  of  Religion,  reducible  to  three :  These 
stated. — 3.  The  First  Class  reject  the  Revelation  of  God :  They  cannot  be  the 
Church  of  Christ. — 4.  The  Second  abuse  and  pervert  that  Revelation :  Precision 
of  the  Rule  of  Judging  them. — 5.  The  Third  are  the  result,  and  expression,  of  that 
Revelation:  Their  Glory  and  Blessedness. — VI.  1.  Recognition  of  the  Church 
Visible,  universal. — 2.  Particular  Marks  distinctive  of  her:  General  Statement 
concerning  them. — 3.  The  two  ultimate  and  opposite  Foundations:  Authority — 
Reason. 


I. — 1.  I  have  now  traced,  in  the  four  preceding  chapters,  the 
Church  of  Christ  as  it  may  be  considered  in  its  fundamental  idea 
and  elemental  principles — as  it  may  he  considered  in  its  nature 
and  end — as  it  may  be  considered  as  the  universal  Church  visible 
— and  as  it  may  be  considered  with  regard  to  that  spiritual  freedom 
which  results  Irom  its  complete  consecration  to  Christ.  It  seems 
to  me  that  this  course  of  exposition  brings  the  whole  subject  to 
a  position  in  which  we  may  say  we  have  precise  knowledge,  and 
therefore  have  clear  and  just  views,  touching  a  matter  at  once  un¬ 
speakably  vast  and  important.  What  would  follow,  if  we  lived 
in  the  first  age  of  the  Church,  would  be  to  sum  up  and  apply  the 
knowledge  thus  obtained,  to  the  designation  of  those  universal 
marks  of  the  divine  Kingdom  thus  displayed,  whereby  it  might 


427 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MARKS  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

be  infallibly  distinguished.  We  live,  however,  not  in  the  first, 
but  in  the  nineteenth  age  of  the  Church.  And  all  the  intervening 
ages  have  claims  greater  or  less  upon  our  consideration ;  and  all 
the  permanent  effects  which  their  terrible  convulsions  and  vicis¬ 
situdes,  may  be  supposed  to  have  produced  upon  these  great  ques¬ 
tions,  require  some  line  to  be  clearly  drawn  through  them,  whereby 
we  may  walk  in  confidence.  Before  attempting,  therefore,  to  point 
out  those  infallible  marks  of  the  true  Church  to  which  I  have 
alluded,  it  seems  necessary  to  explain  carefully,  but  generally, 
those  great  principles  and  truths,  to  the  test  of  which  all  the 
past,  with  all  its  influences,  must  submit ;  and  in  the  presence 
of  which,  the  true  position  of  every  age,  as  it  exists,  becomes 
equally  distinct. 

2.  There  are  united  in  the  very  fabric  of  the  Church,  three 
elements,  distinct  but  closely  allied  as  they  come  to  us,  all  of 
which  we  must  appreciate,  in  order  to  comprehend  fully  the  as¬ 
pect  she  ought  now  to  present,  and  to  render  truly  our  decision 
upon  the  marks  that  determine  her  very  existence.  These  are 
the  historical,  the  logical,  and  the  supernatural  elements  which 
enter  into  the  question  of  the  Church.  Of  these  the  last,  is  the 
transcendent  element :  the  second  is  next  to  it  in  importance,  but 
far  below  it :  and  the  first,  instead  of  being  the  chief,  as  is  so 
often  asserted,  really  derives  all  its  importance,  since  the  close  of 
the  canon  of  inspired  books  and  the  death  of  the  last  inspired 
man,  from  the  light  it  imparts  to  the  other  two,  by  showing  us 
how  they  have  affected  man,  and  how  he  has  abused  them.  I 
will  consider  each  in  its  order  as  briefly  as  possible  ;  observing 
that  the  necessity  of  any  such  consideration,  and  even  of  any 
precise  determination  of  the  marks  of  the  true  Church,  rests,  on 
one  side,  on  the  certainty  that  there  is  such  a  Church  on  earth, 
and  on  the  other  side,  on  the  certainty  that  fidelity  to  Christ 
and  to  our  own  soul,  renders  it  impossible  to  allow,  without 
examination,  any  claim,  by  any  organization,  that  it  is  that 
Church. 

II. — 1.  I  exclude  from  the  historical  element  of  the  Church, 
all  its  inspired  history,  all  the  narrative  portion  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  ;  for  all  this  is  an  essential  part  of  its  supernatural 
element — what  God  said  he  did,  being  as  really  divine  as  any¬ 
thing  else  he  said — and  the  inspired  narrative  of  what  he  did 
being  obligatory  upon  us  as  expounding  his  revealed  will,  an(l 


428  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IY. 

not  to  be  considered  as  simply  explaining  the  course  of  events. 
The  Church  is  delivered  to  us  hy  Revelation  in  its  Gospel  state 
— tbe  state  in  which  it  should  exist  by  divine  appointment,  and 
the  Revelation  of  which  is  addressed  to  man  and  cognizable  by 
man.  Whatever  history  it  had  before,  is  written  by  God  :  what¬ 
ever  development,  was  by  divine  authority,  was  under  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Grace,  and  terminated  with  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord. 
That  the  steps  of  its  previous  development  had  been  numerous 
and  distinct — all  progressive,  each  emerging  from  the  bosom  of 
its  immediately  preceding  state,  and  conducting  directly  to  its 
immediately  succeeding  state  :  all  this  proves  clearly  that  we 
must  accept  the  common  result  of  all,  as  the  Church  of  Christ ; 
but  proves,  also,  that  further  progress  and  development  of  the 
same  description,  so  far  from  being  normal  to  the  Church — -are 
impossible  in  the  absence  of  that  immediate  authority  of  God, 
attested  by  miracles  and  revelation,  which  had  attended  all  its 
previous  changes.  Add  to  this  the  express  and  repeated  declara¬ 
tion  of  God,  that  the  Gospel  Church  is  the  last  dispensation  of 
his  grace  directed  to  the  salvation  of  sinners,  and  that  the  second 
coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  is  the  next  manifestation  of  his  King¬ 
dom  ;  and  the  demonstration  is  complete  that  the  Apostolic 
Church,  and  not  a  Church  developed  beyond  it,  is  still  the  true 
Church  of  Christ. 

2.  Whatever,  therefore,  the  uninspired  history  of  the  Gospel 
Church,  during  her  progress,  her  convulsions,  and  her  vicissitudes 
for  nineteen  centuries,  may  deliver  to  this  generation  ;  must,  as 
regards  its  value  as  an  elemental  part  of  the  question  of  the 
Church,  sink  very  low  in  comparison  with  the  supernatural  ele¬ 
ment  of  it :  and  must  submit  whatever  value  it  may  really  pos¬ 
sess  to  the  severe  scrutiny  of  the  logical  element  of  the  great 
question.  What  God  has  ordained  his  Church  to  be,  and  what 
the  human  soul  enlightened  by  divine  truth,  perceives  from  her 
nature  and  end  that  she  should  be  ;  may  derive  a  certain  con¬ 
firmation  to  us  from  the  fact,  that  historically  that  is  what  she 
is,  and  has  been.  And  our  judgment  may,  to  a  certain  extent, 
be  influenced  by  her  free  and  common  judgment,  maintained 
through  all  ages,  as  to  what  the  ordination  of  God  is,  and  as  to 
what  her  own  nature  and  end  oblige  her  to  be.  But  it  is  only  of 
the  true  Church  of  Christ,  that  such  statements  can  be  made  : 
for  the  history  which  has  been  enacted,  and  the  judgments  which 


429 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MARKS  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

have  been  uttered,  by  dead  heretics  and  schismatics,  dead  per¬ 
secutors  and  oppressors,  dead  seducers  and  corrupters,  are  of  no 
more  authority  to  us,  than  they  were  to  those  saints  whose  blood 
they  shed.  When  we  attempt  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the 
historical  element  of  the  question  of  the  Church,  we  must  be 
careful  not  to  deceive  ourselves,  by  allowing  the  corrupters  of  the 
truth  and  the  oppressors  of  the  earth,  to  speak  in  the  name  of 
the  Bride  of  the  Lamb,  whom  these  very  despisers  of  the  cross 
of  Christ  have  driven  into  the  wilderness  during  two-thirds  of 
her  pilgrimage,  and  would  have  destroyed  utterly,  if  God  had 
permitted  them.  Nor  must  we  allow  ourselves  to  forget,  even 
when  the  Bride  of  the  Lamb  herself  makes  her  voice  audible 
through  centuries  of  corruption  and  persecution,  that  she  must 
speak  by  the  same  rule  by  which  we  must  judge.  We  could  not 
allow  her,  even  if  she  desired  it,  to  settle  determinately,  and  for 
us,  the  significance  of  the  elements  of  her  own  great  question  ; 
without  surrendering  every  claim  which  the  Knowledge  of  God 
has,  to  be  considered  a  science  of  positive  truth.  In  effect,  there 
has  always  been,  and  there  is  now,  a  true  Church  universal  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  its  history  is  the  most  important  part 
of  the  history  of  mankind,  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles  ;  and 
it  gives  us  a  determinate  element  in  the  great  question  of  the 
true  Church,  chiefly  as  it  sets  before  us  to  be  scrutinized,  the 
very  thing  we  seek. 

3.  Christ's  conception  of  his  own  Kingdom  as  exhibited  in  its 
members,  and  therefore  called  his  Church,  his  Body,  his  Bride  ; 
was  of  a  universal  Kingdom  of  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy, 
into  which  men  are  divinely  persuaded  by  teaching  them  eternal 
truth.  From  the  earliest  dawn  of  tradition,  and  the  existence 
of  the  first  powerful  State  among  men,  the  human  idea  was  the 
establishment  of  universal  dominion  by  force ;  which  has  been 
realized  four  times  in  the  history  of  mankind,  in  those  four  uni¬ 
versal  world-powers,  of  which  various  portions  of  the  prophetic 
Scriptures,  especially  the  book  Daniel  and  the  Revelation  of  St. 
John,  give  so  remarkable  an  account.  In  the  bosom  of  the  last 
of  these,  the  Gospel  Church  took  its  rise,  when  the  set  time  had 
come.  During  all  subsequent  ages,  it  had  its  predicted  course, 
first  under  the  shadow,  and  then  under  the  more  baleful  sun¬ 
shine,  of  this  vast  power ;  till  it  was  itself  subverted,  and  the 
very  idea  of  universal  dominion,  as  a  pure  civil  conception,  was 


430 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


lost  amongst  men.  Then  the  Gospel  Church  continued  its  course 
towards  its  own  predestinated  triumph,  in  the  midst  of  the  pro¬ 
phetic  Kingdoms  into  which  that  last  subverted  empire  was  rent. 
The  Roman  empire,  and  the  visible  Church  already  deeply  cor¬ 
rupted,  had  both  been  torn  asunder ;  and  the  Latin  Church  and 
empire,  and  the  Greek  Church  and  empire,  at  length  divided  the 
civilized  world  between  them.  In  the  latter  arose  the  apostacy 
of  Mohammed  ;  in  the  former  the  apostacy  of  the  Papacy.  Both 
under  the  pretext  of  religion,  and  with  the  most  formidable 
union  of  spiritual  and  civil  power  the  world  has  seen,  sought  to 
prolong  the  existence  in  new  and  appalling  forms,  of  universal 
world-power  by  force,  directed  ngainst  both  the  conscience  and 
persons  of  men.  To  this  day  the  Churches  of  the  whole  East  re¬ 
main  under  the  yoke  of  Mohammedan  superstition,  or  are  sunken 
in  spiritual  deadness  and  defection.  God  has  given  to  them  no 
great  awakening,  no  great  reformation,  during  twelve  hundred 
years  ;  and  in  all  those  vast  regions,  it  would  be  far  easier  to  point 
out  intolerable  corruptions  of  Christianity,  than  to  designate  a 
true  mark  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

4.  In  the  West  the  Latin  Church  and  empire  had  a  different 
career:  and  so  had  the  true  Church  of  Christ.  From  the  days 
of  Christ  to  those  of  Constantine  the  Great,  the  whole  Church 
through  three  centuries  of  persecution,  possessed,  nevertheless, 
inward  freedom,  and  filled  the  earth  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord.  From  Constantine  to  Pope  Hildebrand,  commonly  known 
as  Gregory  VII.,  during  about  seven  and  a  half  centuries  more, 
the  Church  of  God  passed  through  a  period  of  constant  declen¬ 
sion  and  oppression,  and  at  length  of  merciless  persecution  ;  and 
the  Papacy  from  small  beginnings  in  the  city  of  Rome,  gradually 
extended  its  dominion  and  its  corruption,  until  it  became  the 
mistress  of  Europe,  and  sought  to  subject  the  whole  world  to  its 
sway.  From  Hildebrand  to  Luther,  during  more  than  four  addi¬ 
tional  centuries,  the  true  Church  of  Christ  is  to  be  traced  chiefly 
in  the  blood  o(  its  martyrs,  and  in  the  edicts  of  its  oppressors  ; 
and  the  Papacy  reigned  with  unlimited  despotism  throughout 
the  Latin  Church,  and  over  the  nations  inhabiting  the  countries 
that  composed  the  Latin  empire.  Twice  before  Luther,  once  in 
the  eleventh  century  in  the  south  of  Europe,  and  once  in  the  east 
of  Europe  in  the  fifteenth  century,  a  Christian  people  had  at¬ 
tempted,  as  did  the  Germans  in  the  sixteenth  century,  to  main- 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MARKS  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH.  431 

tain  against  Rome,  the  right  to  love  and  serve  the  Lord  :  and  in 
both  cases,  they  were  visited  with  protracted  and  exterminating 
war,  and  cut  off  with  indiscriminate  slaughter.  From  Luther’s 
day  to  our  own,  during  more  than  three  additional  centuries,  the 
Church  of  Christ,  restored  to  life  by  a  miracle  of  divine  grace, 
has  passed  through  a  ceaseless  struggle,  with  the  Papacy  on  the 
one  hand,  and  with  every  form  of  unbelief  and  misbelief  on  the 
other.  And  now  she  stands  before  the  same  lost  world,  from  which 
she  has  been  so  long  separate,  consecrated  to  the  same  Saviour 
who  has  always  been  her  portion,  appealing  to  his  blessed  word, 
and  to  her  own  nature  and  end,  to  confirm  that  historical  claim 
to  be  the  Bride  of  the  Lamb,  which  has  been  the  crown  of  her 
rejoicing  through  centuries  of  trial. 

III. — 1.  The  Church  visible  of  God,  in  whatever  light  we  con¬ 
sider  it,  has,  like  everything  else  that  is  subjected  to  our  scrutiny, 
a  logical  element  which  it  is  impossible  to  omit,  in  every  judg¬ 
ment  we  form  concerning  it.  Everything  that  relates  to  that 
Church,  considered  as  the  Church  visible  and  universal  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  distinguishes  the  question  concerning  it,  as 
containing  this  logical  element  in  a  very  high  degree.  The  un¬ 
inspired  history  of  Christianity  both  in  its  purity  and  its  cor¬ 
ruption,  demands,  from  its  very  nature,  a  more  thorough  scrutiny 
before  any  controlling  influence  can  be  allowed  to  it,  than  any 
history  besides ;  whilst  yet  no  permanent  interest  of  mankind, 
remains  more  inadequately  prepared  for  the  scrutiny  of  any,  but 
the  learned,  than  this  vast  and  diversified  history.  Moreover,  the 
entire  supernatural  element,  which  is  the  controlling  element  in 
every  question  that  relates  to  Christianity,  cannot  be  accepted 
by  man,  much  less  so  accepted  as  to  satisfy  it,  without  something 
to  justify  that  profound  conviction  it  demands.  It  is  in  the  light 
of  all  we  know,  and  all  we  are — the  light  of  reason,  of  conscience, 
of  philosophy,  of  the  whole  power  we  possess  whether  by  nature 
or  through  grace,  directed  by  all  the  knowledge  we  have  obtained; 
that  our  meditations  are  to  be  directed  to  every  serious  question, 
and  above  all  to  questions  relating  to  God  and  to  duty.  The 
ground  of  every  decision  is,  in  one  respect,  obliged  to  lie  in  the 
subject  matter  itself;  and,  therefore,  as  in  all  I  have  said,  so  em¬ 
phatically  here,  nothing  can  be  determined  irrespective  of  its  own 
nature  and  end — irrespective  of  its  own  logical  element.  Nor  is 
it  possible  to  determine  anything  against  its  own  nature  and  end, 


432 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


against  its  own  logical  element,  without  determining  falsely.  It 
would  be  wholly  impossible  to  believe  that  a  God  of  purity  and 
truth,  purposed  to  save  sinners  in  their  pollution,  or  by  means  of 
falsehood  and  cruelty  :  impossible  to  believe,  that  the  saints  of 
God  have  Satan  for  their  Lord,  instead  of  Christ :  impossible  to 
believe  that  to  be  a  true  Church,  which  by  virtue  of  its  faith,  its 
life,  and  its  worship,  promotes  sin  instead  of  holiness.  Ration¬ 
ally,  it  is  not  competent  to  man  to  say,  that  truth  and  falsehood 
are  the  same :  ethically  it  is  beyond  his  nature,  to  confound  the 
distinction  between  good  and  evil  :  logically  the  concrete  of  all 
this  is  a  controlling  reality  of  his  being — he  cannot  disregard  the 
nature  and  end  of  things. 

2.  If  we  add  to  these  great  principles  and  truths,  which  are 
common  to  man,  that  which  is  peculiar  to  the  children  of  God, 
we  shall  perceive  how  sure  a  foundation  is  laid  in  this  logical  ele¬ 
ment  of  the  question  of  the  Church,  for  a  true  decision  concern¬ 
ing  it.  He  who  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  able  to  discern  the  King¬ 
dom  of  God,'*  and  is  fit  to  enter  it.1  That  which  is  born  of  the 
Spirit  is  spirit,  as  really  as  that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh.2 
To  know  God,  the  living  and  true  God,  and  to  know  Jesus  Christ 
whom  he  has  sent — this  is  eternal  life.3  The  Son  of  God  has 
given  us  an  understanding,  that  we  may  know  him  that  is  true  : 
and  we  are  in  him  that  is  true,  even  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ :  this 
is  the  true  God,  and  eternal  life.4  But  this  Saviour  whom  we 
know,  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life :  and  we  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  has  made  us  free  :  and  the  Spirit  of  truth  guides 
us  into  all  truth.6  And  is  it  so,  that  they  who  are  thus  enlight¬ 
ened  cannot  discern  the  common  mother  of  them  all  ?“  Is  that 
spiritual  insight  which  suffices  to  discern  God,  and  Christ,  and 
all  truth,  blind  when  it  is  turned  toward  the  Spouse  of  Christ  ?7 
Are  the  very  elect  of  God,  whom  it  is  impossible  for  false  pro¬ 
phets,  and  even  false  Christs  to  deceive,  incapable  of  distinguish¬ 
ing  a  ferocious  harlot,  from  the  faithful  and  beloved  Bride — the 
Lamb's  wife.8  Then  what  we  are  expected  to  believe  is,  that  he 
who  ascended  up  on  high,  leading  captivity  captive,  and  who  gave 

*  A vvarat  tdeiv.  *  John,  iii.  3-G. 

2  John,  i.  13 ;  iii.  6 ;  Titus,  iii.  6.  *  John,  xvii.  3. 

*  1  John,  v.  20.  5  John,  viii.  32;  xiv.  6;  xvi.  13. 

3  Gal.,  iv.  26,  27.  *  Song  of  Solomon,  passim. 

8  Matt,  xxiv.  24;  Rev.,  xvii.  passim ;  xxi.  9-27. 


433 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MARKS  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

Apostles,  prophets,  evangelists,  pastors  and  teachers,  for  the  per¬ 
fecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edify¬ 
ing  of  the  body  of  Christ ;  gave  them  sufficient  grace  to  keep  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,  and  to  discern  the  one 
Spirit,  the  one  hope  of  our  calling,  the  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one 
baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all ;  hut  did  not  give  them 
grace  to  discern  the  one  body  to  which  they  were  given  :  although 
he  says  he  did,  and  names  it  first  of  all,  in  the  very  front  of  the 
wondrous  array.1 

3.  Nor  is  this  element  of  the  question  of  the  Church  fully 
appreciated,  until  we  reflect,  that  besides  the  force  which  its  very 
existence  implies,  in  distinguishing  the  true  Church,  the  force 
of  its  own  working  makes  every  mark  of  the  Church  more  and 
more  distinct,  while  the  absence  of  that  working  may  be  so  ab¬ 
solute,  as  to  destroy  all  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  Church. 
Considered  of  herself,  the  sympathy  between  the  inner  and  the 
outer  life  of  the  Church,  is  constant  and  profound  ;  her  spirit, 
her  faith,  her  life,  her  form,  all  mutually  and  continually  influ¬ 
encing  each  other.  When  she  rose  under  the  labours  of  the 
Apostles,  she  rose  altogether ;  when  she  declined  under  the 
tyranny  of  Rome,  she  declined  altogether ;  when  she  was  re¬ 
stored  to  life  under  the  labours  of  the  Reformers,  it  was  a  resto¬ 
ration  altogether ;  and  every  apostacy  from  her,  has  been  an 
apostacy  altogether.  In  proportion  as  each  member  is  like 
Christ,  ail  are  like  each  other :  in  proportion  as  the  Church  is 
pure,  she  is  identical  in  all  generations.  Her  early  Greek  creeds 
and  her  still  more  numerous  creeds  of  the  Reformation — the  for¬ 
mer  preceding  the  Apostacy  of  Rome,  and  the  latter  following  by 
a  thousand  years,  and  renouncing  that  apostacy,  are  all  expressive 
of  the  same  unalterable  faith.  Nor  is  a  less  illustrious  example 
of  that  invincible  force  and  concatenation  of  sympathy  between 
her  inner  and  outer  life,  exhibited  in  all  her  endeavours  to  ex¬ 
ecute  her  true  mission  on  earth.  Her  force  in  the  world,  and  on 
it,  has  always  been  great  in  proportion  to  her  separation  from  it, 
and  feeble  in  proportion  to  the  closeness  of  her  connection  with 
it :  and  her  desire  and  fitness  to  execute  her  mission,  have  al¬ 
ways  risen  and  fallen  with  her  ability  to  do  so,  as  measured  by 
her  own  complete  organization,  and  vital  activity,  as  Christ's 
Kingdom. 

1  Eph.,  iv.  3-13. 

28 


VOL.  II. 


434  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

IV. — 1.  The  supernatural  element  of  the  question  of  the 
Church,  is  the  grand  and  controlling  element  in  every  aspect  in 
which  it  is  possible  to  present  it.  If  we  would  obtain  the  funda¬ 
mental  idea  of  the  Church,  and  the  most  elemental  form  of  the 
principles  which  enter  into  that  idea  ;  if  we  would  rightly  appre¬ 
ciate  the  nature  and  end  of  a  Kingdom,  organized  upon  that  idea 
as  an  eternal  witness  for  God  ;  if  we  would  have  a  clear  concep¬ 
tion  of  the  aspect,  and  form,  and  working  of  this  Kingdom,  with 
Christ  at  its  head,  the  Spirit  as  its  life,  and  regenerate  men  as  its 
members  ;  if  we  would  understand  the  necessity  and  the  form  of 
its  real  freedom,  resulting  from  its  being  separate  from  the  world 
and  consecrated  to  the  complete  dominion  of  Christ  :  if  this  is 
what  we  desire  to  understand,  we  have,  we  can  have,  no  alterna¬ 
tive,  but  to  sit  down  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  be  taught  by  him. 
It  is  this  which,  in  the  four  preceding  chapters,  I  have  endeavoured 
to  prove  and  illustrate  ;  and  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  truth  im¬ 
plied  in  that  method,  it  is  this  which  pervades  all  I  have  written. 
Whether  we  consider  God,  or  man,  or  the  Mediator  between  them  ; 
or  salvation,  or  the  truth  which  is  available  unto  salvation,  and 
that  whether  in  its  objective  or  subjective  form  ;  or  the  individual 
sinner,  or  the  race  of  sinners ;  or  the  individual  believer,  or  the 
whole  elect  of  God,  or  the  Kingdom  of  God  composed  of  them, 
and  that  whether  considered  in  its  head  the  Lord  Christ,  or  in  its 
author  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  in  its  members  the  children  of  God  ; 
or  whether  we  consider  the  Church  visible,  and  that  whether  in 
the  very  elements  of  the  question,  or  in  the  marks  of  the  true 
Church — and  that  whether  with  reference  to  her  faith,  her  life, 
her  worship,  or  her  form  :  the  moment  we  shut  our  eyes  to  the 
supernatural  element  which  not  only  pervades  all,  but  determines 
all — there  we  extinguish  light  and  hope  together.  The  just  live 
by  faith  ;  the  relation  between  life  and  righteousness,  and  the  re¬ 
lation  between  both  of  them  and  faith — is  divine,  absolute,  un¬ 
alterable.1  It  is  to  the  supernatural  element  in  Christianity  itself, 
as  well  as  in  the  question  of  the  visible  Church  by  means  of  which 
Christianity  presents  a  particular  aspect,  that  both  the  other  ele¬ 
ments  thereof  are  merely  applied  ;  nay  merely  so  applied,  that 
we  may  the  better  comprehend  its  intimate  nature,  its  practical 
operation,  and  its  eternal  design. 

1  Hab.,  ii.  1-4 ;  Rom.,  i.  14-21  ;  Gal.,  iii.  10-14 ;  Heb.,  x.  35-39  ;  John, 
iii.  16-21. 


435 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MARKS  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

2.  The  Church  of  God  is  no  longer  manifested  in  a  particular 
race,  as  under  one  aspect  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant :  it  is  no 
longer  identified  with  a  particular  State,  or  a  particular  nation¬ 
ality,  as  with  the  Jewish  commonwealth  and  people.  The  truth, 
of  which  it  is  the  pillar  and  ground,  is  for  all  the  world  ;  the 
Gospel  which  it  proclaims,  is  for  every  creature  ;  the  repentance 
and  remission  of  sins,  which  are  preached  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
are  for  all  nations.1  Nor  is  it  a  high,  but  spontaneous  and  neces¬ 
sary,  development  of  the  fallen  religious  nature  of  man,  under 
fixed  conditions  ;  so  many  degraded  forms  of  which  heathenism 
presents  to  us.  Nor  is  it  a  system  created  by  human  skill  and 
thought,  out  of  such  elements  as  existing  systems  furnished, 
aided  by  such  suggestions  as  reason,  and  passion,  and  natural 
religion  might  afford  ;  of  which  we  have  examples  in  the  system 
of  Mohammedanism,  and  in  that  of  the  disciples  of  Confucius. 
Nor  is  it  a  fortuitous,  or  capricious,  or  traditional,  or  eclectic  col¬ 
lection  and  arrangement  of  opinions,  and  speculations,  and  ideas, 
and  theories  ;  like  the  schools  of  the  Oriental  and  the  Greek  phi¬ 
losophies.  Nor  is  it  a  myth — springing  from  the  efforts  of  the 
human  mind  to  objectify,  upon  the  traditions  of  the  race,  its  own 
vague  but  powerful  subjective  life  ;  and  assuming  the  particular 
form  in  which  we  find  it,  by  the  development  of  the  common  life 
of  the  race.  Nor  is  it  a  voluntary  association  of  individuals, 
combined  for  particular  purposes,  governed  by  rules  prescribed 
by  themselves  and  perpetuated  from  generation  to  generation  ; 
of  which  so  many  and  such  varied  examples  have  been  furnished, 
in  the  progress  of  the  human  race.  Nor  is  it  even,  like  civil 
society,  which  it  resembles  most  of  all  in  some  remarkable  par¬ 
ticulars  which  I  have  pointed  out ;  a  permanent  and  divine  insti¬ 
tution,  of  which  God  has  laid  down  the  elemental  principles  and 
obligations,  and  left  to  human  choice,  or  to  the  course  of  events, 
to  determine  the  particular  form  it  mny  assume,  and  the  particu¬ 
lar  direction  it  may  take.  The  Gospel  Church  is  none  of  these 
things.  It  is  widely,  divinely,  different  from  them  all.  And  in 
saying  this  it  will  he  observed  that  the  negations  which  have  been 
made,  exhaust  the  ordinary  possibilities  of  human  association,  in 
a  simple  form  ;  and  yet  they  present  few  aspects  which,  in  some 
ace,  have  not  been  asserted,  bv  those  destitute  of  the  truth,  to 
be  the  true  aspect  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

1  Tim.,  iii.  15,  1G  ;  Mark,  xvi.  15;  Luke,  xxiv.  47 


436  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

3.  Considered  merely  in  its  supernatural  element,  this  is  what 
it  is.  It  is  a  permanent,  universal,  spiritual  Kingdom,  set  up  by 
God  in  this  world  ;  of  which  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Lord, 
and  Saviour,  and  head  ;  of  which  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  life  ; 
and  of  which  every  member  is  chosen  out  of  the  human  family, 
by  God  himself.  All  these  members  in  all  lands  and  ages,  con¬ 
stitute  one  vast  brotherhood,  and  perpetuate  themselves  through 
all  time,  disregardful  of  all  things  that  would  obstruct  their  vo¬ 
cation  and  their  progress.  They  are  united  under  the  immediate 
authority  of  God,  made  manifest  in  his  written  word,  and  en¬ 
forced  by  his  divine  Spirit ;  their  outward  organization  being 
that  prescribed  in  that  word,  and  every  act  of  authority  being 
performed  in  the  presence,  and  in  the  name,  of  the  Saviour  of 
the  world.  Every  object  to  which  the  efforts  of  this  body,  thus 
organized  and  administered,  may  be  directed  ;  every  doctrine  it 
may  accept ;  every  duty  which  can  devolve  on  it ;  all  are  laid 
down,  explicitly  or  implicity,  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  The  body 
itself  and  every  member  of  it,  is  absolutely  precluded  from  doing 
anything  which  God  has  forbidden,  and  from  leaving  undone  any¬ 
thing  which  God  has  commanded  ;  no  matter  at  what  risk,  or 
loss,  to  themselves  or  others — no  matter  what  ties  are  broken — • 
or  what  authority  subverted — by  obedience  to  God.  While  all 
men,  left  to  themselves,  avoid  and  reject  this  absolute  dominion 
of  God  ;  and  while  all  who  submit  to  it,  do  so  only  as  they  are 
made  willing  and  able  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  it  is,  nevertheless, 
the  immediate  duty  and  right  of  every  human  being,  to  deny 
himself,  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  Jesus  Christ  in  the  regen¬ 
eration  ;  and  it  is  the  immediate  object  of  this  universal  Church 
visible,  to  make  known  to  every  creature,  his  duty  and  his  right 
in  this  particular — to  urge  every  one  with  all  importunity  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come — and  to  teach  every  one  with  all  dili¬ 
gence  and  love,  the  way  of  life  eternal.  This  Church  of  God,  is 
the  great  glory  of  God,  in  time  and  through  eternity.  In  a  world 
of  sinners,  it  is  vain  to  speak  of  a  Church  of  God  which  contains 
no  such  element  as  this :  vain  to  speak  to  sinners  saved  by  grace, 
of  any  element  paramount  to  this— or  fit  to  be  compared  with 
it :  vain  to  think  of  supplying  its  place — and  yet  saving  lost 
souls. 

V. — 1.  These  elements  of  the  question  of  the  visible  Church, 
appear  to  be  exhaustive  ;  and  any  just  consideration  of  them  to 


437 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MARKS  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

place  that  question  in  a  posture,  where  the  marks  of  the  true 
Church  cannot  fail  to  be  always  present  with  her,  always  so  ob¬ 
vious  that  all  may  know  her,  and  that  her  own  children  cannot 
mistake  her.  What  those  marks  are  in  particular,  or  considered 
generally,  every  one  who  is  enlightened  in  divine  things,  readily 
determines  practically,  and  truly  to  his  own  satisfaction  :  nor  can 
it,  in  any  instance,  affect  the  validity  of  the  conclusion  reached, 
that  boundless  variety  of  mental  experience  and  exercises,  occurs 
in  the  process  by  which  the  human  soul  reaches  its  conclusion 
upon  this,  any  more  than  upon  other  questions  of  our  spiritual 
life.  Nevertheless,  those  marks  of  the  true  Church  are  capable 
of  distinct  classification  and  statement,  under  a  few  general  heads 
— as  I  will  attempt  to  show  in  the  following  chapters.  And  pre¬ 
liminary  thereto,  I  will  apply  the  foregoing  analysis  and  exposi¬ 
tion  to  the  great  question  of  all  religions  and  Churches,  for  the 
purpose  of  clearing  away  all  needless  questions,  and  reducing  the 
one  we  have  to  settle  to  its  exact  state. 

2.  I  have  already  shown  that  the  innumerable  acts  which  are 
performed  by  public  authority  under  every  possible  form  of  so¬ 
ciety,  fall  under  a  very  few,  namely  three,  great  functions,  which 
exhaust  all  the  force  which  results  from  its  organization — and 
supplies  all  that  is  possible,  or  even  conceivable.  It  would  be 
perfectly  easy  to  show,  in  addition,  that  all  the  possible  forms 
which  organized  society  can  assume,  although  they  appear  to  be 
innumerable — are  reducible  to  a  very  few  ;  besides  which,  in  their 
simple  exhibition  and  in  the  multiplied  combinations  of  them, 
there  is  no  possible,  or  imaginable,  form  of  organized  society. 
There  is  a  form  which  is  strictly  popular  and  democratic  ;  there 
is  a  second  which  is  strictly  aristocratical ;  there  is  a  third  which 
is  strictly  regal  ;  there  is  a  fourth  which  is  strictly  republican  and 
representative  ;  and  there  are  innumerable  combinations  of  the 
elements  of  these  four  forms.  But  nothing  else  is  possible — until 
some  unknown  element  heterogeneous  to  society,  and,  as  regards 
human  nature — -either  divine  or  diabolical — is  introduced  as  a 
further  modification  ;  and  even  then,  it  is  the  spirit  more  than 
the  form  that  is  affected.  In  like  manner,  the  permanent  forms 
which  are  possible,  or  conceivable,  with  relation  to  the  idea  of 
religion,  even  in  its  widest  sense — are  very  limited  in  number, 
are  capable  of  being  precisely  stated,  and,  following  the  nature 
of  the  subject,  are  less  capable  of  serious  admixture  without 


438  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

mutual  destruction.  However  numerous  and  diversified  the  re¬ 
ligions  which  have  appeared  among  men,  may  be  supposed  to  be 
— the  following  classes  embrace  them  all. 

(a)  Those  which,  destitute  of  all  true  external  revelation  from 
God,  are  the  product  of  the  natural  impulses  of  fallen  man — and 
of  his  necessities  manifested  through  his  depraved  religious  sus¬ 
ceptibilities. 

( b )  Those  which  are  the  product  of  the  abuse  and  perversion 
of  a  true  external  revelation  received  from  God. 

(c)  Those  which  are  the  product,  the  sum,  and  the  expres¬ 
sion,  of  all  true  external  revelation  received  from  God. 

3.  No  one  can  doubt  that  all  religions  which  fall  under  the 
first  of  these  three  classes,  are  to  be  indiscriminately  and  com¬ 
pletely  rejected,  as  no  part  of  the  Church  visible  universal  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Whatever  effect  may  be  produced  ou  man  in 
this  life,  or  in  that  which  is  to  come,  by  any  conceivable  form  of 
religion  of  that  kind  ;  it  is  perfectly  manifest  that  no  single  effect, 
in  either  life,  identical  with  any  effect  which  the  religion  of  Jesus 
was  designed  to  produce,  can  be  produced — or  even  desired,  or  con¬ 
templated  by  any  of  them.  It  is  impossible,  in  the  nature  of  the 
case,  for  the  Christian  religion  to  identify  itself  with  any  form  of 
natural  religion,  or  general  morality' — or  speculative  belief  origi¬ 
nating  in  that  way — without  forfeiting  at  once,  every  divine  claim. 
Of  systems  of  idolatry  and  superstition — of  fraud  and  violence — 
of  pollution,  folly,  and  brutality — which  have  been  accepted  as 
religions  amongst  men  ;  there  is  no  occasion  to  speak  here.  So 
far  is  it  from  being  possible  to  recognize,  from  the  stand-point  of 
the  Christian  Church,  any  system  of  religion  originating  in  human 
nature,  or  wrought  out  by  man  in  his  own  strength,  as  being  com¬ 
petent  for  our  guidance  in  this  life,  and  for  our  eternal  salvation  ; 
the  necessary  effect  of  the  triumph  of  Christianity,  is  the  total 
destruction  of  all  such  religions — the  necessary  effect  of  the  re¬ 
generation  of  each  soul,  is  its  deliverance  from  every  such  delu¬ 
sion.  At  the  very  first  step,  therefore,  of  all  enlightened  attempts 
to  identify  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  even  before  the  exact  set¬ 
tlement  ot  the  precise  marks  which  infallibly  distinguish  it ;  the 
field  of  enquiry  is  swept  of  an  overwhelming  mass  of  refuges 
of  lies. 

4.  Those  religions  which  fall  under  the  second  class,  require 
more  consideration.  The  decision  which  ought  to  be  formed  in 


489 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MARKS  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

each  particular  case,  depends  somewhat  on  the  circumstances  pe¬ 
culiar  to  each.  The  general  principle  is  clear  enough.  For  as 
the  rejection  of  the  true  external  revelation  made  by  God  to  man, 
necessarily  deprives  men  of  all  knowledge  of  a  Saviour,  and,  there¬ 
fore,  excludes  them  from  all  communion  with  him  ;  so  the  abuse 
and  perversion  of  that  revelation,  to  the  extent  of  depriving  men 
of  saving  knowledge  of  Christ,  also  puts  them  out  of  the  possi¬ 
bility  of  all  communion  with  him.  Nor  is  it  at  all  material 
whether  this  terrible  result  is  reached,  by  abusing  and  perverting 
God’s  revelation  to  man  through  human  additions  made  to  it  — 
through  rejection  of  additional  revelations  made  by  God — through 
voluntary  ignorance  of  the  way  of  life  taught  in  the  accepted 
revelation — through  perverse  misstatement  of  the  truth  divinely 
taught — through  carnal  deadness  and  indifference  to  it — through 
holding  it  in  unrighteousness — or  by  whatever  other  means  dishon¬ 
ouring  God  the  Saviour,  and  concealing  from  lost  men  the  light 
of  life.  In  every  such  case,  the  just  consideration  of  either  ele¬ 
ment  of  the  question  of  the  Church,  much  more  of  all  three — 
shows  that  none  such  can  have  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  God. 
The  difficulty  lies,  not  in  the  principles  on  which  our  decision 
ought  to  rest  ;  but  in  the  uncertainty  which  may  attach  to  the 
facts  in  each  case,  or  in  the  conclusive  significance  of  the  facts 
when  established.  That  is,  it  lies,  not  in  the  supernatural,  but 
in  the  historical,  or  logical  element  of  the  question.  For  it  is 
not  true  that  every  abuse  and  every  perversion  of  the  word  of 
God — even  though  it  should  he  such  as  to  be  permanent,  and 
characteristic — justifies  us  in  calling  a  Church  corrupt,  much  less 
apostate  ;  any  more  than  that  individual  Christians  whose  faith 
is  very  weak,  or  even  erroneous  on  many  points — or  whose  lives 
may  come  greatly  short  of  the  Gospel  standard,  are  to  be  cast 
out  as  the  children  of  the  wicked  one.1  The  most  remarkable 
examples,  perhaps,  which  the  history  of  the  Church  affords,  of 
the  abuse  and  perversion  of  the  revelation  of  God,  are  those  fur¬ 
nished  by  the  Jewish  and  Papal  Churches.  And  while  it  is  per¬ 
fectly  clear  that  neither  of  them  can  be  considered  any  part  of 
the  visible  Church  of  Christ  ;  it  is  very  remarkable  to  observe 
the  difference  in  God’s  providential  dealings  towards  them,  and 
in  the  whole  tenor  of  his  word  respecting  them.  Let  it  he  noted 
that  whatever  practical  difficulty  may  exist  arises  only  on  the 

3  Isaiah,  xl.  9-11 ;  Eph.,  iv.  1-3  ;  Col.,  iii.  11-15. 


440 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


lowest  margin  of  the  subject.  It  may  not  be  easy  to  discover, 
that  those  who  shall  be  saved,  yet  so  as  by  fire,  are  nevertheless 
upon  the  only  foundation  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ;1 
nor  to  discern  Satan  when  he  is  transformed  into  an  angel  of 
light,  and  his  ministers  when  they  are  transformed  into  ministers 
of  righteousness.2  But  assuredly  there  is  no  mistaking  the  Bride 
of  Christ — to  whom  he  saith  himself,  Thou  art  beautiful,  0  my 
love,  as  Tirzah,  comely  as  Jerusalem,  looking  forth  like  the  morn¬ 
ing,  fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army 
with  banners.3 

5.  It  is  those  religions  which  are  embraced  in  the  third  class, 
those,  namely,  which  are  the  product,  the  sum,  and  the  expres¬ 
sion  of  all  true  external  revelation  received  from  God,  which  are 
truly  divine.  That  is  the  religion  now  professed  by  the  true 
Church,  visible  and  universal,  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Nor 
has  the  human  race  any  interest  so  great,  as  that  this  religion, 
on  the  one  hand,  should  have  free  scope  upon  earth — and  that, 
on  the  other,  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  depart  from  its  own 
sublime  mission,  and  thereby  not  only  deprive  mankind  of  in¬ 
finite  blessings,  but  become  perverted  into  an  engine  of  unspeak¬ 
able  misery.  No  folly  of  mankind  is  more  fatal,  than  the  success¬ 
ful  accommodation  of  the  Gospel  Church,  to  human  philosophies, 
passions,  and  ends — the  subjugation,  that  is,  of  God  and  eternal 
truth,  to  man  and  to  all  changeful  vanities  and  lies.  The  con¬ 
stant  effort,  rather,  should  be,  to  reduce  the  visible  Church  more 
and  more  perfectly  to  the  absolute  standard  of  divine  revelation, 
on  which  it  wholly  reposes  ;  and  to  make  every  human  interest 
which  comes  within  its  scope,  conform  itself  more  and  more,  to 
the  same  perfect  and  eternal  standard.  As  for  the  Church,  all 
she  has  is  the  gift  of  God.  When  this  does  not  suffice,  her  mis¬ 
sion  is  at  an  end.  For  the  Spouse  of  him  who  was  dead,  and  is 
alive,  and  liveth  forevermore,  may  not  accept  bridal  ornaments 
from  any  hand  but  his,  any  more  than  she  may  lay  aside  those 
with  which  he  has  adorned  her,  as  proofs  at  once  of  his  infinite 
triumph,  and  his  unquenchable  love  !  What  has  she  to  do— I 
will  not  say  with  the  pollution  and  guilt,  but  with  the  empty  and 
tawdry  splendour  of  this  miserable  world  !  Her  faith— her  life — 
her  all,  are  from  above — and  there  is  her  hope  and  her  rest  :  and 

1  1  Cor.,  iii.  11-15.  3  2  Cor.,  xi.  13-15. 

s  Solomon’s  Song,  vi.  4-10. 


441 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MARKS  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

her  glory  and  her  blessedness  can  mean  nothing,  hut  the  presence 
and  approval  of  her  Lord,  and  her  fitness  to  serve  and  to  enjoy 
him  !  • 

VI. — 1.  Our  recognition  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  therefore, 
under  the  form  of  the  visible  Church  universal  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  is  more  than  the  personal  recognition  of  individual  be¬ 
lievers  ;  however  impossible  it  may  be  to  recognize  her  in  their 
absence,  or  except  through  them.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  less 
than  the  recognition  of  the  universal  body  of  the  elect — the 
greater  part  of  whom  -were  never  in  the  flesh  together  ;  less  also 
than  the  recognition  of  such  a  universal  organic  unity  of  all  the 
elect  on  earth,  as  we  behold  in  a  particular  Church.  The  Gos¬ 
pel  Church  has  no  visible  head — the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  being  its 
only  head  ;  the  conditions  which  attach  to  our  present  state,  and 
the  necessities  and  obligations  which  arise  from  those  conditions, 
are  incompatible  with  the  organic  union  of  the  universal  Church  ; 
the  whole  course  of  divine  providence  renders  it  impossible,  under 
the  present  dispensation  ;  and  the  revealed  will  of  God  discloses 
it  as  appertaining  to  a  more  exalted  condition  of  the  Church.1 
Schismatical,  and  even  needless  divisions  of  the  Church,  are  sin¬ 
ful.  But  national,  denominational,  or  other  necessary  divisions 
of  it,  are  no  more  to  be  condemned  than  the  organization  of  sep¬ 
arate  congregations,  or  particular  Churches  ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  a  certain  extent,  and  in  certain  ways,  they  promote  the 
peace,  the  efficiency,  and  even  the  spirituality  and  unity  of  the 
Church.  The  Church  visible  universal,  therefore,  which  we  are 
to  recognize,  and  which,  as  I  have  shown,  it  is  not  conceivable 
that  a  child  of  God  should  mistake,  is  the  Kingdom  of  God  mani¬ 
fested  in  this  world,  and  struggling  to  subdue  it  unto  him :  God's 
people  indeed — but  God's  people  divinely  organized  under  the 
banner  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.2 

2.  Descending  from  this  wide  and  manifest  ground  of  recog- 
nition,  whatever  particular  marks  of  the  true  Church  may  be  de¬ 
manded,  must  be  such  as  the  children  of  God,  with  his  love  in 
their  hearts,  and  his  word  in  their  hands,  may  clearly  and  readily 
distinguish ;  not  such  as  even  the  wise  and  learned  might  find  it 
difficult  to  ascertain  and  determine,  though  honestly  seeking  for 
them,  by  the  light  of  eternal  life.  For  the  Kingdom  of  God 

1  John,  x.  14-16;  Rev.,  xx.  4;  Rom.,  viii.  17-25;  Rev.,  v.  10;  2  Tim.,  ii.  11-13. 

3  Rev.,  xix.  13,  14. 


442  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV 

must  be  entered  in  the  spirit  of  a  little  child  ;  it  is  to  the  hum¬ 
ble  and  the  poor,  pre-eminently,  that  the  Gospel  is  sent ;  and  the 
common  people  are  they  who  have  always  heard  Christ  gladly. 
They  are  marks,  moreover,  not  determinable  by  the  Church,  but 
by  God.  Nor  are  they  exclusively  for  any  Church  to  judge  her¬ 
self  by,  but  for  all  men,  and  especially  for  believers,  to  judge  every 
Church  by.  The  testimony  of  any  Church,  that  she  possesses  them 
may,  or  may  not,  be  true  ;  and  must  be  received  or  rejected,  ac¬ 
cording  as  it  may  be  found  to  be.  In  their  very  nature,  the  marks 
of  the  true  Church  are  anterior  to  the  claim  of  any  particular 
Church — they  are  logically  independent  of  the  Church,  and  com¬ 
pletely  and  divinely  decisive  concerning  the  Church.  It  is,  there¬ 
fore,  wholly  absurd  to  speak  of  our  ascertaining  the  Church  first, 
and  afterwards  ascertaining  through  her,  what  her  true  marks 
are  ;  which  is  the  method  of  the  Papacy,  and  a  specimen  of  the 
methods  of  all  in  all  ages,  who  exalt  the  historical  element  of  the 
Church  to  supremacy  over  its  logical  and  supernatural  elements. 
It  is  a  method  by  which  it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  truth  ;  a 
device  whereby  the  word  of  God,  and  the  reason  and  conscience 
of  man,  are  sought  to  be  controlled,  by  whatever  body  of  persons, 
that  can  obtain,  by  whatever  means,  dominion  over  whatever  they 
see  fit  to  call  the  Church  of  God.  Its  use  has  been  to  cast  the 

responsibility  of  the  most  atrocious  wickedness,  and  the  most 

% 

abominable  perfidy — upon  the  Church  of  the  living  God.  What¬ 
ever  may  be  the  risk  of  error  in  determining  for  ourselves,  what 
these  marks  are,  and  where  they  exist,  and  by  consequence,  which 
is  the  Church  ;  it  is  less  by  far — and  there  is  no  possibility  of  es¬ 
caping  it — than  necessarily  falls  upon  every  human  soul,  in  de¬ 
ciding  the  previous,  and  still  more  important  questions,  which 
relate  to  Christ,  and  to  our  own  souls.  Moreover,  in  both  cases, 
the  risk  is  not  diminished — but  is  immeasurably  increased — by 
trusting  to  human  instead  of  divine  guidance — by  following  the 
commandments  of  a  worm  like  ourselves  rather  than  the  doctrine 
of  the  living  God.1 

3.  There  are  but  two  ultimate  foundations,  upon  one  or  the 
other  of  which  everything  must  rest,  and  all  human  conduct 
proceed.  One  of  these  is  authority,  the  other  is  reason  :  reason, 
pure  and  simple,  in  all  natural  things — reason,  enlightened  by 
divine  grace,  in  all  supernatural  things.  Either  of  these  may  be 

1  Matt.,  XV.  9 ;  Isaiah,  xxix.  13,  14 ;  Col.,  ii.  18-22. 


443 


CHAP.  XXIII.]  MARKS  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

adopted,  and  will  conduct  us  completely  ;  but  nothing,  except 
one  of  these,  will  do  so.  We  may  commit  our  souls  to  the  au¬ 
thority  of  the  priest,  to  the  authority  of  antiquity,  to  the  autho¬ 
rity  of  the  Church — to  any  authority,  lower  than  that  of  God — 
and  blindly  follow  it ;  and  such  are  the  peculiarities  of  the  fallen 
human  soul,  that  it  maybe  degraded  into  an  unquestioning  obe¬ 
dience  to  its  idol — even  to  its  own  perdition.1  Or  we  may  commit 
ourselves  to  the  guidance  of  that  reason,  by  which  God  has  dis¬ 
tinguished  us  above  the  beasts  that  perish ;  and  addressing  it  to 
the  great  realities  which  environ  us,  follow  the  truth  made  known 
supernaturally  by  divine  revelation,  and  effectually  applied  to  our 
souls  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  is  the  method  ordained  of  God, 
commanded  in  his  word,  and  appropriate  to  our  nature,  both  as 
created  and  regenerated  by  him.  The  true  and  the  good  become 
clearer  to  the  soul,  and  are  more  precious,  as  its  devotion  to  them 
is  more  constant.  The  power  and  the  proportion  of  that  divine 
faith  by  which  we  walk,  open  before  our  steadfast  gaze.  And  as 
with  open  face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  we 
are  all  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.2 

1  2  Cor.,  iv.  4;  John,  xii.  31-41 ;  1  Tim.,  iv.  1-3. 

2  2  Cor.,  in.  18;  iv.  6;  Col.,  iii.  10. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


PURITY  OF  FAITH:  THE  FIRST  INFALLIBLE  MARK  OF  THE 

TRUE  CHURCH. 

I.  1.  Alleged  Difficulty  of  Knowing  the  True  Church  of  Christ:  Cause  of  whatever 
may  exist:  Impostures. — 2.  Naturo  of  her  Infallible  Marks. — 3.  The  State  of  the 
renewed  Soul,  responsive  to  the  Revealed  Salvation. — 4.  Purity  of  Faith,  the  First 
Infallible  Mark  of  the  True  Church. — IT.  1.  Divine  Revelation  the  Infallible  Arbi¬ 
ter  of  the  Purity  of  Faith — and  the  Infallible  Rule  by  which  to  Judge  the  Church. 
— 2.  The  Questions  of  Salvation — Church — Rule  of  Faith — and  Judge  of  Contro¬ 
versions  :  Their  indissoluble  Connection. — 3.  The  exact  Relation  of  the  True  Church 
to  the  Question  of  the  Purity  of  Faith. — 4.  God  himself  the  Infallible  Judge:  In 
this  World  by  his  Word  and  Spirit:  At  the  Last  Day,  by  Jesus  Christ. — 5.  The 
Imposture  of  an  Earthly,  Infallible,  Judge  of  Faith,  and  of  Controversies. — 6.  The 
Relation  of  all  Christian  Graces  to  Purity  of  Faith. — 7.  The  Saving  Work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost — the  Vital  Test  of  the  Purity  of  Faith,  and  of  the  Church  itself. — 8.  The 
Regulative  Power  of  Faith. — III.  1.  Nature  and  ground  of  our  Judgments  con¬ 
cerning  true  Faith,  and  the  true  Church. — 2.  Symbolical  Statements  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Church. — 3.  Hatred  and  Vengeance  of  God  against  Corrupt  and  Apostate 
Churches. 

I. — 1.  As  soon  as  God's  people  on  earth  assume,  by  his  direc¬ 
tion  and  under  his  guidance,  an  organized,  separate,  visible,  com¬ 
mon  existence  ;  new  obligations  to  each  other,  and  to  all  mankind, 
as  well  as  new  obligations  of  individual  men  and  of  civil  communi¬ 
ties  towards  this  divine  society,  arise  out  of  its  creation  and  action. 
One  alleged  difficulty  in  the  performance  of  these  duties,  is  the 
pretence  of  great  uncertainty  in  ascertaining,  amidst  an  immense 
variety  of  religions,  which  is  that  true  Church  of  God  whose  ex¬ 
istence  amongst  men  gives  rise  to  the  duties  themselves.  Under 
this  pretext,  the  wicked  evade  the  obligation  to  follow  Christ  at 
all,  and  willingly  confound  his  Church  with  every  synagogue  of 
Satan  ;  while  every  anti-christ  seeks,  through  it,  to  promote  his 
own  wicked  ends,  and  to  defeat  the  grace  of  God,  which  bringeth 
salvation.  If  the  world,  and  more  especially  the  children  of  Christ, 
would  follow  simply  and  earnestly  the  light  of  that  reason,  with 
which  God  has  endowed  us,  and  the  teachings  of  that  divine  word, 
which  he  has  given  to  be  a  lamp  unto  our  feet  and  a  light  unto 


CHAP.  XXIV.] 


PURITY  OF  FAITH. 


445 


our  path,  it  is  not  easy  to  imagine  how  the  least  obscurity  could 
hang  over  such  a  question.  If  the  Church  were,  what  she  should 
be — even  then  the  wicked  might  hate  and  shun  her;  but  it  would 
be  for  her  glory  and  beauty — and  not  upon  the  shameful  pretext 
that  the  house  of  Judah  is  like  all  the  heathen.  As  long  as  the 
people  of  God  manifest  clearly,  the  new  life  which  animates  them, 
men  cannot  well  avoid  taking  knowledge  of  them,  that  they  have 
been  with  Jesus  ;  nor  can  joint  inheritors  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  fail  to  recognize  each  other,  and  so  recognize  the  body, 
which  they  unitedly  compose.  A  city  cannot  be  hid,  if  it  be  set 
on  a  hill ;  and  salt  is  cast  upon  the  dunghill,  only  when  it  has 
lost  its  savour.  And  it  has  happened  during  the  most  deplorable 
corruptions  of  the  Church  in  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  that 
the  obscure  and  despised  but  faithful  disciples  of  the  Lord,  have 
found  refuge,  though  it  were  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth ;  and 
when  prevented  by  persecution  from  publicly  manifesting  God’s 
Kingdom,  or  when  unable  amidst  surrounding  darkness  and  cor¬ 
ruption  to  discern  that  it  existed,  they  saw  plainly  that  those  who 
claimed  to  be  the  Church  of  Christ,  were  indeed  the  Synagogue 
of  Satan.  It  is  in  order  to  favour  the  pretensions  of  corrupt,  per¬ 
secuting,  and  apostate  Churches,  that  all  those  false  and  delusive 
means  of  distinguishing  the  true  Church,  which  occupy  so  large 
a  space  in  controversies,  and  which  are  discussed  in  systems  of 
theology — were  at  first  invented,  and  have  been  so  vehemently 
defended.  I  leave  to  those  controversies  and  those  systems,  the 
settlement  of  the  true  value  of  such  impostures.  The  whole 
subject,  which  to  the  true  Christian  is  practically  extremely  sim¬ 
ple,  has  its  chief  importance  in  the  clear  statement  of  that,  which 
if  it  had  never  been  intentionally  corrupted  and  obscured,  could 
never  have  come  to  be  doubted.  To  that  statement,  therefore, 
I  will  address  myself. 

2.  The  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  as  I  have  sufficiently  proved, 
is  constituted  out  of  his  elect,  redeemed,  and  regenerated  people. 
The  nature  and  end  of  that  Kingdom,  have  a  precise  relation  to 
that  definite  principle  and  method  of  its  composition.  It  is,  ns 
so  composed,  of  such  a  nature  and  for  such  an  end,  that  it  be¬ 
comes  visible  more  and  more,  by  becoming  more  and  more  per¬ 
fectly  organized.  Its  absolute  freedom,  thus  organized  and  visi¬ 
ble,  is  complete  in  its  perfect  separation  from  the  world,  and  its 
perfect  consecration  to  Christ,  its  only  Head.  Its  supernatural 


446  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IY. 

element  is,  therefore,  its  distinguishing  element — as  exponents 
of  which  its  logical  and  historical  elements  find  their  chief  value. 

o 

Inevitably,  therefore,  whatever  mark  infallibly  distinguishes  this 
divine  Kingdom,  must  he  in  complete  accordance  with  these  ele¬ 
mental  truths,  and  must  make  full  account  of  them  all.  What¬ 
ever  pretended  mark  does  not  obviously  meet  this  necessity,  must 
obviously  be  a  fallacy  and  an  imposture.  Whatsoever  mark  does 
obviously  meet  it,  is  beyond  all  peradventure,  a  permanent  and 
infallible  mark  of  the  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Where 
any  such  mark  is  found,  there  is  found  a  portion  of  that  Church 
— it  may  be  an  imperfect  one — but  still  a  true  portion,  of  that 
Church  :  just  as  there  are  real  but  feeble  Christians.  Where  the 
whole  of  these  marks  are  found — and  they  are  both  few  and  sim¬ 
ple — there  beyond  all  doubt,  that  Church  is  found  in  her  beauty, 
her  strength,  and  her  completeness. 

3.  Now  the  fundamental  characteristic  of  every  elect,  redeemed, 
and  regenerated  person — that  is  of  every  member  of  the  Church 
we  seek — is,  that  he  is  a  true  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
as  the  only  and  all-sufficient  Saviour  of  sinners.  To  perpetuate 
and  to  propagate  this  belief  on  earth,  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  salvation  of  men,  is  the  fundamental  object  of  the  existence 
of  the  Church,  and  of  all  its  efforts  to  perfect  and  extend  itself. 
Every  step  by  which  the  Church  has  become  organized,  visible, 
and  complete,  has  been  a  step  perfecting,  enlarging,  and  confirm¬ 
ing  this  belief,  and  making  every  method  of  perpetuating  and 
extending  it,  more  and  more  complete  and  efficacious.  The  sub¬ 
ject  matter  of  the  belief  itself,  the  mode  of  its  communication 
to  men  ;  the  power  by  which  it  is  made  effectual  unto  salvation  ; 
all  the  steps  by  which  those  who  cherish  it,  are  united,  organized, 
and  separated  from  the  world  into  one  body  unto  Christ ;  and  the 
total  action  of  that  one  body,  unto  the  great  ends  of  its  own  ex¬ 
istence  :  all  are  supernatural — all  are  by  divine  revelation.  It  is 
a  revealed  Saviour,  revealed  truth,  revealed  holiness,  a  revealed 
Church,  a  revealed  immortality.  All  are  brought  nigh  to  us,  and 
manifested  in  the  union  of  all  who  are  united  to  Christ — in  the 
organized  communion  of  all  who  have  communion  with  Christ. 
This  is  that  which  we  profess  to  seek.  That  in  man  which  is  re¬ 
sponsive  to  all  this,  God  and  all  God’s  people  in  all  ages  express 
by  a  single  word — Faith  :  faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.1 

1  Rom.,  i.  16,  17 ;  1  John,  v.  10 ;  Eph.,  L  13-23  ;  ii.  3-21. 


PURITY  OF  FAITH. 


447 


CHAP.  XXIV.] 

4.  The  first  infallible  mark  of  the  true  Church  is,  therefore, 
the  Purity  of  her  Faith.  That  faith,  of  which  Christ  crucified 
is  the  specific  object  ;*  of  which  the  word  of  God  revealed  to  us 
in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  is  the  only  infallible  rule  :2  of  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  which,  as  existing  in  us,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  divine 
agent  :3  which  is  unto  us  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen  :4  which  is  in  us  a  divine  power, 
working  by  love,  and  purifying  the  heart,  so  that  in  everyone  that 
is  born  of  God  faith  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world.5 
This  is  so  great  a  reality,  and  is  so  directly  related  to  Jesus  Christ, 
that  he  is  himself  both  the  author  and  the  finisher  of  it  ;6  and 
without  if-,  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.7  In  this  wide  and  yet 
most  specific  sense,  purity  of  Faith  is  the  simplest,  most  obvious, 
most  universal,  and  most  comprehensive  mark,  by  which  to  ascer¬ 
tain  and  determine  the  union  and  communion  of  any  soul  with 
Christ — and  by  which  to  judge  and  settle  the  claim  of  every 
Church  to  be  considered  a  part  of  his  visible  Church.  What  can 
be  more  certain  than  that  a  Church  thus  spiritually  and  com¬ 
pletely  united  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — is  his  Church  P  What 
cnn  be  more  monstrous  than  for  a  Church,  defiled  and  drunken 
with  the  blood  of  saints  and  martyrs,  shed  for  their  maintenance 
of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus — to  call  herself  his  Body,  his  Bride  ?8 
The  Church  with  respect  to  Christ,  is  his  Body  ;  with  respect  to 
the  human  race,  it  is  the  company  of  God’s  elect  saved  by  grace. 
Omitting  either  of  these  ideas — much  more  omitting  both — the 
conception  of  the  Church  vanishes  :  and  every  society  that  pro¬ 
pounds  ideas  of  the  Church  opposite  to  these,  or  fails  to  pro¬ 
pound  these,  as  its  foundation — is  by  force  of  its  own  statement, 
no  Church  of  Christ.  For  the  elemental  idea  of  that  purity  of 
Faith,  which  is  itself  the  elemental  mark  of  the  true  Church  is, 
that  it  has  for  its  object  the  divine  Redeemer,  crucified  for  us, 
who  is  unto  us  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  the  power  of  God.0 

II. — 1.  I  have  devoted  a  previous  chapter  to  the  establish¬ 
ment  and  illustration  of  the  great  truth,  that  the  sacred  Scrip¬ 
tures  are  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  Little 
need  be  added  now  to  show,  that  being  the  only  rule  whereby  we 
can  infallibly  know  what  we  ought  to  believe  concerning  God ; 

1  1  Cor.,  i.  23,  24.  2  Isaiah,  viii.  20.  3  Eph.,  ii.  8-10. 

<  Heb.,  xi.  1.  5  1  John,  v.  4,  5.  6  Heb.,  xii.  2. 

7  Heb.,  x.  6.  8  ltev.,  xvii.  6.  9  1  Cor.,  i.  21-31. 


448  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

they  are  necessarily  the  only  rule  whereby  we  can  determine 
whether  any  particular  belief  concerning  God,  is  right  or  wrong 
— any  particular  thing  believed  true  or  false.  It  is  one  of  the  ulti¬ 
mate  laws  of  our  being — without  which  indeed,  our  nature  could 
not  be  called  rational — that  we  must  believe  whatever  appears 
to  us  to  be  established  on  sufficient  evidence.  Our  belief  cannot, 
indeed,  change  the  nature  of  things  ;  but  it  is  itself  regulated 
by  constant  laws,  one  of  which  I  have  just  stated.  It  is  of  the 
essence  of  that  law,  and  of  our  nature,  that  we  must  judge  for 
ourself,  of  the  sufficiency  of  that  evidence  ;  and  this  judgment, 
also,  is  regulated  by  constant  laws.  Truth  is,  in  all  things,  that 
which  we  ought  to  believe — that  which  was  natural  to  the  soul 
in  its  original  purity — which  it  still  desires,  and  seeks  in  propor¬ 
tion  as  it  is  pure — -and  whose  existence,  as  a  divine  reality,  we 
cannot  deny  without  denying  our  rational  and  moral  nature,  and 
involving  ourselves  in  endless  contradictions.  But  as  truth  pre¬ 
sents  itself  to  us  in  connection  with  all  things,  and  therefore  in  a 
boundless  variety  of  aspects  ;  evidence  of  its  existence,  its  pres¬ 
ence,  and  its  particular  form,  must  also  be  various  in  its  kind,  so 
as  to  be  pertinent  and  responsive  to  the  various  aspects  in  which 
truth  appears.  Thus,  facts  cannot  be  established,  except  by  proof : 
a  logical  conclusion  cannot  be  reached  except  by  a  process  of  rea¬ 
soning  :  the  external  world  cannot  be  known  to  us  except  through 
our  senses  :  nor  the  internal  except  through  our  consciousness. 
Now  truth  that  can  be  known  to  us  only  from  God,  must  depend  on 
the  testimony  of  God.  And  this  is  precisely  the  case  with  every¬ 
thing  that  is  the  object  of  saving  faith.  There  can  be  no  ade¬ 
quate  evidence  of  such  things,  independently  of  that  given  by  God 
himself:  for  if  there  could  be,  both  the  nature  of  saving  faith, 
and  the  nature  of  that  truth,  which  is  the  rule  of  it,  would  he 
wholly  changed.  For  us,  his  revealed  word,  and  his  divine  Spirit, 
and  faith  itself  created  by  the  Spirit  and  regulated  by  the  word, 
are  witnesses  of  the  infinite  truth  he  teaches  us — witnesses  of 
the  infinite  veracity  of  God.  The  word  of  God,  therefore,  made 
plain  to  the  soul,  in  its  own  divine  light,  and  divine  power,  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  is  not  only  the  appropriate,  but  is  the  only  existing 
manifestation  to  us,  in  a  way  of  infallible  guidance,  of  the  will 
of  God  concerning  our  salvation.  To  deny  this  is  to  render  sal¬ 
vation  by  means  of  a  divine  Revelation,  impossible  :  for  it  is  to 
deny  the  competency  of  God  to  reveal  saving  truth  to  man — 


CHAP.  XXIV. 


PURITY  OF  FAITH. 


449 


and  to  deny  also  Lis  competency  to  make  that  truth  effectual  in 
man,  even  if  it  were  revealed.  Moreover,  if  we  are  not  compe¬ 
tent  to  determine  the  Church  of  God,  by  the  revealed  truth  of 
God  ;  much  less  are  we  competent  to  determine  our  own  relation 
to  that  Church,  by  means  of  that  truth.  For  the  second  ques¬ 
tion  requires  us  to  determine  three  things,  instead  of  the  single 
one  involved  in  the  first  question  :  and  one  of  these  three  is  that 
insoluble  first  question  :  for  we  never  can  determine  our  relation 
to  the  Church,  until  we  know  both  our  relation  to  God,  and  the 
relation  of  the  Church  to  God.  The  end  of  which  is,  to  make 
the  soul,  the  Church,  and  the  truth,  mutually  incompetent  and 
irrelevant,  each  to  both  the  others  :  as  before  to  make  God  in¬ 
competent  alike  to  reveal  truth,  or  make  it,  if  revealed,  effectual 
in  man. 

2.  The  question  of  the  judge  of  controversies,  is  a  corollary 
of  the  question  of  the  rule  of  faith  ;  and  its  decision  must  follow 
the  decision  of  the  main  question  ;  just  as  the  question  of  the 
rule  of  faith,  is  itself  a  corollary  of  the  question  of  the  Church, 
and  must  be  decided  according  to  the  idea  we  have  of  the  Church 
itself;  and  just  as  the  question  of  the  Church,  is  a  corollary  of 
the  question  concerning  the  nature  of  personal  salvation.  They 
are  indissolubly  united  in  the  word  of  God  ;  and  at  the  bar  of 
reason  the  decision  of  one  necessarily  controls  the  decision  of  the 
rest,  through  the  series  in  its  order.  If  the  personal  salvation  of 
man  is  secured  sacramentally,  ex  opere  operate) ,  then  the  Church 
may  be  the  visible  society  of  all  those,  who  by  such  a  baptism, 
are  bound  to  the  adoption  of  a  particular  external  creed,  to  the 
use  of  those  sacraments  so  operating  by  their  own  force,  and  to 
obedience  to  a  common  visible  head  :  and  their  faith  is  accord¬ 
ing  to  that  creed — as  interpreted  by  that  Church,  or  its  head  ; 
which  latter  is  the  judge  of  controversies.  This  is  a  State — 
not  a  Church  :  salvation  is  impossible  this  way  :  in  short  this  is 
Popery.  On  the  other  hand  if,  by  personal  salvation,  we  mean 
union  and  communion  with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  means  of 
the  renewal  of  the  soul  through  the  work  of  the  divine  Spirit  ; 
then  the  Church  is  the  congregation  cf  the  saints,  the  gathered 
body  of  all  believers  in  Christ ;  and  the  rule  of  its  faith  is  the 
word  of  God  ;  and  the  question  of  the  judge  of  controversies 
— as  I  will  immediately  show — receives  a  corresponding  solu¬ 
tion.  This  is  in  reality  a  Church  :  salvation  in  this  way,,  is 

29 


VOL.  II. 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


450 


[book  IV. 


revealed  from  Heaven,  and  is  certain  :  this,  in  short,  is  Chris¬ 
tianity. 

3.  It  is,  no  doubt,  true  that  the  Church,  being  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth,  and  being  charged  with  the  work  of  evan¬ 
gelizing  all  nations  by  means  of  that  truth,  must  receive  that 
truth  in  the  love  of  it — must  proclaim  it  to  all  men — must  ear¬ 
nestly  contend  for  it,  and  must  faithfully  apply  it  both  in  the 
way  of  doctrine,  and  in  the  way  of  discipline.  And,  doubtless, 
decrees  and  decisions  concerning  the  truth,  and  concerning  con¬ 
troversies,  are  proper  to  all  councils,  assemblies,  synods,  and  other 
lawful  authorities  in  the  Church  ;  composed  of  the  overseers 
and  other  rulers  of  particular  Churches,  met  by  virtue  of  their 
office  in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus.1  And 
these  decrees  and  decisions,  if  consonant  to  the  word  of  God,  are 
to  be  received  with  reverence  and  submission,  not  only  for  their 
agreement  with  the  word  of  God,  but  also  for  the  power  whereby 
they  are  made,  as  being  an  ordinance  of  God  appointed  thereunto  in 
his  word.2  And  in  general,  the  presumption — before  any  particu¬ 
lar  enquiry — is  that  all  such  decrees  and  decisions  of  the  true 
Church,  are  consonant  to  the  truth  of  God  :  but  since  the  visible 
Church  is  not  infallible — that  presumption  may  be  false  :  nor  is 
it  possible  for  any  decrees  or  decisions  of  a  fallible  Church,  to 
bind  the  conscience,  by  their  own  power.  In  this  way,  and  to 
this  extent  only,  the  Church  visible  is  the  judge  of  controversies 
concerning  that  pure  faith  which  is  her  own  fundamental  mark. 
She  must  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit — she  must  keep  herself 
pure — and  in  the  love  of  God.3 

4.  Beyond  this,  every  man  must  judge  for  himself,  and  on 
the  peril  of  his  soul,  what  true  Faith  is,  and  where  it  is  to  be 
found,  and  what  is  the  value,  and  what  the  result  of  such  con¬ 
troversies  about  it,  as  it  may  be  his  duty  to  meddle  with.4  Every 
company  of  believers  must  act  in  like  manner — for  themselves, 
and  for  the  furtherance  of  truth,  peace,  charity  and  holiness.5 
The  universal  Church  visible,  must  in  its  life,  its  testimony,  its 
worship,  and  its  eftorts,  show  itself  alive  to  the  discharge  of  those 
great  functions,  which  I  have  shown  appertain  to  it,  with  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  maintenance  of  truth  and  peace,  and  the  suppression 

1  Acts,  xv.  passim.  2  Acts,  xv.  27-31;  xvi.  4;  Matt.,  xviii.  17. 

8  Eph.,  iv.  3;  1  Tim.,  v.  22;  Jude,  21. 

4  Rom.,  xiv.  5.  6  Rev.,  ii.  2,  6,  14,  20;  iii.  20. 


PURITY  OF  FAITH. 


451 


CHAP.  XXIV.] 

of  error  and  disorder.  Bat  God  himself,  the  fountain  of  all 
truth,  is  also  the  true  judge  of  all  controversies  concerning  it. 
The  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,  and  the  giver  of  the  only 
infallible  rule  alike  of  that  true  faith  and  of  all  duty  connected 
with  it  ;  is  alone  able  to  destroy  every  refuge  of  lies,  and  to  cast 
the  father  of  them  all  into  the  lake  of  fire.1  For  this  present 
life,  the  divine  and  infallible  word,  given  by  inspiration  of  God, 
profitable  for  all  things,  and  able  to  furnish  the  man  of  God  for 
every  good  work,  and  make  him  wise  unto  salvation — is  the  great 
arbiter.  It  is  God,  who  speaks  to  us  through  it.  And  his  divine 
Spirit,  working  in  us,  and  also  applying  it  with  divine  power  and 
wisdom  to  our  soul,  mind,  and  heart — leads  us  into  all  truth  : 
and  by  the  manifold  testimony  of  our  own  renewed  conscience, 
heart,  and  soul — of  the  infallible  word  of  God — and  of  the  wit¬ 
nessing  Spirit — God  begets  in  us  an  infallible  assurance  of  faith.2 
And  finally,  in  the  great  day  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  the  eternal  judge 
of  the  secrets  of  all  hearts — will  judge  and  settle  for  all  eternity — 
every  question  which  enters  into  the  endless  fate  of  every  soul. 
To  that  bar,  at  last,  all  questions  of  good  and  evil  must  go  :  this 
with  all  the  rest. 

5.  The  whole  doctrine  of  an  infallible  living  judge  of  contro¬ 
versies,  competent  and  divinely  authorized  to  bind  the  conscience 
by  his  decisions,  and  to  put  an  end  to  controversies  concerning 
faith,  not  only  by  ecclesiastical  censures  but  by  direct  temporal 
punishments  of  every  sort ;  is  one  of  those  impostures,  whose 
terrible  influence  upon  mankind  has  been  great  in  proportion  to 
its  utter  want  of  any  foundation  in  reason,  in  the  word  of  God, 
or  in  necessity  whether  temporal  or  spiritual.  I  have  shown  that 
its  logical  foundation  lies  in  a  definition  of  the  Church,  itself  so 
utterly  false,  that  what  results  from  the  definition  is  a  State — 
and  not  a  Church — and  that  under  it  the  possibility  of  salvation 
disappears.  If  it  could  be  supposed,  that  such  a  doctrine  could 
have  any  plea  of  necessity,  it  must  be,  that  controversies  about 
faith  are  intolerable,  and  can,  and  should  be  put  an  end  to,  by 
punishment.  But  every  part  of  this  plea  is  a  fallacy,  of  which 
it  is  not  easy  to  say,  whether  the  folly  or  the  wickedness  exceeds. 
Heresy  and  schism  can  no  more  he  put  an  end  to,  than  any  other 

1  Rev.,  xx.  10-14. 

3  Ileb.,  vi.  11-19;  Eph.,  i.  13,  14;  1  John,  v.  13;  Rom.,  viii.  15,  16;  2  Cor., 
i.  21,  22. 


452  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

form  of  sin  or  folly.  Neither  of  them  is  an  offence  which  ought 
to  subject  men  to  temporal  punishment.  Nor  if  they  could  be 
suppressed,  and  it  they  ought  to  be  suppressed  by  punishment, 
when  considered  of  themselves  ;  is  the  peril  arising  from  their 
free  toleration,  worthy  to  be  thought  of,  when  compared  with  the 
evils  resulting  from  every  attempt  to  enforce  such  doctrines.  It 
is  not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  at,  that  they  who  usurped  the 
prerogatives  both  of  God  and  of  the  State — should  have  been 
given  over  to  commit  offences  both  against  God  and  the  State,  a 
thousand  times  more  heinous  than  those  they  caused  to  be  vis¬ 
ited  with  fire  and  sword.  The  Church  of  God  can  survive  all 
heresies  and  schisms  which  God  will  endure.  But  she  cannot 
exist,  without  proclaiming  her  abhorrence  of  the  combined  fero¬ 
city  and  ignorance,  which  under  the  pretext  of  an  infallible  de¬ 
cision  of  controversies,  would  exterminate  the  last  believer  in 
Christ. 

6.  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which 
is  Jesus  Christ.1  Gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones  may  be  builded 
thereon,  and  they  shall  abide  forever ;  or  wood,  hay,  and  stubble 
may  be  builded  thereon,  and  they  shall  be  destroyed  in  the  day 
when  every  man’s  work  shall  be  revealed  by  fire.  That  house 
which  is  founded  upon  a  rock,  foils  not  ;  but  sure  and  great  is 
the  fall  of  that  house,  which  is  built  upon  the  sand  ;  and  this  is 
the  difference,  pointed  out  by  Christ,  between  those — whether 
they  be  men  or  Churches — who  hear  his  sayings  and  do  them, 
and  those  who  hear,  and  do  them  not.2  It  is  they  who  are  built 
upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ 
himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone — who  are  no  more  strangers 
and  foreigners,  but  fellow- citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the 
household  of  God.3  Nor  does  it  change  the  nature  of  the  case, 
that  men  and  churches  err  concerning  the  truth,  and  overthrow 
the  faith  of  some  ;  for  the  foundation  of  God  standeth  sure, 
having  this  seal— the  Lord  lmoweth  them  that  are  his.4  But 
having  found  the  true  foundation— it  is  the  duty  of  all— whether 
men  or  Churches,  to  build  upon  it — to  leave  the  principles  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ,  and  go  on  unto  perfection.5  Every  Christian 
grace  is  the  product  of  the  revealed  word  and  the  divine  Spirit, 
as  really  as  faith  is  ;  every  one,  as  truly  as  it  depends  upon  the 

1  1  Cor.,  iii.  11.  3  Matt.,  vii.  24-29.  3  p]ph.,  ii.  19,  20. 

*  2  Tim.,  ii.  18,  19.  5  Heb.,  vi.  1-6. 


PURITY  OF  FAITH. 


453 


CHAP.  XXIV.] 

union  and  communion  of  the  renewed  soul  with  the  glorified  Re¬ 
deemer,  and  like  it  is  a  manifestation  of  the  new  life  of  that  soul. 
Love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meek¬ 
ness,  temperance  and  such  like,  are  declared  to  be  the  fruit  of 
the  Spirit  in  them  that  are  led  by  the  Spirit.  Whereas  adul¬ 
tery,  fornication,  uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry,  witchcraft, 
hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath,  strife,  seditions,  heresies,  en- 
vyings,  murders,  drunkenness,  revellings,  and  such  like,  are  the 
works  of  the  flesh  :  concerning  which  these  two  things  are  plainly 
declared,  namely,  that  they  who  do  such  things  shall  not  inherit 
the  Kingdom  of  Gfod — and  that  they  that  are  Christ’s  have  cru¬ 
cified  the  flesh  with  the  affections  and  lusts.1 

7.  To  be  horn  of  the  Spirit,  is  at  once  the  condition  and  the 
method  of  our  entrance  into  the  Kingdom  of  God.2  The  rejec¬ 
tion  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  his  saving  work  in 
the  human  soul,  therefore,  renders  it  impossible  for  any  sinner  to 
he  saved  ;  how  much  more  for  a  company  of  such  impenitent  and 
unbelieving  sinners,  to  constitute  that  very  Kingdom,  which  nei¬ 
ther  of  them — Christ  himself  being  judge — can  either  see,  or 
enter  ?  The  Church  of  Christ  is  by  Christ,  and  our  entrance 
into  it  is  through  him.  But  if  the  direct  opposite — as- Rome  as¬ 
serts — were  true,  and  our  connection  with  Christ  were  produced 
by  our  connection  with  the  Church  ;  even  then,  when  we  reject 
the  doctrine  of  the  saving  work  of  the  divine  Spirit — what  re¬ 
sults  is,  that  the  Church  is  composed  exclusively  of  such  as  have 
by  that  rejection,  rendered  salvation  impossible.  That  is,  the  vis¬ 
ible  portion  of  the  saved — consists  of  those  whose  salvation  is, 
upon  the  data,  impossible.  It  is  precisely,  upon  the  doctrine  of 
the  saving  work  of  the  divine  Spirit,  that  all  corrupt  and  apostate 
Churches  are  prone  to  make  shipwreck.  Christ  himself  has  said, 
that  much  sin  against  him  may  be  forgiven,  and  that  great  blind¬ 
ness  and  perversity  can  be  overlooked,  in  those  who  really  love 
him.  But  it  is  otherwise  with  regard  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose 
office  it  is,  not  only  to  teach  us  truth,  and  make  us  holy,  but 
also  to  give  us  life.  In  rejecting,  resisting,  and  denying  him,  we 
sin  not  only  against  truth  and  holiness,  but  against  life  itself; 
and  blaspheming  him — which  we  do  when  we  disallow  his  work, 
or  when  we  ascribe  his  work  to  Satan,  to  the  incantations  of 
priests,  to  the  inherent  force  of  sacraments,  or  to  anything  else — 

1  Gal.,  v.  16-26.  a  John,  iiL  1-21. 


454  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

is,  in  its  very  nature,  a  sealing  over  to  perdition.1  It  is  here  that 
the  humble  follower  of  Christ  is  least  likely  to  err,  in  finding  the 
true  heirs  of  salvation — the  true  Bride  of  the  Lamb.  For  it  is 
in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  that  the  bond  of  peace  is  kept — it  is 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit  that  is  the  crowning  proof  to  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  God,  of  their  one  ingrafting  into  Christ — and  error  con¬ 
cerning  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  Spirit,  enters  into  every  form 
of  fatal  heresy. 

8.  The  power  of  faith  itself  as  a  force  regulating  the  life  of 
man,  by  means  of  its  transforming  power  in  his  soul ;  would  be 
a  proper  topic  of  enquiry  in  determining  that  purity  of  faith,  by 
which  the  Church  itself  is  to  be  judged.  That  faith  only  can  be 
pure,  which  makes  us  pure  ;  and  it  is  the  constraining  love  of 
Christ,  by  which  it  works  ; — and  this  inward  purifying  and  this 
powerful  working  by  love,  are  of  the  essence  of  that  victory  over 
the  world,  which  faith  itself  is  declared  to  be.2  I  have,  however, 
in  former  chapters,  very  fully  and  variously  discussed  the  general 
subject  ;  and  it  will  be  necessary,  in  a  succeeding  chapter,  to  ex¬ 
amine  this  special  aspect  of  it,  in  considering  that  infallible  mark 
of  the  true  Church  which  is  exhibited  in  a  holy  life.  A  Church 
which  inculcates  sin,  can  be  considered  nothing  else  than  a  Syn¬ 
agogue  of  Satan — and  its  unhappy  members  heirs  of  perdition. 

III. — 1.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  one  to  strive  after  perfection 
in  truth  and  holiness — the  duty  of  the  Church  of  the  living  God 
to  strive,  above  all,  after  exact  conformity  to  his  will  in  all  things. 
Whether  in  Churches  or  in  individuals,  voluntary  ignorance  of 
divine  things,  is  declared  to  be  the  peculiar  sin  of  scoffers,  walk¬ 
ing  after  their  own  lusts  ;  who  are  the  peculiar  pest  of  the  last 
days,  and  whose  contented  ignorance  envelops  nothing  more 
deeply,  than  the  swift  destruction  which  awaits  them  against 
the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men.3  But  in 
forming  those  judgments  which  we  are  obliged  to  form,  both  of 
individuals  and  Churches,  there  is  a  wide  difference  to  be  made, 
according  to  the  opportunities  they  have  enjoyed,  and  the  light 
they  have  ;  a  wide  difference  also  between  the  position  they  oc¬ 
cupy,  as  teachers  and  leaders  of  God’s  people,  or  as  humble  dis¬ 
ciples — much  more  as  lambs  of  Christ’s  flock.  Nevertheless,  there 
are  attainments  in  the  divine  life,  which  are  absolutely  distinctive 

1  Matt.,  xii.  31,  32 ;  Acts,  vii.  51-53.  2  1  John,  v.  4. 

3  2  Peter,  iii.  1-1. 


CHAP.  XXIV.] 


PURITY  OF  FAITH. 


455 


of  Christianity  ;  for  the  impenitent  and  unbelieving  cannot  be 
Christians.  And  there  are  revealed  truths  so  absolutely  funda¬ 
mental,  that  their  removal  from  the  plan  of  salvation  completely 
destroys  it  as  the  way  of  life  eternal.  I  have  stated,  in  every  variety 
of  form,  what  I  suppose  to  be  the  immediate  and  universal  foun¬ 
dations  of  that  Gospel  of  Christ,  which  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth  and  God  himself  has  de¬ 
clared,  that  if  an  Apostle,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any 
other  gospel  than  that  of  Christ,  he  is  accursed.2  It  is  absolutely 
impossible,  therefore,  to  esteem  any  faith  pure,  or  any  Church 
true,  unless  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  accepted  in  sincerity  as  the 
divine  Saviour  crucified  for  lost  sinners — unless  the  word  of  God 
is  accepted  purely  as  the  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  duty — unless 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  accepted  as  divinely  and  effectually  working  in 
the  soul — and  unless  the  new  life,  imparted  to  us  by  these  means, 
with  its  perpetual  fruits,  is  accepted  as  the  result  of  all.  With 
less  than  this,  neither  truth  nor  charity  can  admit,  that  the  re¬ 
vealed  remedy  for  sin  has  been  received  b}r  man  ;  or  that  men 
know  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  has  sent — 
which  is  eternal  life.3  In  effect,  therefore,  the  true  and  satis¬ 
factory  judgment  which  every  child  of  God  forms  concerning 
purity  of  faith,  and  concerning  the  true  Church  ;  is  the  neces¬ 
sary  result  of  his  own  inward  experience  of  divine  things,  grounded 
upon  his  own  saving  knowledge  of  Christ.  Nor  is  any  truth  more 
clear  in  itself,  or  more  clearly  revealed,  than  that  if  any  man  will 
do  the  will  of  God,  he  shall  know  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of 
God.4 

2.  The  lawfulness  and  the  value  of  the  symbolical  books  of 
the  Christian  Churches — those  creeds  and  confessions  against 
which  all  heretics  have  protested — seem  to  be  beyond  reasonable 
doubt.  Indeed,  it  is  not  possible  in  the  nature  of  the  case  to 
avoid  the  formation  and  use  of  systematic  statements,  which  are 

V  J 

essentially  creeds.  Every  one  who  accepts  the  Gospel  as  the 
ground  of  his  hope,  the  rule  of  his  faith,  or  the  standard  of  his 
life  ;  necessarily  accepts  it  according  to  some  sense  of  its  vari¬ 
ous  parts — and  of  the  whole  composed  of  those  parts  ;  and  neces¬ 
sarily  utters  this  accepted  sense  of  the  parts,  and  of  the  whole, 
as  often  as  he  has  occasion  to  explain  his  religious  life.  But  this 

1  Rom.,  i.  16.  2  Gal.,  i.  8. 

a  1  John,  passim  4  John,  vii.  17, 


456  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

is  simply  the  formation  and  utterance  of  his  creed.  If  the  Gos¬ 
pel  of  God  is  so  intractable,  that  its  various  parts  cannot  be  put 
together  in  some  systematic  order,  then  it  is  simply  incapable  of 
being  known  by  man,  otherwise  than  as  a  series  of  incoherent 
statements  :  if  it  is  capable  of  being  systematically  stated — then 
the  primitive  laws  of  our  being  unavoidably  oblige  us  to  state  it 
so,  as  soon  as  we  take  interest  enough  in  it  to  desire  to  under¬ 
stand  it.  And  every  organized  Church  must  necessarily  do 
something  tantamount  to  this,  every  time  it  acts  organically  ; 
and  it  is  its  indispensable  duty  to  do  so,  both  in  order  to  preserve 
its  own  purity  and  peace,  and  to  bear  its  testimony  for  the  truth 
of  God.  Nor  is  it  without  great  value  to  the  Church  herself,  that 
the  most  distinct  expressions  of  her  faith  should  be  as  permanent 
as  they  are  articulate.  For  by  them  the  highest  and  surest  proof 
is  created  and  preserved,  through  all  ages,  not  only  of  her  exist¬ 
ence  but  of  her  condition,  age  after  age,  beside  the  mighty  stream 
of  time,  as  it  rolls  across  all  the  centuries.  It  is  thus  she  erects, 
from  generation  to  generation,  great  landmarks,  by  which  pos¬ 
terity  may  know  assuredly,  how  far  the  inundation  of  error  had 
spread,  and  how  deeply  the  waters  of  eternal  life  had  fertilized 
the  earth.  Of  course,  human  creeds  can  possess  no  more  than 
human  authority  ;  and  it  is  the  highest  profanation  to  put  them 
on  a  level  with  the  word  of  God.  But  they  may  justly  claim 
great  authority  ;  chiefly  because  they  may — and  so  far  as  they 
do — accord  with  the  divine  word.  In  addition,  they  are  cove¬ 
nants,  mutually  binding,  as  such,  upon  the  conscience  of  all  who 
voluntarily  enter  into  them.  And  the  clearness,  fulness,  rational 
power,  and  spiritual  unction,  with  which  the  great  truths  of  sal¬ 
vation  and  the  great  duties  of  men,  may  be  systematically  stated 
by  such  as  God  raises  up,  from  time  to  time,  for  this  very  end  ; 
become  means  of  great  comfort  to  his  poople,  and  of  great  con¬ 
fusion  to  his  enemies.  The  Spirit,  which  has  always  been  the 
life  of  the  Church,  sometimes  more  powerfully,  sometimes  less  so, 
produces  by  his  powerful  presence,  nothing  more  certainly,  than 
a  renewed  hatred  of  error,  and  a  fervent  love  of  truth,  leading 
to  those  great  conflicts,  out  of  which  all  the  great  testimonies  of 
the  Church  have  been  accustomed  to  spring  ;  testimonies  which 
there  is  reason  to  accept,  as  in  a  peculiar  manner  expressive  of 
the  life  of  God’s  Church,  in  its  most  powerful  manifestations. 

3.  It  is  impossible  for  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive  too  deeply, 


CHAP.  XXIV.] 


PURITY  OF  FAITH. 


457 


of  the  sin  of  corrupt  Churches,  and  of  God's  hatred  of  them. 
Throughout  the  Scriptures,  the  image  of  the  true  Church  is  a 
chaste,  loving,  and  faithful  wife  ;  and  besides  innumerable  sep¬ 
arate  passages,  the  entire  Book  of  the  Song  of  Solomon — and 
that  not  one  of  the  shortest — is  devoted  to  the  complete  illustra¬ 
tion  of  this  similitude.  On  the  other  hand,  a  faithless,  corrupt, 
and  shameless  wife,  is  everywhere  the  image  of  an  apostate  Church; 
and  besides  multitudes  of  separate  passages,  a  large  part  of  the 
last  Book  of  the  inspired  oracles,  is  employed  in  exposing  and  de¬ 
nouncing  the  greatest,  bloodiest,  and  most  polluted  of  all  apos- 
tacies,  under  the  frightful  appellation  of  a  harlot.  Nor  is  there 
any  command  delivered  to  such  of  God's  children,  as  may  chance 
to  be  found  in  such  Synagogues  of  Satan,  more  distinct  than  that 
they  should  come  out  of  them  ;  nor  any  threat  more  precise,  than 
that  they  will,  otherwise,  be  partakers  of  their  sins,  and  receive 
of  their  plagues.1  It  is  not,  therefore,  only  against  error,  delusion, 
and  sin,  abstractly  considered,  that  God  calls  his  children  to  tes¬ 
tify  ;  but,  also,  against  the  corruptors  and  oppressors  of  the  earth 
— and  that  all  the  more  earnestly  when  their  sins  are  perpetrated 
in  his  holy  name.  Heaven  itself  is  called  on  to  rejoice,  with  holy 
apostles  and  prophets,  when  God  avenges  his  slaughtered  saints 
upon  great  Babylon,  the  mother  of  harlots  and  abominations  of 
the  earth  :  and  the  voice  of  much  people  in  heaven  is  heard  glo¬ 
rifying  the  Lord  God,  and  saying,  Alleluia — when  the  smoke  of 
her  torment  rises  up,  forever  and  ever  !2 

1  Rev.,  xviii.  4;  Isaiah,  xlviii.  20;  lii.  11;  2  Cor.,  vi.  11,  18. 

2  Rev.,  xviii.  5,  20 ;  xix.  1-3. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  GOD  IN  SPIRIT  AND  IN  TRUTH:  THE  SECOND 
INFALLIBLE  MARK  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

I.  1.  Divine  Statement  of  the  Three  Infallible  Marks  of  the  True  Christian,  and  the 
True  Church ;  The  Second  One  now  to  be  explained. — 2.  The  Unity  and  Spirit¬ 
uality  of  God  the  sole  Object  of  all  Religious  Worship:  The  Truth  and  Spirit¬ 
uality  of  all  Worship,  acceptable  to  Him. — 3.  True  Conception  of  this  Worship — 
and  of  its  Nature  and  Grounds. — 4.  Relation  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  of  the  Life 
of  God  in  our  Souls,  to  each  other,  and  to  God’s  Worship. — 5.  God — Religion 
— Worship — Salvation — Human  Nature. — II.  1.  The  Kingdom  of  Royal  Priests: 
Their  Life,  a  Life  of  Worship. — 2.  The  Obligation,  the  Rule,  the  Blessedness,  and 
the  Perpetuity  of  this  Ordination. — 3.  The  Plan  of  Salvation — the  Work  of  Christ 
— the  Divine  Idea  and  Organism  of  the  Church,  relative  to  Worship. — 4.  That  Or¬ 
ganism  in  its  Fundamental  Nature  as  hitherto  disclosed — and  as  yet  to  be  traced 
in  Connection  with  the  Gifts  of  God  to  his  Church. — 5.  Relation  of  the  Sacrifice 
and  Priesthood  of  Christ,  and  of  his  Ascension  Gifts,  to  the  Idea  of  True  Spiritual 
Worship  by  the  Church. — 6.  The  Relation  of  Worship  to  Religion,  and  to  God — 
through  every  conception  thereof — from  the  widest  to  the  narrowest. — 7.  Wor¬ 
ship,  as  divinely  disclosed  in  each  Christian  Congregation. — 8.  Abstract  Demon¬ 
stration,  of  the  unavoidable  Conclusion. 

I. — 1.  We  are  the  circumcision,  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  which 
worship  God  in  the  Spirit,  and  rejoice  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  have 
no  confidence  in  the  flesh.1  These  are  the  marks  in  the  elect  in¬ 
dividually,  of  reigning  grace  ;  the  marks  also,  in  their  collective 
body  when  organized  into  Christ's  visible  Church,  by  which  that 
body  is  to  be  infallibly  distinguished  as  his  body.  According  to 
the  point  of  view  from  which  the  subject  is  contemplated,  the 
particulars  of  this  divine  and  all  pervading  definition,  fall  into 
one  or  another  order  ;  but  in  whatever  order  of  these  particulars, 
unitedly  they  absolutely  distinguish  the  child  of  God — and  the 
Church  of  God.  In  the  order  of  absolute  reality,  they  stand  as 
the  Apostle  has  placed  them ;  for  all  is  from  God,  all  is  through 
Christ,  and  all  is  unto  our  complete  deliverance  from  all  subjec¬ 
tion  to  the  flesh,  and  from  all  trust  in  it.  In  the  order  of  actual 

1  Phil.,  iii.  3. 


CHAP.  XXV.] 


SPIRITUAL  WORSHIP. 


459 


development  to  our  weak  understandings,  and  to  a  certain  ex¬ 
tent,  also,  in  the  mode  of  their  in  working  with  our  souls  ;  their 
manifestation  to  us  is,  perhaps,  more  clear  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest,  to  wit,  man,  Christ,  God.  And  considered  as  accom¬ 
plished  in  us,  and  viewed  as  marks  of  our  estate  before  God,  the 
first  thing  is  our  relation  to  Christ,  and  then  our  relation  to  God 
through  him,  and  then  our  real  condition  produced  in  that  man¬ 
ner.  I  have,  therefore,  treated  first  and  with  reference  to  Christ 
and  our  glorying  in  him,  purity  of  Faith  as  the  first  infallible 
mark  of  the  true  Church.  And  I  am  now  to  treat  of  the  true 
spiritual  worship  of  God,  which  is  indissolubly  connected  with 
our  union  and  communion  with  Christ,  as  the  second  mark.  And 
in  the  next  chapter  I  will  endeavour  to  disclose,  as  the  third  mark, 
that  holiness  of  life — that  total  abnegation  of  the  flesh — which  is 
the  product,  through  Christ,  of  all  divine  operation  in  the  human 
soul. 

2.  There  can  be  but  one  God.  I  have  proved  that  with  any 
true  notion  of  the  living  God,  we  are  incapable  of  conceiving  of 
a  second  God  :  and  the  Scriptures,  as  we  might  expect,  assert 
continually,  and  imply  throughout,  that  God  is  one.1  The  reality 
and  the  unity  of  his  existence — are  the  primitive  truths  upon 
which  the  possibility  of  all  spiritual  religion  rests.  Hear,  0  Israel: 
The  Lord  our  God  is  one  God  :  and  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
might  :2  this  is  the  revealed  foundation  of  whatever  acceptable 
worship — in  whatever  sense  of  that  term — man  has  ever  rendered 
to  God.3  He  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and 
that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him  :  for  with¬ 
out  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  him.4  Ye  worship  ye  know  not 
what  ;  said  Jesus  to  the  woman  of  Samaria — we  know  what  we 
worship  ;  for  salvation  is  of  the  Jews.  But  the  hour  cometh,  and 
now  is,  when  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Fa  (her  in 
Spirit  and  in  truth;  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship  him. 
For  God  is  a  Spirit :  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship 
him  in  Spirit  and  in  truth.  And  then  he  told  her  plainly,  that 
he  was  Messias — the  Christ : — I  that  speak  unto  thee  am  he.5  In 
like  manner,  the  other  part  of  true  religion — all  duty  as  well  as 

1  Gal,  iii.  20 ;  Rom.,  iii.  30 ;  1  Tim.,  ii.  5  ;  1  Cor.,  viii.  4. 

2  Deut.,  vi.  4,  5.  3  Deut.,  vi.  13;  x.  20;  I  Cor.,  viii.  6. 

4  Heb.  x.  6.  5  John,  iv.  21-26. 


460  the  knowledge  of  god.  [book  IV. 

all  faith,  is  involved  directly  in  these  immense  truths  ;  and  all 
morality — all  holiness — that  is  acceptable  to  God,  as  a  part  of 
true  and  spiritual  worship — depends  upon  the  recognition  of 
them.  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me  ;  is  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  moral  law  written  with  the  finger  of  God  in  the  na- 
.  ture  of  man — revealed  anew  at  Sinai — and  wrought  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  in  the  inward  parts  of  every  saved  sinner.1  And  the  true 
and  spiritual  worship  of  God,  responsive  to  the  whole  duty  re¬ 
quired  of  man  towards  God — is  declared  by  Christ  himself ; 
Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great 
commandment.2  But  the  Triune  God — the  God  revealed  to  us 
in  the  sacred  Scriptures — is  the  only,  the  living,  and  the  true 
God;  God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost — is  the  sole 
object  of  all  true  and  spiritual  worship  :  and  what  is  to  be  illus¬ 
trated  now  is,  that  the  worship  of  this  glorious  God,  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  is  the  second  infallible  mark,  of  the  true  Church, 
visible,  universal,  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.3 

3.  I  have  proved,  abundantly,  that  as  the  creatures  of  God, 
we  are  obliged  to  make  his  will  the  rule  of  our  conduct,  in  all 
things  ;  and  that  as  his  sinful  creatures,  we  are  obliged  to  make 
the  will  of  the  divine  Saviour  whom  he  has  provided  for  us,  the 
rule  of  our  conduct  in  all  things.  But  God  our  Creator,  and 
God  our  Saviour — is  the  same,  and  the  only  God  ;  so  that  both 
as  creatures  merely,  and  as  sinful  creatures  also,  we  are  bound  to 
him  in  our  souls,  and  in  our  bodies,  in  all  that  we  have  and  are. 
To  render  back  to  him,  in  the  way  pointed  out  by  himself,  the 
love,  the  service,  the  praise,  and  the  adoration  which  are  due  to 
him  ;  to  do  this  truly,  out  of  penitent  and  believing  hearts — to 
do  it  spiritually,  as  unto  the  infinite  Spirit  who  fills  immensity 
and  eternity — to  do  it,  in  all  things  :  this  is  the  posture  of  God's 
children  towards  him,  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  as  their  glory 
and  blessedness.  In  this  posture,  taught  by  the  word  of  God, 
and  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God — their  lives  are,  in  the  widest  and 
truest  sense,  a  true,  spiritual,  and  perpetual  recognition — service 
-—worship  of  God.  What  God  is,  of  himself,  entitles  him  to  all 
this,  on  our  part :  and  what  he  has  done  for  us,  entitles  him  to 
it  all,  in  a  manner  still  more  precise.  The  heartfelt  recognition 

1  Exod.,  XX.  3;  Jer.,  xxxi.  33.  2  Matt.,  37^  38.  Luke>  x  ^ ,  28. 

3  PhiL,  iii.  3  ;  1  John.  ii.  22,  23 ;  Matt.,  iv.  10. 


SPIRITUAL  WORSHIP. 


461 


CHAP.  XXV.] 

of  this — the  willing  and  joyful  endeavour  to  manifest  that  we 
do  thus  recognize  it — and,  by  consequence,  the  habitual  surren¬ 
der  of  our  will  to  his  will :  this  is  true  and  spiritual  worship  of 
God,  and  he  who  strives  to  render  it,  is  the  child  of  God — and 
the  Church  that  inculcates  and  practices  it,  is  the  true  Church 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  ordinary  and  restricted  sense  of  the 
worship  of  God  is  true,  and  is  a  part  of  this  wide  and  compre¬ 
hensive  sense  of  it ;  hut  to  make  that  the  whole,  is  to  come  far 
short  of  what  God  requires — nay  even  of  what  his  feeble  but  lov¬ 
ing  children  habitually  render  to  him. 

4.  The  revelation  which  God  has  given  to  us  of  his  will  con¬ 
cerning  our  salvation,  makes  known  to  us  the  only  way  in  which 
we  can  accomplish  the  chief  end  of  our  existence,  in  glorifying 
him  and  enjoying  him  forever  ;  and  it  does  this  by  teaching  us 
infallibly,  what  we  ought  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  what 
duty  he  requires  of  us.  It  follows,  that  the  infallible  rule  of  our 
faith  and  obedience,  is,  of  necessity,  the  infallible  rule  of  our 
worship  of  him  in  whom  we  believe,  and  whom  we  serve — no 
matter  in  what  sense  we  use  the  term.  And  the  sacred  Scrip¬ 
tures  disclose  to  us,  in  the  clearest  manner,  the  nature  of  that 
true  and  spiritual  worship,  in  its  widest  sense,  as  well  as  the  me¬ 
thod  of  that  which  is  more  special,  in  its  narrowest  sense.  The 
habitual  state  of  heart  which  they  everywhere  inculcate,  is  one 
which  finds  its  truest  manifestation  in  a  life  of  habitual  recogni¬ 
tion — service — worship  of  God,  our  Creator  and  Redeemer  :  and 
all  mercy,  through  endless  generations,  is  covenanted  to  them, 
who,  in  such  a  spirit,  love  God  and  keep  his  commandments.1 
Moreover,  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  specific  object  of  our  faith, 
and  both  its  author  and  its  finisher;  is, also,  the  head  and  means 
of  all  acceptable  worship  of  God.  Through  him  alone,  is  there 
any  mercy  from  God  to  sinners  ;  by  him  alone,  is  there  any  access 
for  sinners  to  God.  It  is  unto  him,  that  the  elect  of  God  are  pre¬ 
destinated  to  be  conformed ;  and  the  Church  composed  of  them 
is  his  Body.2  The  revelation  of  him,  is  that  which  gives  unity 
to  the  sacred  Scriptures;  and  to  justify  him,  is  the  peculiar  work 
and  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  that  heartfelt  worship  of  God, 
manifest  in  all  things,  is  the  fruit  in  us,  of  the  word  and  Spirit 
of  God,  through  the  merits  of  the  Lord  Christ ;  and  they  who 

1  Deut.,  vi. passim;  Exod.,  xx.  6. 

9  John,  xiv.  6 ;  Rom.,  viii.  29 ;  Col.,  i.  24. 


462  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

render  it,  can  be  only  sucli  as  enabled  by  a  pure  faith — -and,  be¬ 
yond  all  doubt,  it  is  at  once  the  means  and  the  expression  of  a 
holy  life.1  So  that  the  connection  of  this  mark  of  the  true  Church, 
is  indissoluble  alike  with  the  one  that  precedes  it,  and  the  one 
that  follows  it. 

5.  The  deepest  and  most  enduring  element  of  our  nature,  is 
its  religious  element.  Human  nature  must  have  a  God,  a  reli¬ 
gion,  a  worship.  Each  one  of  us  knows  that  we  are  finite— each 
one  feels  that  there  is  an  infinite,  from  which  that  finite  comes, 
and  to  which  it  returns.  In  its  presence,  our  sense  of  depend¬ 
ence,  of  accountability,  and  of  blameworthiness,  is  explicable  alike 
to  our  reason  and  our  conscience  ;  and  our  susceptibility  of  resto¬ 
ration,  a  sense  of  which  was  never  utterly  lost,  is  no  sooner  de¬ 
monstrated  by  the  very  fact  of  being  restored — than  the  infinite 
object  of  so  many  convictions,  is  demonstrated  too.  Our  utter 
helplessness,  in  our  natural  estate,  to  all  that  is  spiritually  good 
— our  unalterable  assurance  of  a  life  beyond  death — our  sense  of 
an  eternal  judgment,  of  our  unfitness  to  appear  in  it,  and  of  the 
fear  of  God  :  in  what  manner  is  it  possible  to  evolve  such  con¬ 
victions  as  these  common  convictions  of  our  race — without  dis¬ 
closing  a  God — a  religion — a  worship  P  But,  if  the  God  of  the 
Bible  is  not  God — if  the  religion  of  Jesus  is  not  true  and  divine 
— if  the  worship  of  that  God,  through  that  Saviour,  in  Spirit 
and  in  truth,  is  not  an  infallible  mark  of  the  restoration  of  the 
soul :  then  it  is  infallibly  certain,  that  all  the  fundamental  con¬ 
victions  of  our  nature  are  false,  and  utterly  destitute  both  of  cause 
and  result — and  that  there  is  no  God — no  religion — no  worship. 
So  that  every  way,  the  same  result  follows.  And  from  the  side 
of  God — of  the  Saviour — of  revelation — of  religion  in  its  widest 

O 

sense — and  of  human  nature  in  its  profoundest  convictions  ;  the 
result  is  that  true  and  spiritual  worship,  as  the  Lord  has  taught 
us,  is  the  only  worship  acceptable  to  the  infinite  Spirit — the  only 
worship  taught  or  tolerated  by  Messias — the  Christ.2 

II. — I-  It  is  the  Church,  considered  not  merely  in  its  indi¬ 
vidual  elements,  but  chiefly  in  its  social  life,  that  we  are  at  pres¬ 
ent  seeking  to  distinguish.  It  is  the  life,  the  worship,  of  a  divine 
Kingdom,  which  is  to  be  determined.  And  this  of  necessity  gives 
the  broadest  significance  to  the  term,  which,  for  lack  of  one  more 

1  Dent.,  xii.  3;  Matt.,  xv.  9;  John,  xiv.  6;  1  Tim.,  ii.  5;  Epk.,  ii.  18. 

2  John,  iv.  19-26. 


CHAP.  XXV.]  SPIRITUAL  WORSHIP.  463 

comprehensive,  I  am  forced  to  use.  For  the  social  life  of  the 
Church  of  God,  in  its  whole  organism  and  action,  is  a  life  of 
worship  :  a  life,  that  is,  of  religious  obedience  to  the  revealed 
will  of  God,  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  clean  hands 
and  pure  hearts,  lifted  up  to  God  in  sincere  faith  and  exact  obe¬ 
dience,  whether  to  labour,  to  suffer,  or  to  testify :  by  those  who 
once  were  not  a  people,  but  are  now  the  people  of  God.  For 
though  once  they  had  not  obtained  mercy,  now  they  have  ob¬ 
tained  mercy.  The  everlasting  doors  have  been  lifted  up,  and 
the  King  of  glory,  who  is  the  Lord  of  hosts,  has  come  in,  and 
given  the  blessing  from  the  Lord,  and  righteousness  from  the 
God  of  our  salvation.1  Organized  as  the  visible  Church  of  him 
who  called  them  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light,  their 
very  vocation  is  to  show  forth  his  praises.  And  by  whatever  acts, 
through  whatever  forms,  in  whatever  ways  their  communion  with 
each  other  and  their  organic  life  are  made  manifest ;  it  is  still 
through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus — still  by  the  guidance  of  bis  word 
and  Spirit — still  in  reverent  and  joyful  obedience  to  God  ;  it  is 
still  the  recognition — the  service — 'the  true  and  spiritual  worship 
of  the  most  high  God.  Is  not  that  a  worship — in  which  none 
but  God's  priests  take  part  ?  Is  not  that  regal  worship — where 
every  priest  of  God  is  also  a  king  ?  God  promised,  from  of  old, 
to  make  that  holy  nation  the  most  peculiar  of  all  people,  even  a 
kingdom  of  priests  ;2  and  the  crucified  and  exalted  Saviour,  who 
gave  himself  for  us,  that  be  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity, 
and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works 
— makes  every  one  be  loves  and  washes  from  his  sins  in  his  own 
blood,  both  a  king  and  a  priest  unto  God  and  his  Father.3  Yea, 
and  the  sacrifices  of  these  priests  of  the  Lord — these  ministers  of 
our  God — are  the  very  sacrifices  of  God — a  broken  spirit.  And  be 
that  came  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to 
the  captives,  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  -to  them  that  are 
bound ;  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,  and  the 
day  of  vengeance  of  our  God ;  to  comfort  all  that  mourn :  a 
broken  and  a  contrite  heart,  0  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise.4 
Yea,  verily,  remove  the  idea  of  true  worship  from  our  spiritual 

1  Psalm  xxiv.  passim;  1  Peter,  ii.  10. 

2  Exod.,  xix.  5,  6. 

3  Titus,  ii,  14;  Roy.,  i.  5,  6 ;  1  Peter,  ii.  9. 

4  Psalm  li.  17  ;  Isaiah,  lxi.  1-5;  Luke,  iv.  16-32. 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


464 


[book  IV. 


life,  personal  and  organic — and  the  Kingdom  of  Royal  Priests  is 
extinct — Christians  exist  no  longer  ! 

2.  I  have  shown  that  the  worship  of  the  true  Church  of 
Christ,  has  such  a  relation  to  its  faith  and  its  obedience,  that  it 
must  necessarily  have  the  same  infallible  rule  which  they  have — 
that  is  the  word  of  God  contained  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.1  All 
true  and  spiritual  worship  which  is  acceptable  to  God,  is  divine — 
is  revealed  by  God  to  man  ;  it  is  therefore  strictly  obligatory  upon 
the  creature — while  it  is,  at  the  same  time,  a  means  of  blessed¬ 
ness  to  him,  and,  through  him,  of  great  and  endless  glory  to 
God.  There  can  be  neither  any  service  of  God,  nor  any  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  him,  by  any  creature,  which  does  not  assume  the  nature 
and  form  of  worship.2  But  the  service  and  enjoyment  of  God,  is 
our  glory  and  blessedness  throughout  eternity  ;  and  to  increase 
our  fitness  and  our  desire  for  that  service  and  enjoyment  of  God 
in  this  life,  by  gathering  and  perfecting  his  saints  to  the  end  of 
the  world,  is  the  very  mission  of  the  Church  on  earth.3  It  may 
well  be,  that  the  glorified  saints  and  the  Church  triumphant,  will 
serve  and  enjoy  God  in  a  manner  widely  different  from  any,  now 
clearly  appreciable  by  us  ;  for  this  has  occurred,  to  a  remarkable 
extent,  under  the  successive  dispensations  of  grace  even  upon 
earth.  But  it  has  not  occurred,  nor  can  it  occur,  that  the  idea 
of  the  worship  of  God  in  Spirit  and  in  truth — and  that  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord — has  been  separated,  or  is  separable  from 
all  true  service,  all  conceivable  enjoyment  of  him,  by  any  crea¬ 
ture.  Everything  we  know  concerning  heaven,  is  mingled  with 
exalted  worship  ;  and  the  whole  life  of  the  Son  of  God — who  is 
the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life — was  a  life  in  which  the  idea  of 
worship — in  every  sense — is  perpetually  manifest  and  perpetually 
designated  by  himself.4  Recalling  what  I  have  said  in  a  former 
chapter,  touching  the  great  elements  of  the  question  of  the 
Church  ;  the  supremacy  which  I  have  asserted  for  its  super¬ 
natural  element,  is  perfectly  palpable  in  the  determination  of 
this  second  infallible  mark  of  it ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
utter  absurdity  and  impiety  of  all  human  changes  in  the  revealed 
worship  of  God — whether  in  the  nature  of  it,  or  the  form  of  it. 
In  the  lowest  possible  sense,  to  act  in  that  manner  is  to  assume 

1  Rom..,  i.  3.  2  Psalm  lxv.  2 ;  Mai.,  i.  11. 

3  Isaiah,  lix.  21;  Phil.,  ii.  10,  11. 

*  John,  iv.  3-34 ;  Matt.,  xxvi.  36-46. 


SPIRITUAL  WORSHIP. 


465 


CHAP.  XXV.] 

divine  authority,  and  exercise  it  in  a  way  which  we  cannot  know 
is  acceptable  to  God ;  and  in  a  broader  sense  it  is  the  assumption 
of  divine  authority  over  the  faith — obedience — and  inner  life  of 
the  Church,  the  whole  of  which  are  involved  in  the  idea  of  its 
worship,  and  find  expression  in  connection  with  it.1 

3.  The  social  life  of  the  Church — essentially  a  life  of  the 
worship  of  God — is  commensurate  with  the  divine  organization 
of  the  Church ;  for  that  divine  organization,  in  itself,  extends  to 
the  entire  social  life  of  the  Church  ;  and  the  mode  of  its  produc¬ 
tion,  and  everything  implied  in  its  existence,  and  resulting  from 
it,  are  all  related,  in  the  most  intimate  manner,  to  the  true  and 
spiritual  worship  of  God.  The  root  of  our  salvation  lies  in  our 
union  with  Christ ;  and  our  communion  with  him  in  grace  and 
glory,  is  the  source  of  every  blessing  and  every  benefit  of  the 
Covenant  of  Redemption  received  by  us,  whether  in  this  world, 
or  in  the  world  to  come.  The  communion  of  his  children  with 
each  other,  is  the  effect  of  their  common  union  with  him  ;  and 
his  headship  over  his  redeemed — is  the  effect  of  his  whole  work 
as  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  whether  as  our  Prophet,  our 
Priest,  or  our  King — and  is,  indeed,  the  fundamental  stipulation 
of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption.  But  this  communion  of  saints, 
and  this  headship  of  Christ,  are  the  component  elements  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  considered  as  an  organized  Church — the  Body 
of  Christ.  Yet,  nothing  can  be  more  obvious,  than  that  this 
Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  whether  considered  in  those  elemental 
principles  of  it — or  in  its  own  nature  and  end — or  in  its  complete 
organization  and  visibility — or  in  its  spiritual  freedom  and  con¬ 
secration  to  Christ — through  the  whole  of  which  I  have  carefully 
traced  it ;  totally  changes  its  whole  relation  to  Christ  on  one 
side,  and  to  penitent  and  believing  sinners  on  the  other  side,  the 
moment  she  is  stripped  of  the  glorious  function  of  vindicating 
before  the  universe,  God's  exclusive  right  to  the  adoration  of 
every  creature — and  of  illustrating  to  all  eternity  what  his  true 
worship  is — and  what  is  the  blessedness  of  all  who  render  it.2 

4.  The  progress  of  our  enquiry  into  the  Knowledge  of  God 
Subjectively  Considered,  renders  it  necessary  to  discuss  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  the  infallible  marks  of  the  true  Church,  as  soon  as  a 
certain  point  has  been  reached  in  tracing  the  effects  divinely  pro- 

1  Matt,  xv.  9;  Matt.,  iv.  10. 

2  Eph.,  iil  7-13 ;  1  Cor.,  ii.  7-10. 

30 


VOL.  II. 


4GG  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

duced,  by  the  use  which  God  has  made  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Headship  of  Christ,  and  the  communion  of  saints,  in  the  organ¬ 
ization  of  the  Church  visible,  universal.  In  the  general  enquiry, 
it  remains  to  explain,  as  fully  as  my  limits  permit,  the  vast  sub¬ 
ject  of  the  gifts  of  God  to  this  Church — which  I  propose  in  the 
next  Book.  Having  now  illustrated  the  nature  of  the  true  and 
spiritual  worship  of  God,  as  the  second  infallible  mark  of  the  true 
Church,  by  means  of  the  truths  already  established,  concerning 
its  divine  organization  ;  I  will  point  out,  in  a  more  general  man¬ 
ner,  the  bearing,  upon  the  same  topic,  of  those  Gifts  of  God  to 
his  Church,  hereafter  to  be  carefully  considered,  which  have  im¬ 
mediate  relation  to  that  organization — and  therefore  to  her  visi¬ 
bility,  and  to  her  social  life. 

5.  The  idea  of  sacrifice,  strictly  considered,  as  a  perpetual 
form  of  outward  worship  for  the  Church  of  God,  was  perfectly 
consummated  in  the  crucifixion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  after 
which  there  would  remain  no  more  offering  for  sin,  since  Christ 
has  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,  and  by  that  one 
offering  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  are  sanctified.1  The 
idea  of  priesthood  is  indissolubly  connected  with  the  idea  of  sac¬ 
rifice.  I  have  shown,  in  another  place,  how  the  institution  of  the 
Passover  was  connected  with  the  rise  of  the  priesthood,  through 
the  first  born  of  Israel  whom  the  destroying  angel  spared  ;  and 
how  both  sacrifice  and  priesthood  stood  related  to  Jesus  Christ, 
and  through  him  to  the  Gospel  Church  and  to  its  ministry.  The 
priesthood  of  Christ  was  after  the  order  of  Melchisedeck — 'and 
was,  like  his  sacrifice,  unchangeable  and  for  eternity ;  and  this 
being  so,  he  is  able  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  unto 
God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them.1 
Both  sacrifice  and  priesthood,  therefore,  occupy  a  peculiar  posi¬ 
tion  in  the  Gospel  Church  : — the  sacrament  of  the  Lord’s  Sup¬ 
per,  and  the  very  nature  of  the  peculiar  people — children  and 
heirs  of  God,  every  one  of  whom  is  both  a  king  and  a  priest — 
manifesting  continually  those  great  ideas,  and  the  relation  of  both 
of  them  to  Christ.  In  the  body  of  this  kingdom  of  royal  priests 
a  ministry  is  established  by  Christ — office-bearers  are  divinely 
ordained — a  government  is  constituted — tribunals  are  erected — 
sacraments  are  instituted— its  special  worship  is  disclosed— the 

1  Heb.,  ix.  19-28;  Heb.,  x.  passim. 

3  Heb.,  vi.  20 ;  Heb.,  vii.  24,  25. 


SPIRITUAL  WORSHIP. 


467 


CHAP.  XXV.] 

relation  of  the  word  of  God  and  of  all  divine  ordinances  to  it  is 
clearly  pointed  out — and  Discipline,  both  in  the  wide  and  in  the 
judicial  sense  of  that  term,  is- appointed  of  God.  For  the  pres¬ 
ent  enforcement  of  the  truth,  that  the  true  and  spiritual  worship 
of  God  is  an  infallible  mark  of  the  true  Church  ;  it  is  not  mate¬ 
rial  that  the  general  statement  just  made  of  the  ordinances  and 
ascension  Gifts  of  Christ,  should  be  exactly  true  ;  that  it  is  so, 
however,  will  be  proved  hereafter.1  Because  the  adoring  recogni¬ 
tion — service — worship  of  God,  is  already  admitted  to  be  an  in¬ 
fallible  mark  of  his  Church,  as  soon  as  we  confess  that  his  Church 
is  bound  to  ascertain  from  his  word,  under  the  guidance  of  his 
Spirit — whether  these  things  are  so :  and  thus  seeking,  is  bound 
not  only,  but  is  prompt,  to  accept  with  joyful  obedience  every¬ 
thing  which  God  has  ordained,  and  to  reject  everything  else. 
And  what  heart  that  adores  God,  can  conceive  that  voluntary 
ignorance  of  his  will — much  less  open  disregard  of  it  when  known 
— is  consistent  with  the  true  and  spiritual  worship  of  him  ?  But 
admitting  the  general  statement  I  have  made,  concerning  the 
Gifts  of  God,  and  his  ordinances  for  the  Gospel  Church,  to  be 
substantially  correct ;  it  is  not  possible  to  conceive  how  any  or¬ 
ganization  of  that  sort  could  be  created  at  first,  or  perpetuated 
afterwards,  in  the  absence  of  a  spirit  of  believing,  trustful,  ador¬ 
ing  obedience  to  God  ;  nor  to  conceive  how  such  an  organization 
when  once  created,  could  fail  to  manifest  that  spirit,  so  long  and 
so  far  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was  its  living  head,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  the  bond  of  its  vital  union.  But  this  is  the 
same  as  to  say  that  the  life  of  the  true  Church  is  a  life  of  wor¬ 
ship,  rendered  to  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

6.  The  more  we  descend  to  what  is  special,  the  more  distinct 
does  the  idea  become,  that  the  worship  of  God  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  is  the  habitual  manifestation  of  the  life  of  God  in  every 
soul.  The  wide  idea  of  worship  which  we  cannot  separate  from 
that  of  God,  and  that  of  religion — is  necessarily  determined,  as 
to  the  nature  of  the  worship,  by  the  nature  we  attach  to  the  God, 
and  the  religion  :  so  that  to  accept  the  living  God  as  our  God, 
and  his  only  begotten  Son  as  the  Mediator  between  him  and  us, 
determines  that  we  must  worship  that  God,  through  that  divine 
Redeemer  :  and  that  we  must  do  this  in  the  way  made  known 
to  us  by  them.  And  then,  when  these  true  worshippers  of  God, 


1  Eph.,  iv.  1-25. 


468  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

in  Christ,  become  organically  united,  through  the  headship  of 
Christ,  and  their  communion  with  each  other  ;  everything  that 
is  special  in  the  conception,  the  nature  and  end,  or  the  absolute 
condition  of  this  Body  of  Christ,  shapes  and  illustrates  more  and 
more  distinctly,  the  idea  of  worship,  step  by  step  with  the  ideas 
of  religion,  and  of  God.  And  then,  when  the  Gifts  which  God 
has  bestowed  on  his  Church,  under  every  aspect  of  it — his  Spirit, 
his  Son,  and  the  knowledge  of  his  will ;  and  the  more  special 
Gifts  which  he  has  bestowed  on  it  through  them — his  written 
word,  a  ministry,  sacraments,  an  outward  organization,  all  divine 
ordinances  :  it  is  manifest  that  the  whole  of  these  Gifts  of  God 
are  of  that  kind,  that  in  proportion  as  they  are  received  in  the 
love  and  in  the  power  of  them,  the  worship  of  the  visible  Church 
becomes  more  distinctly  the  manifestation  of  her  life,  while  it 
also  becomes  more  spiritual  in  its  own  nature,  and  rises  to  higher 
forms  of  truth.  And  then,  when  all  that  God  has  done  for  his 
Church,  is  concentrated  in  the  ordinances  of  a  particular  congre¬ 
gation — a  special  Christian  Church,  met  for  stated  and  habitual 
worship — and  receiving  and  manifesting  grace,  mercy,  and  peace, 
from  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  the  ordinary  form 
of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church,  exhibited  in  this  primary  and 
most  obvious  and  permanent  aspect  of  the  organization  of  these 
royal  priests  of  God — is  the  worship  of  God  in  spirit  and  in 
truth.  And  finally,  when  we  consider  these  followers  of  Christ, 
one  by  one — and  reflect  on  the  personal  relation  of  each  to  these 
numerous  themes — many  of  which  are  infinite  ;  when  we  call  to 
mind  the  innumerable  statements  of  the  word  of  God,  touching 
the  manner  in  which  each  one  is  to  work  out  his  own  salvation, 
and  make  his  own  calling  and  election  sure  ;  when  we  look  into 
our  own  soul,  and  remember  what  we  once  were — how  we  be¬ 
came  what  we  now  are — and  by  what  means  we  hope  to  obtain 
the  crown  :  it  seems  to  me  we  are  ready  to  set  our  seal  to  what 
our  brother  Paul  has  said,  and  proclaim  that  they  are  the  cir¬ 
cumcision,  which  worship  God  in  the  spirit,  and  rejoice  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh  ready  to  respond  to 
our  divine  Lord,  in  his  own  glorious  words,  God  is  a  Spirit — 
and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 
•truth.2 

7.  To  make  this  explanation  complete,  let  us  consider  more 

1  Phil.,  iii.  3.  2  John,  iv.  24. 


SPIRITUAL  WORSHIP. 


469 


CHAP.  XXV.] 

carefully  the  narrowest  organic  aspect  of  tlie  subject,  in  its  rela¬ 
tion  to  a  particular  congregation.  It  is  needless  to  enquire  here, 
how  the  worshipping  assemblies  of  God's  people  may  have  been 
constituted  and  conducted,  before  the  days  of  Abraham,  or  even 
of  Moses.  This  is  undeniable,  that  those  Synagogues  of  the 
Jews,  in  which  the  written  word  of  God  was  publicly  read  and 
expounded,  and  prayer  offered  to  God,  statedly  every  Sabbath- 
day  ;  were  as  much  a  part  of  the  religious  life  of  God's  ancient 
people,  as  the  temple  service  was — were  probably  at  least  as  an¬ 
cient — and  have  survived  it  nearly  eighteen  centuries.  In  them, 
our  divine  Lord  habitually  worshipped  and  taught ; — and  after 
the  model  they  furnished,  in  many  respects,  his  inspired  Apos¬ 
tles  organized  our  Christian  congregations.  Each  of  these  Chris¬ 
tian  congregations  is  an  elemental  and  organized  portion  of  the 
Church  visible  universal  of  the  Lord  Christ  :  and  every  one  of 
them,  when  complete,  has  everything  which  is  possessed  by  that 
universal  Church,  in  its  present  state  :  and  it  is  by  means  of  the 
union  of  these,  that  Church  assemblies  having  rule,  and  a  gov¬ 
ernment,  are  created.  Now  divine  worship  in  its  widest  sense,  is 
the  specific  object  of  the  existence  of  these  particular  Churches ; 
and,  in  the  narrowest  sense  of  worship,  it  is  one  of  their  chief 
objects — as  it  is  their  main  employment.  Such  as  gladly  receive 
the  word  of  God,  are  baptized  in  them.  Such  as  will  be  saved, 
the  Lord  adds  to  them.1  To  believers  and  to  their  seed,  are  the 
promises  of  God  herein  held  forth.2  To  them,  Pastors,  Elders, 
and  Deacons  are  given,  by  Christ  ;3  and  in  the  bosom  of  each 
one,  a  court  of  Christ  is  created.4  In  this  Church,  it  is  the  will 
of  God,  that  his  people  should  statedly  assemble  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath-day,  and  as  often  besides  as  his  providence  permits,  for  his 
solemn  public  worship,  as  revealed  by  himself.5  And,  as  parts 
of  that  worship,  it  is  the  ordinance  of  God,  that  public  prayer 
should  be  offered  to  him  :8  that  his  praises  should  be  sung,  with 
grace  in  our  hearts  to  the  Lord  :7  that  the  word  of  God  should 
be  read,  expounded,  and  preached  :8  that  the  sacraments  of  the 
Christian  Church  should  be  duly  administered  :9  and  that  the 

i  Acts,  ii.  41,  41.  2  Acts,  ii.  39 ;  1  Cor.,  vii.  14. 

3  Eph.,  iv.  11,  12 ;  1  Tim.,  v.  11 ;  Acts,  vi.  passim. 

4  1  Tim.,  v.  11 ;  Rom.,  xii.  6-8;  1  Cor.,  xii.  28. 

5  Acts,  ii.  42  ;  xx.  1 ;  1  Cor.,  xvi.  2 ;  Heb.,  x.  25.  6  1  Tim.,  ii. 

7  Col.,  iii.  16.  8  Acts,  xiii.  15,  21 ;  Titus,  i.  9 ;  2  Tim.,  iv.  2  ;  1  Cor.,  i.  18. 

0  1  Cor.,  xi.  23-26;  Matt.,  xxviil  18,  19. 


470 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


jieople  should  be  blessed  from  God.1  Moreover,  God  has  or¬ 
dained  that  each  particular  Church — should,  by  the  Court  of 
his  Kingdom  erected  in  its  bosom,  take  care  that  its  members 
lead  blameless  and  holy  lives  :2  and  that  all  I  have  discussed  as 
appertaining  to  our  New  Obedience,  as  rendered  unto  God,  and 
our  Good  Works,  as  performed  towards  our  fellow-creatures — 
be  truly  observed,  as  becometh  saints ;  and  as  the  chief  of  all, 
charity — love  to  God  and  compassion  for  our  fellow-men.3  Now, 
with  such  a  state  of  case  as  this  disclosed  to  us  by  God  himself, 
in  connection  with  the  primitive  and  most  elemental  part  of 
the  organic  life  of  the  Church  visible,  universal ;  we  are  left 
without  any  possibility  of  denying — that  the  idea  of  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  God  pervades  the  total  life  and  organism  of  the  Church 
of  God  ;  and  that  the  nature  of  the  worship  and  the  nature  of 
the  Church,  must  necessarily  harmonize.  If  God  is  a  Spirit, 
and  is  true — then  the  worship  of  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  is 
an  infallible  mark  of  his  true  Church. 

8.  Religion  is  exhausted,  as  a  matter  of  contemplation,  when 
we  have  considered  it  under  the  aspect  of  Faith,  the  aspect  of 
Duty,  and  the  aspect  of  Worship.  It  is  in  these  three  aspects 
that  it  necessarily  affords  us,  the  three  infallible  marks  of  the 
true  Church.  So  when  the  word  of  God  has  taught  us  infalli¬ 
bly,  what  we  ought  to  believe  concerning  him,  and  what  duty  he 
requires  of  us,  there  remains  nothing  to  be  taught  concerning 
salvation,  except  the  expression  of  both,  in  the  form  of  wor¬ 
ship.  If,  therefore,  purity  of  Faith  be  one  infallible  mark  of 
the  Church  of  Christ,  as  I  have  proved — and  if  holiness  of  life 
be  another,  as  I  will  prove — neither  of  which,  I  suppose,  any 
Christian  will  deny  ;  then,  it  is  perfectly  unavoidable,  that  pu¬ 
rity  of  worship,  must  be  the  remaining  mark.  And  the  very 
terms  of  the  whole  science  of  Christianity,  give  us  the  same 
result.  God — man — and  the  Mediator  between  them  ;  this  is 
its  mighty  elemental  formula.  But  Faith  in  that  Mediator,  and 
worship  rendered  to  that  God — and  Holiness — nourished  by  both 
of  them,  through  the  grace  of  which  all  three  are  the  products  ; 
this  is  the  infallible  manifestation  that  Christianity  is  realized  in 
us,  in  a  form  responsive  to  its  mighty  elemental  formula. 

1  2  Cor.,  xiii.  14.  2  Heb.,  xiii.  17 ;  1  Tkess.,  v.  12,  13. 

a  1  Cor.,  xiii.  passim;  Matt.,  v.  43-48;  vi.  1-4,  19-23. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


HOLT  LIVING:  THE  THIRD  INFALLIBLE  MARK  OF  THE  TRUE  CHURCH. 

I.  1.  Relation  of  all  Righteousness,  in  Man,  to  the  Law  of  God. — 2.  Gospel  Holiness : 
its  Relation  to  Christ — to  Faith  in  Him — and  to  the  acceptable  Worship  of  God. — 
II.  1.  The  Reality  of  Moral  Distinctions:  the  Demonstration  they  afford  that  God 
is  the  Fountain  of  all  Goodness. — 2.  Neglect  or  Perversion  of  these  Moral  Distinc¬ 
tions,  fatal  to  all  Religions  in  which  either  occurs. — 3.  The  indissoluble  and  eternal 
Connection  of  Holiness  with  Blessedness. — 4.  The  inward  Aspect  of  that  Holiness, 
which  infallibly  distinguishes  the  True  Church. — 5.  Unity  of  that  Holiness,  as  a 
Mark  of  the  True  Church,  with  each  of  the  preceding  Marks. — 6.  The  Unity  of 
the  Mystery  of  Godliness;  Goodness  the  perfection  of  Knowledge,  of  Duty,  and 
of  Grace. — III.  1.  The  True  Life  of  the  Church,  is  the  Power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. — 
2.  Conclusive  Effect  of  the  Supremacy  of  the  Supernatural  Element,  in  the  Ques¬ 
tion  of  the  Church. — 3.  Majesty  and  Glory  of  the  True  Church. 

1.  — 1.  To  keep  and  to  do  all  the  statutes  and  judgments  of 
God,  is  the  highest  proof  of  spiritual  wisdom  and  understanding. 
It  has  always  been  required  by  God  as  the  sum  of  the  whole  duty 
of  man — always  been  declared  to  be  the  way  of  peace  and  mercy 
for  his  people — always  been  prescribed  as  the  surest  evidence  of 
their  true  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  their  acceptable  worship  of 
the  most  high  God.1  The  sum  of  the  instruction  which  the  Apos¬ 
tles  had  in  charge  to  give,  in  discipling  all  nations,  was  that  all 
should  observe  all  things  whatsoever  J esus  had  commanded  them.' 
And  the  constant  doctrine  of  Jesus  was,  If  ye  continue  in  my 
word,  then  are  ye  my  disciples  indeed  ;  and  ye  shall  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free.3  My  sheep  hear  my 
voice,  and  I  know  them,  and  they  follow  me  :  and  I  give  unto 
them  eternal  life  ;  and  they  shall  never  perish,  neither  shall  any 
pluck  them  out  of  my  hand.4 

2.  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  God.5  This  great  truth 
is  involved  in  every  just  idea  we  can  form  of  God  and  of  salva¬ 
tion  ;  and  so  essential  is  it  in  all  that  the  Scriptures  intend  by 

1  Deut.,  iv.  1-6;  Eccl.,  xii.  13;  Matt.,  xv.  9;  John,  xii.  50;  vii.  17 

2  Matt.,  xxviii.  19,  20.  3  John,  viii.  31,  32. 

4  John,  x.  27,  28.  5  Heb.,  xii.  14 


472 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD 


[BOOK  IV. 


salvation,  that  nothing  therein  relating  to  us  is  either  explicable, 
or  effectual,  if  we  omit  or  fatally  pervert  their  teaching  concern¬ 
ing  this.  The  everlasting  righteousness  which  has  been  brought  in 
by  Messiah  the  Prince,1  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  through 
the  faith  of  Christ,2  the  righteousness  unto  which  they  live  who 
are  dead  to  sin  ;3  this  is  the  righteousness  which,  together  with 
all  goodness  and  truth,  is  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,4  with  which  the 
blessed,  who  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  shall  be  filled 
— and,  in  the  blessed  fruition  of  which,  the  pure  in  heart  shall 
see  God.5  Now,  this  Gospel  holiness — which  I  have  so  carefully 
sought  to  trace  and  to  disclose — is  that  which  I  always  intend, 
when  I  speak  of  holy  living  as  a  mark  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 
For  the  constant  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures  is  that  the  just  shall 
live  by  faith  ;6  and  the  relation  between  life,  and  righteousness, 
and  faith  is  so  close,  that  in  every  Christian  sense,  either  of  the 
three  necessarily  involves  the  other  two.  So  while  true  faith  is 
the  life  of  the  Church,  and  true  worship  is  the  means  of  nourish¬ 
ing  that  life — true  holiness  is  the  manifestation  of  its  healthful 
existence.  Faith  that  rejoices  in  Christ  Jesus,  is  the  living  tes¬ 
timony  to  the  work  of  the  Mediator  between  God  and  men  ;  wor¬ 
ship  rendered  unto  God  in  Spirit  and  in  truth,  is  the  testimony 
to  the  whole  doctrine  of  God,  of  grace,  and  of  salvation :  and 
total  abnegation  of  the  flesh — that  is,  true  Gospel  holiness,  is  the 
testimony  that  the  whole  doctrine  of  God  and  of  Christ,  is  real¬ 
ized  in  the  power  of  it  and  the  love  of  it,  in  the  soul  of  man. 
God,  man,  and,  between  the  two,  the  God-man  :  this  is  the  divine 
formula.7  To  worship  God  in  the  Spirit,  to  rejoice  in  Christ  Jesus, 
and  to  have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh  :  this  is  the  practical  result, 
in  the  human  soul,  as  explained  by  God.9  Purity  of  faith,  spirit¬ 
uality  of  worship,  holiness  of  life  ;  this  is  the  manifestation  on 
the  part  of  the  Church,  which  makes  it  certain,  past  doubt,  that 
she  is  the  Kingdom  of  God — the  body  of  Christ — the  holy  nation. 
It  is  to  the  exposition  of  this  third  infallible  mark  of  the  true 
Church,  visible,  universal,  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  this 
chapter  is  devoted. 

II. — 1.  In  connection  with  the  general  subject  of  the  fall  and 


i  Daniel,  ix.  24. 
3  1  Peter,  ii.  24. 

6  Matt.,  v.  6,  8. 

7  1  Tim.,  ii.  5. 


2  Phil.,  iii.  9. 

*  Eph.,  v.  10. 


6  Hab.,  ii.  4;  Kom.,  i.  II. 
e  ^hil.,  iii.  3. 


HOLT  LIVING. 


473 


CHAP.  XXVI.] 

recovery  of  man,  while  discussing  various  parts  of  the  way  of 
life  and  our  relations  thereto  ;  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  enter 
somewhat  fully,  into  enquiries  touching  the  moral  constitution  of 
man,  considered  in  all  the  estates  disclosed  in  the  word  of  God. 
It  does  not  seem  to  me  necessary  to  repeat,  in  this  place,  what  I 
have  advanced  on  that  subject ;  just  as  I  have  already  declined 
repeating  here,  what  I  have  taught  in  previous  chapters,  on  the 
subject  of  evangelical  holiness.  Bat  as  the  immediate  relation 
of  the  latter  topic  to  the  present  subject,  demanded  the  brief  ex¬ 
position  I  have  just  given  of  it :  so  the  close  connection  of  the 
former  topic,  with  the  most  direct  method  of  illustrating  the  sub¬ 
ject  before  us,  renders  a  few  words  of  explanation  concerning  it, 
important.  I  observe,  therefore,  that  the  reality  of  moral  dis¬ 
tinctions  is  incontestably  established,  by  the  moral  constitution 
of  man,  upon  principles  as  clear  as  those  upon  which  the  reality 
of  physical  distinctions  is  established,  by  the  physical  constitu¬ 
tion  of  man.  Whether  such  distinctions  do,  in  fact,  exist  or  not, 
we  are  obliged  by  an  ultimate  law  of  our  being,  to  recognize  them 
as  real ;  nor  have  we  any  faculty  more  intense,  more  pervading, 
or  more  distinctive  of  our  nature,  than  that  which  we  call  con¬ 
science,  by  means  of  which  we  take  cognizance  of  these  moral 
distinctions.  To  say  we  have  no  conscience,  is  to  contradict  the 
universal  consciousness  of  the  human  race — as  really  as  to  say 
we  are  not  endowed  with  reason — or  with  sight.  To  admit  we 
have  a  conscience,  but  deny  that  the  moral  distinctions  of  which 
it  takes  cognizance,  have  any  reality — or  existence  ;  is  the  same 
as  to  admit  we  have  reason,  and  then  deny  that  there  is  anything 
true,  or  anything  false  ;  or  to  admit  that  we  have  the  sense  of 
sight,  and  then  deny  that  there  is  anything  to  see,  or  any  light 
to  see  by.  To  say  nothing  of  the  supremacy  of  the  moral  sense 
— and  of  the  overwhelming  ruin  in  which  such  a  race  as  ours 
would  be  immediately  engulphed,  but  for  that  supremacy  :  the 
statement  I  have  made  seems  to  put  beyond  question,  the  abso¬ 
lute  and  ineffaceable  existence  of  morality  itself,  independently 
of  us,  and  paramount  to  our  nature.  If  that  be  so,  the  existence 
of  a  creator  and  moral  ruler  of  the  universe  is  certain  :  and  it  is 
in  the  bosom  of  the  First  Cause — the  living  God — that  the  source 
of  all  good  is  found. 

2.  The  disregard  of  these  moral  distinctions,  thus  thoroughly 
fundamental  in  the  spiritual  system  of  the  universe  ;  must  be 


474  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

utterly  fatal  to  the  claims  of  every  religious  system,  in  which  it 
exists,  to  be  considered  either  revealed  by  God,  or  suitable  for 
man.  No  religion  can  be  true  which  misunderstands  the  absolute 
nature  of  these  moral  distinctions — which  overlooks  or  misstates 
the  relation  of  man’s  moral  nature,  in  its  fallen  state  most  espe¬ 
cially,  to  them — which  confounds  the  distinction  between  good 
and  evil  in  the  very  matter  of  salvation — which  shocks  man’s 
natural  sense  of  morality — which  inculcates  that  which  is  wrong 
in  itself — which  denies  our  felt  moral  depravity,  or  proposes  as  a 
remedy  for  it,  that  which  is  incompetent,  that  which  is  false,  or 
that  which  is  evil.  In  accepting  any  such  religion  as  true,  we 
outrage  the  conscience  itself — to  sanctify  which  is  the  chief  end 
of  true  religion.  The  ruin  which  all  false  religions  spread  around 
them,  is  produced  chiefly  by  their  blinding  and  depraving  influ¬ 
ence  upon  the  conscience ;  a  ruin  analogous  to  that  which  would 
occur,  if  the  supremacy  of  conscience  could  be  overthrown.  And 
the  readiness  with  which  our  depraved  nature  accepts  all  false 
religions,  is  the  clearest  proof  of  the  disorder  of  the  moral  sense 
of  man,  of  the  overpowering  force  of  his  religious  instincts,  of 
his  absolute  need  of  a  moral  regeneration,  and  of  the  total  fal¬ 
sity  of  all  religions  which  cannot  accomplish  this.  In  estimating 
that  purity  of  life  which  religion,  if  it  be  from  God,  must  pro¬ 
duce,  we  are  obliged,  therefore,  even  upon  grounds  of  mere  reason 
and  natural  morality,  to  reject,  indiscriminately,  all  religions 
whose  faith  is  inconsistent  with  virtue  and  good  morals,  or  whose 
worship  is  a  snare  to  the  souls  of  men,  or  whose  life  violates  the 
sense  or  loosens  the  bonds  of  duty.  This  great  rule  is  laid  down 
by  the  Saviour.  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them  :  and  it  is 
expressly  laid  down  to  enforce  this  great  duty,  Beware  of  false 
prophets.1  In  this  manner,  every  false  religion  is  rejected  by 
Christ — upon  the  ground  of  the  fruit  it  bears  ;  even  before  we 
pass  the  threshold  of  the  subject.  That  which  promotes  sin — 
that  which  is  drunk  with  blood — which  is  polluted  by  unclean¬ 
ness — which  is  rank  with  imposture — that  whose  very  life  is  sus¬ 
tained  by  the  death  of  souls  :  what  madness  is  greater  than  to 
recognize  such  organized  unrighteousness  as  true  religion,  be¬ 
cause  mankind  is  sufficiently  brutal  to  be  led  captive  by  the 
Devil  at  his  will  ;2  given  over  by  God  to  strong  delusion,  that 
they  should  believe  a  lie,  that  they  all  might  be  damned 

1  Matt.,  viL  15-20.  2  2  Tim.,  ii.  2G. 


HOLY  LIVING. 


475 


CHAP.  XXVI.] 

who  believed  not  the  truth,  hut  had  pleasure  in  unrighteous¬ 
ness.1 

3.  The  connection  between  virtue  and  happiness  is  so  imme¬ 
diate,  that  any  attack  upon  the  foundations  of  morality,  is  also 
an  attack  upon  every  hope  and  possibility  of  blessedness.  But 
whatever  is  an  absolute  condition  of  blessedness  for  human  na¬ 
ture,  in  any  estate,  or  at  any  period  :  is  an  absolute  condition  of 
its  blessedness,  to  all  eternity  ;  because  human  nature  preserves 
its  essential  identity,  through  all  possible  estates.  Amongst  all 
the  results  of  experience,  not  one  is  more  certain — amongst  all 
the  meditations  of  philosophy,  none  are  more  clear — amongst  all 
the  teachings  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  nothing  is  more  distinct,  than 
that  virtue,  purity,  holiness,  lie  at  the  foundation  of  human 
blessedness.  All  growth  in  grace,  strengthens  this  divine  union  : 
and  its  bond  will  become  closer  in  eternity,  when  grace  is  swal¬ 
lowed  up  in  glory — closer  forever,  as  we  approach  nearer  to  the 
presence  and  the  measure  of  God.  To  make  us  pure  in  heart, 
that  we  may  see  God — discern  him — know  him — have  fruition  of 
him,  is  amongst  the  chief  blessings  of  true  religion,  pointed  out 
by  the  Saviour  ;2  and  no  mark  can  be  more  palpable,  that  any 
system  of  religion  is  not  from  God,  than  that  it  obscures  our 
vision — our  fruition  of  him — by  obstructing  a  life  of  holiness, 
and  hardening  the  heart.  Both  faith  and  righteousness,  which 
are  indissolubly  connected  with  spiritual  life,  have  their  seat  in 
the  heart  ;3  in  which  is  begotten,  and  out  of  which  must  flow, 
that  true  holiness,  in  which  the  new  man  is  created,  after  the 
image  of  God.4  Even  in  its  natural  state — much  more  when  it 
has  been  renewed  by  divine  grace — how  full  is  the  testimony  of 
the  heart  to  its  own  need  of  this  very  holiness  !  Its  deep  and 
sorrowful  convictions,  at  every  survey  of  its  best  emotions  ;  its 
profound  sense  of  duty,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  clearest  mani¬ 
festations  of  weakness  and  sinfulness  ;  its  intense  longings  for 
that  it  hath  not,  even  under  the  burden  of  pollution  that  robs 
it  of  the  power  of  articulate  expression  of  its  very  wants  ; 
and  when  it  has  found  what  its  need  was,  and  has  been  sup¬ 
plied  out  of  God’s  unwasting  fulness — its  clear  and  joyful  vis¬ 
ion  of  all  that  was  confused  before,  and  of  its  God  and  Father 
above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  all  :5  can  all  this  mean 

1  2  Thes3.,  ii.  11,  12;  1  Cor.,  vi.  9,  10;  Rev.,  xxii.  14,  15.  2  Matt.,  v.  8. 

3  Rom.,  x.  10.  *  Epk.,  iv.  24  5  Eph.,  iv.  6. 


476 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IY. 


anything  less  than  the  perfect  relation  of  the  divine  remedy,  to 
onr  fatal  disease — the  perfect  accordance  between  the  testimony 
concerning  our  previous  emptiness  and  pollution,  and  that  con¬ 
cerning  our  satisfying  fruition  of  a  new  and  divine  holiness  ? 
Well  may  we  say,  we  were  sometimes  darkness,  but  now  are  we 
light  in  the  Lord.  And  since  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  in  all 
goodness,  and  righteousness,  and  truth  ;  well  does  it  become  us 
to  walk  as  children  of  light.1 

4.  It  is  by  Revelation  from  God — outwardly  in  his  word,  in¬ 
wardly  by  his  Spirit — that  the  soul  is  made  acquainted  with  the 
true  nature  of  all  these  mysteries  of  God  and  man.  Revealed  in 
that  power  of  the  divine  word,  which  is  such  a  glorious  peculiarity 
of  the  truth  of  God — and  revealed  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
working  by  and  with  that  truth,  in  the  human  soul :  these  great 
mysteries  come  to  us  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power.2 
God  reveals  himself  to  those  to  whom  it  is  given  to  know  the 
mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,3  in  a  peculiar  light  and  with 
a  peculiar  power,  as  the  God  of  all  grace — the  God  who  saves 
penitent  and  believing  sinners  by  the  blood  of  the  everlasting 
covenant.  The  purity  which  is  needful,  in  order  to  this  salvation, 
is  also  a  most  peculiar  form  of  righteousness,  and  is  revealed  in  a 
most  peculiar  manner.  For  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  which  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth,  reveals 
the  righteousness  of  God  from  faith  to  faith  :  which  Paul  first 
asserts,  and  then  confirms  by  the  perpetual,  equivalent  truth, 
The  just  shall  live  by  faith.4  Christ,  and  his  righteousness,  re¬ 
vealed  to  us  and  revealed  in  us  ;  life,  righteousness,  and  faith — 
indissolubly  united.  It  is,  therefore,  a  righteousness  of  such 
only,  as  have  been  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  their  mind  :  of  such 
only,  as  have  put  off  the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt  according,  to 
the  deceitful  lusts — and  have  put  on  the  new  man,  which  after 
God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.5  This  special 
holiness  of  truth — and  that  the  very  truth  of  God — is  the  only 
form  of  righteousness  which  is  available  in,  or  unto,  a  lost  sinner. 
And  this  is  attainable  only  in,  and  through,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  But  of  his  fulness  every  penitent  and  believing  sinner 
receives  ;  and  that  in  a  manner,  at  once  so  complete  and  so 


1  Eph.,  v.  8,  9. 

3  Matt.,  xiii.  11. 

6  Eph.,  iv.  22-24;  ii.  10. 


2  1  Cor.,  ii.  4. 

4  Bom.,  i.  16,  17 ;  Hab.,  ii.  4 


HOLY  LIVING. 


477 


CHAP.  XXVI.] 

specific,  that  all  grace  in  him  finds  some  counterpart  respon¬ 
sive  to  it,  in  all  renewed  souls.1  This  is  the  inward  aspect 
of  that  holy  living,  which  is  an  infallible  mark  of  the  true 
Church. 

5.  This  holiness,  exhibited  as  it  must  be  in  the  wide  form  of 
holy  living,  is  the  product  of  the  same  divine  life  in  man,  which 
has  been  shown  to  he  manifested  in  purity  of  faith,  and  in  true 
spiritual  worship.  I  have  several  times  pointed  out  the  indisso¬ 
luble  connection  of  these  three  marks  of  the  true  Church  with 
each  other,  and  the  grounds  upon  which  that  connection  rested, 
in  the  very  essence  of  the  Gospel.  Let  me  very  briefly,  disclose 
the  unity  between  this  mark  and  each  of  the  preceding  marks. 
The  divine  life. which  is  manifested  in  evangelical  holiness,  is  of 
that  nature  and  operates  in  that  manner — whether  in  individual 
persons,  or  in  whole  communions  : — that  it  cannot  commence  by 
means  of  the  New  Creation,  without  saving  faith,  being  immedi¬ 
ately  manifested  ;  nor  can  it  be  sustained  or  increased  afterwards, 
except  in  connection  with  the  perpetual  exercise  of  that  faith. 
For  the  righteousness  of  God  is  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ ;  and  is 
unto  all,  and  upon  all  that  believe.5  And  it  is  of  God  that  we 
are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and 
righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption.3  But  that 
pure  faith  makes  men  pure.  For,  it  not  only  overcomes  the 
world,4  but  it  does  this  by  purifying  the  heart.5  And  the  instru¬ 
ment  by  which  it  works  in  our  purification,  is  love.6  So  that  the 
purity  of  life  which  is  an  infallible  mark  of  the  Church  of  God, 
is  that  purity  which  is  manifested  by  love  to  God,  and  love  to 
our  neighbour.  But  the  Lord  has  told  us  that  this  is  the  sum 
of  all  the  commandments  of  God — all  the  law  and  the  pro¬ 
phets  hanging  thereon.7  And  I  have  just  shown  that  it  is  the 
sum  of  Gospel  holiness.  In  like  manner,  holiness  imparts  to  our 
worship,  in  whatever  sense  we  use  the  term,  one  essential  char¬ 
acteristic — which  makes  it  acceptable  to  God — that  is,  its  quality 
of  true  obedience  :  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  itself  sustained 
and  advanced  by  all  true,  spiritual  worship.  For,  whether  in  the 
form  of  the  Church,  or  whether  in  the  assemblies  of  God's  people 

1  John,  i.  16-18 — and  grace  for  grace — xaPLvi  civtl  xaptroq 


2  Rom.,  iii.  22  ;  Phil.,  iii.  9. 
4  1  John,  v.  4. 

0  Gal.,  y.  6. 


3  1  Cor.,  i.  30. 

8  Acts,  sy.  9. 

7  Matt.,  xxii.  37-40. 


478  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

statedly  met,  or  in  all  the  parts  and  particulars  of  the  stated 
worship  of  him  therein  :  or  whether  in  the  right  use  of  the  sac¬ 
raments  he  has  instituted  as  signs  and  seals  of  the  Covenant  of 
Grace  ;  holiness  of  heart — and  by  consequence  holiness  of  life,  is 
the  very  end  at  which  everything  aims,  and  to  which  everything 
tends.  We  can  have  no  just  conception  of  the  worship  of  God, 
in  spirit  and  in  truth,  which  it  is  possible  to  separate,  on  the  one 
side,  from  the  idea  of  duty  rendered  unto  God — any  more  than 
it  is  possible  to  separate  it,  on  the  other  side,  from  the  idea  of 
belief  in  God.  And  so  while  honour  and  majesty  are  before 
the  Lord ;  strength  and  beauty  are  in  his  sanctuary :  and  the 
exhortation  is,  Oh,  worship  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holi¬ 
ness.1  For  out  of  Zion,  the  perfection  of  beauty,  God  hath 
shined.3 

6.  There  is  a  wonderful  unity  apparent  in  the  whole  mystery 
of  Godliness — from  whatever  point  of  view  it  is  contemplated,  or 
by  whatever  process  it  is  examined.  One  of  the  firmest  founda¬ 
tions  of  faith  is  the  grand  and  simple  truth,  that  it  is  with  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  salvation  :3  responsive  to  which,  the 
Saviour  has  deduced  from  all  the  law  and  the  prophets  that  most 
glorious  climax,  that  all  duty  to  God  and  man,  is  fulfilled  in 
love.4  The  wisest  of  mankind,  therefore,  could  utter  nothing 
more  profound  in  its  doctrinal  import — more  pungent  in  its 
practical  use,  than  the  solemn  words,  Keep  thy  heart  with  all 
diligence  ;  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life.5  Goodness,  then,  is 
at  last,  the  perfection  of  knowledge,  the  perfection  of  duty,  the 
perfection  of  grace  ;  the  nature  of  man,  and  the  Kingdom  of 
God — find  perfection  in  a  common  result.  When  we  treat  of 
Justification,  it  is  Faith,  and  it  is  Forgiveness,  which  we  are 
called  to  contemplate :  when  we  treat  of  Adoption,  it  is  Hope 
and  the  glory  of  the  Kingdom,  which  burn  in  our  hearts  :  when 
we  treat  of  Sanctification,  it  is  Love  and  God’s  image  perfected 
in  us,  that  fill  the  measure  of  earthly  blessedness.  And  our  en¬ 
trance  into  the  Kingdom — our  being  replenished  with  its  bless¬ 
ings  and  its  benefits — and  our  being  perfected  in  its  spirit  al¬ 
together  ’  unitedly  do  but  express,  in  another  form,  the  great 
conclusion,  Now  abideth  Faith,  Hope,  Charity.6  Nor  need  we 
hesitate  to  add — since  the  Apostle  has  done  so,  But  the  greatest 

1  Psalm  xcvi.  6,  9.  2  Psalm  1.  2.  3  Rom.,  x.  10. 

4  Matt.,  xxii.  34-40.  6  Prov.,  iv  23.  c  1  Cor.,  xiii.  13 


HOLY  LIVING 


4T9 


CHAP.  XXVI.] 

of  these  is  Charitv.  And  when  we  examine  the  whole  matter 

%/ 

with  all  thoroughness,  in  order  to  ascertain  with  certainty  the 
infallible  marks  of  the  Church  ;  we  find  ourselves  conducted  to 
results  precisely  corresponding  with  those  reached  through  so 
many  other  processes,  and  precisely  in  accordance  with  the  whole 
analogy  of  faith.  To  be  pure,  is  the  grand  necessity,  obligation, 
and  blessedness  of  the  Church.  To  be  holy,  according  to  that 
peculiar  manner  of  holiness,  which  is  involved  in  the  salvation  of 
sinners  by  the  grace  of  God  ;  is  her  first  step  upwards.  To  be 
holy,  in  perfect  goodness — love  to  God  and  to  man — charity — the 
greatest  of  the  great  graces — is  her  last  step  upwards,  in  her 
present  form.  Between  these  two  stand  Faith  and  Obedience, 
looked  at  from  the  practical  side  ;  Faith  and  Hope,  looked  at 
from  the  doctrinal  side  ;  for  both  a  boundless  Hope  and  a  Hew 
Obedience,  are  exponents  of  our  Adoption  into  Christ — and 
Worship  is  an  expression  of  them  both.  A  pure  Faith,  a  pure 
Worship,  and  a  pure  Life — is  the  general  expression  alike  of  the 
true  relation  of  saved  sinners  to  an  infinitely  pure  God — and  of 
the  true  Religion  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  is  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.  If  either  of  the  three  is  removed,  the  Religion  is  de¬ 
stroyed  ;  because  the  three  stand,  or  fall,  together.  If  they  all 
abide,  the  Religion  is  complete.  They  are,  therefore,  the  infal¬ 
lible  marks  of  the  true  Church,  visible,  universal,  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  And  there  are  no  others. 

III. — 1.  The  life  of  the  Church  of  God  is  most  inadequately 
conceived,  if  we  suppose  it  is  complete  when  the  doctrine  is  pure, 
and  the  order  is  perfect,  and  the  outward  conduct  is  irreproach¬ 
able.  It  is  possible  for  the  understanding  of  man  to  receive  the 
doctrine  of  salvation  revealed  in  the  Scriptures,  while  the  heart 
remains  unaffected  by  it,  except  as  by  a  philosophy.  It  is  possi¬ 
ble  that  the  model  of  the  Church  should  be  outwardly  Qxact,  in 
all  things,  and  yet  that  the  torpor  of  death  should  cover  her  fair 
proportions.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  her  outward  acts  might  wear 
a  decent  conformity  to  the  commandments  of  God,  in  the  whole 
round  of  her  great  duties  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  a  heartless 
formality,  or  a  self-righteous  Phariseeism,  supplant  all  true  love 
in  her  bosom.  The  true  life  of  the  Church,  is  a  divine  reality  ; 
perfectly  distinguishable — scarcely  capable  of  being  mistaken  by 
such  as  partake  of  it.  It  is  a  power  animating  her  faith,  sus¬ 
taining  her  obedience,  and  nourishing  her  activity.  It  is  the 


480 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  IV. 


fruit  of  God’s  Spirit  within  her.  They  do  not  err,  who  rate  this 
far  above  all.  But  they  do  err  fatally,  who  suppose  that  this 
divine  power  has  no  necessary  connection  with  the  faith,  the  wor¬ 
ship,  and  the  active  life  of  the  Church :  no  necessary  connection 
with  her  doctrine,  her  order,  and  her  practice.  So  far  as  we 
know,  it  has  a  connection  with  them  all,  both  absolute  and  ex¬ 
clusive  :  nor  have  we  any  reason  to  expect  the  supernatural  inter¬ 
position  of  God,  in  .saving  any  soul,  except  through  his  revealed 
truth  ;  while  we  know,  assuredly,  that  the  divine  Spirit  does  not 
— will  not — quicken  men,  otherwise  than  through  Jesus  Christ, 
much  less  in  dishonour  of  his  person,  his  work,  or  his  glory.  The 
faith,  the  worship,  and  the  life  of  the  Church,  which  is  the  fulness 
of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all,  are,  therefore,  not  the  power  itself ; 
but,  precisely  in  proportion  as  they  are  pure,  they  are  fit  to  man¬ 
ifest  the  power  by  which  men  are  saved.  And,  as  far  as  we 
know,  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  is  revealed  only  in  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  to  every  one  that  believeth  ;  and  it  is  only 
therein  that  the  righteousness  of  God  is  revealed  from  faith  to 
faith  ;  and  only  thereby  that  the  just  live  by  faith.  Taking  all 
things  as  they  are  made  known  to  us  by  God,  if  the  Holy  Spirit 
were  withdrawn,  there  could  be  no  more  salvation — no  matter 
what  else  remained ;  if  divine  truth  were  lost  from  amongst 
men,  there  would  be  no  more  operation  of  the  Spirit :  if  the 
people  of  God  were  all  cut  off,  the  Spirit  and  the  word,  in  order 
to  convert  the  world,  would  be  obliged  according  to  the  divine 
Gdconomy  we  have,  to  reconstruct  the  Church  out  of  penitent 
and  believing  sinners  saved  by  grace :  and  that  Church,  when 
reconstructed,  would  possess  the  very  marks  I  have  demon¬ 
strated,  and  occupy  the  very  position  they  indicate  for  her  as 
God’s  Kingdom  in  this  world.  The  whole  Giconomy  of  salva¬ 
tion  is  reducible  to  this  solution  :  nor  does  it  appear  to  admit  of 
any  other. 

2.  The  supremacy  with  which  the  supernatural  element  of 
the  question  of  the  Church,  pervades  every  part  of  this  discus¬ 
sion,  must  be  obvious  to  every  reader.  Nor  is  it  possible  to 
conduct  any  enquiry,  that  can  be  of  the  least  value,  upon  such 
subjects,  on  any  other  basis.  If  the  religion  which  we  seek  to 
comprehend,  is  a  mere  philosophy — nay,  if  it  is  any  less  than  a 
divine  revelation  ;  then,  of  course,  it  stands  in  the  wisdom  of 
man,  and  that  wisdom  must  construct  it,  aided,  no  doubt,  by 


CHAP.  XXVI.]  HOLY  LIVING.  481 

such  intimations  as  God  may  have  been  pleased  to  give.  But  if 
God  has  revealed  to  us,  in  a  manner  designed  by  himself  to  be 
complete,  a  way  of  salvation  which  he  requires  us  to  accept : 
then  the  whole  matter  stands  in  the  power  of  God,  and  must  be 
so  treated.1  Where  the  revelation  stops,  the  divine  power,  in  its 
manifestation  to  us  for  salvation,  also  stops  :  and  every  attempt 
on  our  part  to  extend  the  power,  is  either  an  attempt  to  extort  a 
further  revelation  from  God,  which  is  sacrilege — or  an  attempt  to 
teach  God,  which  is  impiety.  The  patriarchs  did  not  presume  to 
erect  the  institutions  of  Moses  ;  nor  did  Moses  presume  to  bring 
in  that  simple  grace  and  truth,  which  came  by  Jesus  Christ. 
Even  Christ  did  not  set  up  the  new  form  of  his  own  Kingdom, 
or  write  one  word  of  his  own  glorious  Gospel  ;  but  he  left  to  the 
divine  Spirit,  acting  through  his  inspired  Apostles,  the  comple- 
tion  in  both  respects  of  the  will  of  God.  How  then  shall  men, 
without  the  smallest  claim  to  an  extraordinary  vocation  from 
God,  dare  to  add  one  tittle  or  take  away  one  jot  ?  Nor  can  it 
make  the  least  difference,  whether  we  address  ourselves  to  one 
part  or  another,  of  what  God  has  given  to  us  as  the  perfect  ex¬ 
pression  of  his  will,  concerning  our  salvation.  It  is  as  utterly 
beyond  our  competency  to  institute  for  God  a  worship  which  he 
ought  to  accept,  as  to  establish  a  doctrine  concerning  him  which 
he  ought  to  approve :  a  task  as  much  above  us  to  complete  the 
form  of  his  Kingdom,  as  to  improve  the  method  of  his  grace. 
We  have  no  knowledge,  we  have  no  authority,  we  have  no  suffi¬ 
ciency,  for  any  such  thing.  God  alone  has  them  all  in  infinite 
fulness.  And  upon  these  two  truths  rests  the  argument,  a  priori, 
for  all  divine  revelation.  So  that  we  not  only  discredit  the  suffi¬ 
ciency  of  the  revelation  which  God  has  given  us,  but  call  in 
question  the  necessity  of  any  revelation  at  all,  as  realty  when  we 
would  amend,  as  when  we  impeach  the  faith,  the  worship,  or  the 
life,  prescribed  by  God  to  his  Church.  And  every  act  of  this  sort 
is  the  more  to  be  condemned,  because  God  has  made  known  to 
us  so  clearly  in  his  word,  what  he  would  have  us  do  ;  that  the 
poor  pretext  of  his  silence  can  be  made  good,  only  by  holding  his 
truth  in  unrighteousness,  or  by  handling  his  word  deceitfully. 
He  has  spoken  all  his  mind  in  the  matter  of  our  salvation  ;  for¬ 
bidding  us  in  the  beginning,  and  forbidding  us  at  the  end — always 
under  the  most  terrible  penalties — -to  add  unto  the  word  or  unto 

1  1  Cor.,  ii.  1-5. 

31 


VOL.  II. 


482  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  IV. 

the  things  commanded  by  him,  or  to  diminish  aught  from  either 
of  them.1  For  besides  the  injuries  we  inflict  on  men,  and  the 
corruption  we  bring  into  the  Church,  and  the  dishonour  we  offer 
to  the  majesty  of  God,  by  such  acts  of  presumptuous  disobedi¬ 
ence  ;  we  are  also  guilty  of  treason  against  our  Lord  the  King  in 
Zion,  as  often  as  we  usurp  these  high  prerogatives  of  his  crown. 
With  reference  to  ourselves — nothing  can  hind  the  faith  or  con¬ 
science  of  a  Christian,  in  the  matter  of  his  salvatian,  that  is  not 
revealed  from  God.  But  nothing  is  revealed  unto  salvation,  ex¬ 
cept  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.  So  that  where  faith,  conscience, 
revelation,  and  salvation,  have  no  place  ;  there  is  no  Saviour — 
and  can  he  no  Church. 

3.  This  whole  doctrine  is  transcendently  glorious  to  the 
Church  of  God.  It  invests  her  with  the  majesty,  which  springs 
from  her  total  deliverance  from  the  control  of  carnal  command¬ 
ments,  and  from  her  being  clothed  with  the  power  of  an  endless 
life.  Her  mission  is  commensurate  with  the  human  race.  Its 
very  essence  is,  to  do  all  good  to  all.  Her  own  goodness  is  the 
measure  of  her  ability  to  do  good.  A  mission  of  faith,  obedience, 
and  love,  accomplished  in  the  power  of  the  divine  life  by  which 
she  lives.  Salvation  is  wrought  out  through  her,  in  proportion 
as  it  is  first  wrought  in  her.  As  she  trusts,  obeys,  and  imitates 
Christ,  she  manifests  in  the  same  degree  the  purity  of  her  faith, 
of  her  worship,  and  of  her  life  ;  exhibits  the  mighty  power  of 
God,  which  works  in  her  trustful  and  loving  heart ;  demon¬ 
strates  her  entire  conformity  to  the  divine  will ;  and  thus  work¬ 
ing  out  the  glory  of  God  on  earth,  she  works  out  for  herself  an 
eternal  weight  of  glory.  Does  any  child  of  God  desire  to  take 
from  Christ,  any  part  of  his  dominion  over  himself?  Then  why 
should  it  be  considered  possible,  that  the  spouse  of  Christ  would 
desire  any  such  thing  ?  Does  any  sanctified  soul  feel  the  yoke 
of  Christ  to  he  a  heavy  yoke  ?  Then  why  should  it  be  im¬ 
agined  that  all  sanctified,  souls  should  fail  to  rejoice  as  the 
pre-eminence  is  given  to  him,  in  all  things  ?  Nor  will  God 
endure  to  be  robbed  of  that  which  is  his.  I,  the  Lord  thy 
God,  am  a  jealous  God — is  the  reason  given  by  himself,  why 
the  glory,  dominion,  and  worship,  should  be  given  only  to  him  ; 
and  is  rendered  as  a  portion  of  that  unalterable  morality,  whose 
foundations  are  laid  in  his  own  being,  and  which  pervades  every 

1  Deut.,  iv.  1-24;  Rev.,  xxii.  18-20. 


HOLY  LIVING. 


483 


CHAP.  XXVI.] 

manifestation  of  himself.1  And  the  last  recorded  utterance  of 
the  redeemed  in  glory  is,  As  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great 
multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice 
of  mighty  thunderings,  saying,  Alleluia  :  for  the  Lord  God  om¬ 
nipotent  reigneth.2 

1  ExocL,  xx.  5. 


3  Rev.,  xix.  6. 


. 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD, 

SUBJECTIVELY  CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FIFTH  BOOK. 

This  Fifth  Book  bears  to  the  Fourth,  a  relation  somewhat  analogous  to  that 
which  the  Third  Book  bears  to  the  Second.  For  the  Second  Book  attempts  to 
demonstrate  a  Christian,  and  the  Third  to  demonstrate  those  personal  Offices 
without  which  there  can  be  no  individual  Christianity  :  while  the  Fourth  Book 
attempts  to  demonstrate  the  visible  Church  of  Christ  organized  out  of  those  same 
Christians,  and  this  Fifth  Book  to  demonstrate  the  Gifts  of  God  to  this  Christian 
Church,  without  which  it  can  have  no  visible  existence.  And  as  in  the  former 
case,  those  individual  Offices  of  themselves  prove  that  he  who  discharges  them 
does  so  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  is  a  true  disciple  of  Christ ;  so  in  this  latter 
case,  these  divine  Gifts  prove  of  themselves  that  the  organized  body  of  Disciples 
of  Christ  possessing  them,  does  so  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  is  a  true  Church 
visible  of  the  Lord  Lesus  Christ.  And  the  negative  conclusions  in  the  two  cases 
are  analogous ;  namely,  that  lacking  these  individual  Offices  no  one  can  be  a  true 
disciple  of  Christ — lacking  these  Gifts  of  God  no  organized  body  can  be  com¬ 
posed  of  true  disciples  of  Christ,  or  be  his  visible  Church.  So  that  the  demon¬ 
stration  is  double  in  each  case,  and  then  general  of  the  whole.  The  Twenty- 
Seventh  Chapter,  which  is  the  First  of  this  Book,  is  devoted  to  the  three  supreme 
Gifts  of  God  to  his  Church  more  especially  considered  as  visible,  namely,  his  Son, 
his  Spirit,  and  his  Word;  one  large  division  of  the  Chapter  being  occupied  with 
the  separate  and  detailed  exposition  of  each.  Concerning  the  Son  it  is  shown 
in  what  sense  he  is  given  by  God  to  the  Church,  over  and  above  the*  sense  in 
which  he  is  given  to  each  individual  Christian,  and  in  what  different  form  he  is 
given  to  the  Gospel  Church,  as  compared  with  preceding  dispensations ;  what 
are  the  mutual  results  of  this  as  to  Christ,  and  as  to  the  Church — what  is  the 
relation  between  them  thus  created — what  is  the  position  of  the  Church  thus 
considered — and  her  consequent  glory  and  blessedness  in  her  witness-bearing 
and  her  work.  Concerning  the  Spirit  it  is  shown  that  all  efficiency  of  the  Church 
is  of  him  as  really  as  all  authority  is  of  Christ ;  the  difference  in  the  manner  of 
bestowment,  the  manner  of  operation,  and  the  manner  of  relation  to  all  things, 
between  the  Spirit  and  the  Son,  is  explained ;  the  order  of  the  mysteries  of 
grace,  the  relation  of  the  Spirit  to  the  work  of  Christ  and  to  the  Gospel  Church, 
and  the  attestation  of  everything  relating  to  both,  and  to  all  truth  and  godliness  > 


486 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FIFTH  BOOK. 


by  the  Spirit,  are  disclosed ;  the  promise  of  the  Spirit — his  outpouring,  his  mani¬ 
festation  and  work,  extraordinary  and  ordinary,  the  Relation  of  both  to  Christ, 
to  the  Church,  to  each  other,  and  to  salvation  are  explicated :  and  the  doctrine 
of  the  Spirit  and  of  his  relation  to  the  Church  is  shown  to  be  absolutely  vital. 
Concerning  the  Word  of  God,  its  relation  to  the  Son,  the  Spirit,  and  the  Church, 
and  its  special  relation  considered  as  written  to  the  Church  considered  as  visible, 
are  pointed  out;  the  Word  and  the  Church  before  the  former  was  written,  and 
the  latter  organized,  and  again  after  the  former  was  written  and  the  latter 
organized,  and  again  after  the  former  was  complete  and  as  such  bestowed 
on  the  Gospel  Church,  are  specially  considered:  the  power  of  the  Word  as 
mere  truth,  and  its  further  power  as  the  instrument  of  the  Spirit,  is  disclosed ; 
and  the  Chapter  closes  with  an  appreciation  of  the  written  Word  considered  as 
a  divine  Gift  to  the  Visible  Church,  and  of  the  Gospel  Church  considered  as 
possessing  the  supreme  Gifts  of  God  just  discussed.  The  Twenty-Eighth  Chap¬ 
ter,  which  is  the  Second  of  this  Book,  discusses  the  Sabbath-day,  the  Sacraments, 
Instituted  Worship,  Discipline,  and  Evangelization,  as  Ordinances  given  by  God 
to  his  Church ;  one  large  division  being  devoted  to  each.  The  Sabbath  is  shown 
to  be  a  perpetual  element  in  the  moral  system  of  the  Universe,  and  to  be  indis¬ 
solubly  connected  with  the  creative,  providential,  and  gracious  work  of  God 
therein :  and  its  unspeakable  importance  to  man  is  pointed  out.  The  Sacraments 
are  treated  generally,  the  idea  of  them,  their  nature,  and  use,  the  ends  they  an¬ 
swer  and  promote,  being  explained ;  their  efficacy  is  shown  to  depend  on  the 
work  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  to  be  wrought  instrumentally  by  them,  in  us,  by 
him  through  our  faith  in  Christ:  the  number  of  them  and  its  constancy,  their 
relation  to  the  Church  under  successive  dispensations,  Christ’s  relation  to  them, 
and  their  record  of  him,  are  explicated.  The  Instituted  Worship  of  God  is 
discussed,  and  the  relation  of  Atheism  on  one  side,  and  that  of  spiritual  worship 
of  the  true  God  on  the  other,  to  our  natural  convictions  is  disclosed ;  the  revealed 
will  of  God  concerning  the  worship  he  requires  of  man  is  demonstrated ;  the 
particulars  of  that  revealed  worship,  now  divinely  established  in  the  Gospel 
Church,  are  proved,  classified,  and  explained.  Discipline,  as  an  ordinance  of 
God,  is  demonstrated,  and  its  nature  and  efficacy  are  explained, — together  with 
the  manner  and  objects  of  its  administration ;  the  nature  of  Church  censures, 
their  relation  to  the  Threatenings  of  God, — and  their  execution  upon  God’s  erring 
children,  and  upon  his  open  enemies  are  set  forth.  And  finally  the  Evangeliza¬ 
tion  of  the  world  is  shown  to  be  an  Ordinance  of  God  obligatory  upon  the 
Church :  and  a  brief  appreciation  of  that  great  endeavour  is  attempted.  The 
Twenty-Ninth  Chapter,  which  is  the  Third  of  this  Book,  is  devoted  to  a  particu¬ 
lar  discussion  of  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism,  considered  in  its  Nature  and  Design, 
the  Subjects  of  it,  the  Mode  of  its  Administration,  and  the  Apostolic  Practice 
of  it.  The  origin  and  nature  of  the  sacrament  of  circumcision,  and  its  relation 
to  Christian  Baptism,  are  explained:  the  relation  of  the  Baptism  of  John,  and 
of  that  administered  by  the  Apostles  during  the  life  of  Christ,  to  Christian  Bap¬ 
tism  is  also  explained :  Christian  Baptism  is  shown  to  have  been  instituted  by 
Christ,  after  his  resurrection,  as  a  sacrament  of  the  Gospel  Church :  the  relation 
of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  to  Christian  Baptism  is  disclosed :  and  the  cer¬ 
tainty  of  these  divine  mysteries,  together  with  their  sum,  and  their  relation  to 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FIFTH  BOOK. 


487 


the  doctrine  of  God  and  of  salvation,  is  proved.  In  the  next  place,  tne  relation 
between  Baptism  and  the  blessings  of  which  it  is  the  seal,  is  exhibited ;  the  title 
of  every  one  to  the  seal,  who  has  title  to  the  blessings,  is  proved  ;  and  the  right 
of  the  infant  seed  of  believers  both  to  the  covenanted  blessings  and  to  this  seal 
of  them,  is  demonstrated,  in  each  of  eleven  successive  propositions;  and  the 
effects,  both  of  the  neglect,  and  of  the  exercise  of  this  right  are  shown.  Then 
it  is  shown  that  Baptism  may  be  valid,  even  when  its  administration  is  not  per¬ 
fectly  regular ;  Immersion  in  water,  as  a  commemoration  of  the  burial  of  Christ, 
is  proved  to  be  a  total  perversion  of  this  sacrament :  the  true  scriptural  relation 
between  baptism  and  the  death  and  burial  of  Christ  is  disclosed :  the  various 
senses  in  which  the  Scriptures  use  the  word  baptism,  are  set  forth,  and  the  right 
of  Christ  to  fix  the  sense  in  which  he  uses  it  asserted :  and  that  he  did  use  it — to 
mean  the  sacramental  application  of  water  to  the  person,  as  a  sign  and  seal  of 
our  purification  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  our  ingrafting  into  Christ  is  demon¬ 
strated  in  each  of  five  successive  propositions.  The  examination  of  the  Apos¬ 
tolic  practice  follows,  and  the  great  example  of  Pentecost  is  shown  in  each  of 
three  successive  propositions,  and  then  the  great  example  of  Gentile  baptism  at 
Caesarea  is  shown  in  each  of  three  successive  propositions,  and  then  more  briefly 
other  Apostolic  examples  of  every  known  class  are  shown,  to  accord  exactly 
with  what  was  before  shown  concerning  Christ’s  sense  of  this  sacrament ;  and 
the  Apostolic  doctrine  of  baptism  is  deduced.  The  Thirtieth  Chapter,  which  is 
the  Fourth  of  this  Book,  treats  in  a  particular  manner,  of  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord’s  Supper,  considered  in  its  Institution,  Nature,  Use,  and  End ;  wherein  the 
relation  of  this  Sacrament  to  the  ancient  Sacrament  of  the  Passover  is  explained ; 
the  divine  account  of  its  institution  by  Christ  is  stated ;  its  general  nature  and 
ordinary  use  are  disclosed  in  detail  from  the  Scriptures :  the  matter  of  it  and 
elements  of  it,  are  pointed  out ;  and  how  it  is  a  sign  and  what  it  signifies,  and 
how  it  is  a  seal  and  what  it  seals  are  set  forth.  Entering  more  deeply,  what 
the  Saviour  meant  us  to  understand  by  saying  the  cup  was  the  New  Testament 
in  his  blood,  and  by  saying  the  bread  was  his  Body  broken  for  us,  is  care¬ 
fully  examined ;  the  efficacy  of  the  Body  and  Blood  in  our  spiritual  nourish¬ 
ment  is  disclosed;  the  relation  of  this  Sacrament  to  the  Worship,  the  Word,  and 
the  Spirit  of  God,  is  explicated ;  and  the  relation  of  the  constant  and  sacramen¬ 
tal  showing  of  the  Lord’s  death  to  his  Second  Coming  is  pointed  out.  And 
finally  it  is  shown  how  strict  is  the  relation  of  Christ’s  sacramental  word  and 
action  to  the  Nature  and  definition  of  this  sacrament;  and  that  of  the  sacra¬ 
ment  itself  to  the  whole  question  of  the  Church.  The  Thirty-First  Chapter, 
which  is  the  Fifth  and  last  of  this  Book,  treats  of  the  Office  Bearers  of  the 
Gospel  Church,  and  of  Church  government  in  their  hands.  It  is  shown  that 
all  the  Office  Bearers  of  the  Church  both  appertain  to  it,  and  in  a  still  higher 
sense  to  Christ ;  that  the  divine  origin  of  the  Church,  of  its  government,  and  of 
its  office  bearers  is  perfectly  indisputable,  both  according  to  the  universal  testi¬ 
mony  of  Scripture,  and  to  the  absolute  nature  of  the  case ;  in  proof  and  illus¬ 
tration  of  all  which,  the  example  of  the  Apostolic  Synod  constituted  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem  on  the  question  of  Gentile  circumcision,  is  carefully  examined,  and  the  fact, 
the  nature,  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  government  divinely  established  in  the 
Gospel  Church,  are  demonstrated;  the  office  bearers  who  constituted  that 


488 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FIFTH  BOOK. 


synod,  are  shown  to  have  been  in  part  Apostles,  but  chiefly  Elders — Presbyters; 
and  then  the  nature  of  the  office  held  by  these  Elders — Presbyters,  and  the  na¬ 
ture  of  their  right  to  constitute  that  synod,  and  every  other  tribunal  in  the  Gospel 
Church,  is  demonstrated.  Then  the  question  of  the  Church,  purely  as  a  question 
of  fact,  is  taken  up  at  the  death  of  Christ  and  its  condition  shown :  the  effects 
of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  Pentecost,  and  the  events  which  followed, 
are  traced,  and  the  immediate  formation  of  particular  congregations  with 
a  tribunal  in  each,  and  the  nature  and  composition  of  that  tribunal  as  a 
congregational  Presbytery  composed  of  Presbyters — Elders,  are  proved  :  the 
union  of  a  number  of  these  congregations  with  their  tribunals — is  shown  to 
have  constituted  a  larger  body  with  its  tribunal  over  them  all,  still  com¬ 
posed  of  Presbyters,  and  called  in  the  Scriptures  a  Presbytery ;  and 
then  the  union  of  all  these  Presbyteries  with  all  their  tribunals  and  all 
their  congregations  with  their  tribunals — gives  us  the  universal  Church  and 
brings  us  back  to  its  synod  already  demonstrated  ;  for  that  is  the  scriptural 
name  of  this  high  tribunal ;  and  thus  the  nature,  organization,  and  divine 
authority  of  tribunals,  Parochial,  Presbyterial,  and  Synodical,  all  composed  of 
Elders — Presbyters — is  proved  by  tracing  the  divine  progress  and  development 
of  the  Church,  as  before  by  a  specific  divine  example.  After  this  the  nature  of 
all  church  power  delegated  by  the  Mediator,  is  analyzed,  and  its  relations  to  his 
Prophetic,  Priestly,  and  Kingly  offices  shown  ;  the  result  being  that  the  whole 
power  of  Regimen  is  from  his  Kingly  office,  and  is  vested  in  all  Presbyters 
alike  ;  while  the  ministry  of  the  word  is  a  delegation  from  his  Prophetic  office, 
and  the  Stewardship  of  Divine  Mysteries  is  a  delegation  from  his  Priestly  office 
— which  two  functions — as  a  power  of  Order — are  added,  as  to  certain  Elders, 
to  their  power  of  Rule,  and  thus  two  classes  in  the  order  of  Elders  are  produced ; 
and  it  is  shown  that  this  power  of  Order  is  a  several  power, — while  the  power 
of  Regimen  is  a  joint  power ;  the  result  being  that  all  rule  is  not  only  by 
tribunals,  but  all  tribunals  are  constituted  of  both  classes  of  the  order  of  Elders. 
The  mode  of  creating  office  bearers  is  shown  to  be  by  an  inward  and  personal 
vocation  of  the  particular  person,  by  God  to  the  particular  office;  which  is 
ascertained  by  the  vocation  of  the  individual  by  a  particular  congregation  to  be 
its  office  bearer,  and  afterwards  by  the  approbation  and  ordination  of  the  person 
by  a  church  court :  the  vital  power  and  importance  of  this  Parochial  and 
Presbyterial  vocation — being  specially  insisted  on.  Then  the  offices  of  Prophet, 
Evangelist,  and  Deacon,  who  are  the  only  remaining  office  bearers  of  the 
Church,  whether  ordinary  or  extraordinary — are  explained :  and  the  Chapter 
and  Book  close  with  a  summary  statement,  in  four  successive  propositions,  ot 
the  absolute  nature  of  the  government  which  God  has  bestowed  upon  the 
visible  Church ;  and  a  slight  appreciation  of  its  marvellous  origin,  progress,  and 
actual  position.  The  difficulty  of  treating  the  whole  organic  life  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  under  the  action  of  so  many  and  such  amazing  gifts  of  God,  in  a  few 
Chapters,  and  of  determining  truly  and  disposing  in  a  lucid  order,  in  so  small  a 
compass,  so  many  and  such  vast  topics— is  one  of  the  greatest  to  which  the 
human  mind  can  address  itself.  To  reduce  these  Chapters  to  a  short  connected 
argument,  which  will  present  the  whole  matter  fairly,  clearly,  and  sufficiently — 
is  also  very  difficult.  And  now  to  deduce  from  that  argument  its  fundamental 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  FIFTH  BOOK. 


489 


results,  in  a  few  short  propositions  is  no  easy  task.  Possibly  the  chief  results 
may  be  summarily  stated  somewhat  as  follows :  namely,  That  the  Son,  the 
Spirit,  and  the  Word  of  God,  appertain  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  the  visible 
Church  of  Christ,  under  the  Gospel  dispensation,  as  the  supreme  Gifts  of  God 
to  it : — That  the  Sabbath  day,  the  Sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord’s  Sup¬ 
per,  the  Instituted  Worship  of  God,  the  administration  of  the  threaten ings  of 
God  by  Discipline,  and  the  Evangelization  of  the  world,  are  divine  Ordinances 
obligatory  upon  the  Gospel  Church,  being  gifts  of  God  to  it : — That  Baptism 
instituted  by  Christ  must  be  administered  with  water  by  a  steward  of  the  mys¬ 
teries  of  God,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  to  the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  to  their  infant  seed,  once  only  to  each 
person  ;  wherein  our  purification  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  our  ingrafting  into  Christ, 
and  the  pardon  of  our  sins,  are  sacramentally  signified,  and  sealed  to  those  who 
worthily  receive  it : — That  the  Lord’s  Supper,  instituted  by  Christ,  must  be 
often  celebrated  and  partaken  of  by  all  believers ;  wherein  the  bread  broken 
and  the  wine  poured  out  are  the  elements,  and  the  broken  body  and  shed  blood 
of  Christ  are  the  matter,  and  all  together  are  the  sacrament :  the  eating  and 
drinking  of  the  bread  and  wine,  and  the  spiritual  receiving  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  by  faith,  through  the  Spirit,  the  word,  and  prayer,  is  a  sacra¬ 
mental  showing  forth  of  his  death,  and  a  communion  therein  with  him,  and  with 
each  other ;  all  the  benefits  of  Christ,  more  particularly  our  redemption  by,  and 
our  communion  in  his  death,  and  our  spiritual  nourishment  and  growth  in  grace 
by  feeding  sacramentally  upon  his  body  and  blood,  being  herein  signified  and 
sealed  to  all  who  worthily  communicate : — That  God  has  bestowed  upon  the 
Gospel  Church  Office  Bearers,  both  extraordinary  and  ordinary,  of  whom  the 
former  have  ceased,  the  ordinary  and  perpetual  being  Elders  and  Deacons — to 
whom  must  be  added  in  a  special  sense — and  as  peculiar,  Evangelists  ;  that  the 
whole  power  of  Regimen  in  the  Church  is  a  joint  power,  and  is  wholly  in  the 
hands  of  Elders — amongst  whom  certain,  in  addition  to  their  power  of  rule, 
labour  in  word  and  doctrine,  and  are  stewards  of  the  divine  mysteries,  both  of 
which  are  several  powers,  so  that  there  are  two  classes  of  the  one  order  of 
Elders ;  the  power  of  Regimen  being  joint ,  all  rule  is,  not  by  persons,  but  by 
Tribunals  composed  of  some  of  both  classes  of  Elders,  all  of  each  class  being 
equal  one  with  another,  and  the  whole  equal  as  Elders ;  which  Tribunals,  one 
above  another,  Parochial,  Classical,  Synodical,  and  Universal,  are  neither  clerical 
nor  laic,  but  are  Presbyterial  Courts  of  the  free,  spiritual  Commonwealth,  which 
is  the  Church  of  the  Living  God. 


. 


\ 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


SUPREME  GIFTS  OF  GOD  TO  HIS  CHURCH:  HIS  SON:  HIS  SPIRIT: 

HIS  WORD. 

I.  1.  The  special  Gifts  of  God  to  his  Church :  Supreme  amongst  these,  his  Son — his 
Spirit — his  Word. — 2.  Our  Responsibility,  personal  and  aggregate :  corresponding 
bestowal  of  these  divine  Gifts. — 3.  Special  Gift  of  the  Son  of  God  to  the  Church : 
immediate  mutual  Results — 4.  Nature  and  Effect  of  the  relation  between  Christ 
and  the  Church  thus  created. — 5.  The  Condition  of  the  Church,  considered  as 
possessing  Christ. — 6.  The  Holy  Church  Catholic — the  Communion  of  Saints — the 
Forgiveness  of  Sins. — 7.  The  true  God  and  Eternal  Life. — 8.  The  Glory  and 
Blessedness  of  the  Church,  in  her  Witness-bearing,  and  her  Work. — II.  1.  Gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost:  all  Authority  in  Christ — all  Efficacy  from  the  Spirit. — 2.  Dif¬ 
ference,  in  the  manner  of  bestowment ;  and  the  manner  of  operation ;  and  the  re¬ 
lation  of  the  Son  and  the  Spirit  to : — (a)  Human  Nature : — ( b )  The  Plan  of  Salva¬ 
tion: — (c)  The  Church: — ( d )  The  World. — 3.  The  order  of  the  Mysteries  of  Grace, 
with  respect  to  the  Gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost. — 4.  Relation  of  the  Spirit  to  the  Work 
of  Christ,  and  to  the  Gospel  Church. — 5.  The  Saviour,  the  Church,  the  Truth,  and 
the  Mystery  of  Godliness,  all  attested  by  the  Spirit. — 6.  The  Promise  of  the  Fa¬ 
ther:  the  day  of  Pentecost. — 7.  Difference  in  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit: 
extraordinary  manifestations:  Their  relation  to  the  Church. — 8.  Saving  mani¬ 
festation  of  the  Spirit :  Its  relation  to  his  extraordinary  manifestations. — 9.  The 
Doctrine  of  the  Spirit,  and  his  relation  to  the  Church,  vital. — III.  1.  Gift  of  God’s 
Word:  Its  relation  to  the  Church,  and  the  preceding  Gifts:  Relation  of  the  writ¬ 
ten  Word  to  the  Visible  Church — 2.  The  Word,  before  and  after  it  was  written: 
the  Church,  before  and  after  it  was  organized :  General  Exposition. — 3.  The  Gos¬ 
pel  Church — and  the  Sacred  Scriptures. — 4.  The  Efficacy  of  God’s  Word,  consid¬ 
ered  merely  as  Divine  Truth :  its  further  Efficacy  when  savingly  used  by  the  Holy 
Ghost. — 5.  Appreciation  of  the  written  Word,  considered  as  a  Divine  Gift  to  the 
Church. — 6.  Appreciation  of  the  Church,  considered  as  possessing  these  .Supreme 
Gifts  of  God. 

I. — 1.  I  have  endeavoured  to  trace  the  principles  upon  which 
the  divine  idea  of  the  Church,  and  its  permanent  and  visible 
existence  are  disclosed  in  the  Word  of  God — and  to  make,  not 
only  its  nature  and  end  plain,  hut  the  immense  truths  also  which 
give  it  vitality,  and  the  infallible  Marks  which  distinguish  it. 
The  course  of  the  orderly  treatment  of  the  subject,  conducts  us 
next  to  the  consideration  of  those  Divine  Gifts  which  God  has 
bestowed  upon  his  Church,  thus  created,  organized,  and  made 


492  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

permanent  in  this  apostate  world.  Gifts,  every  one  of  which  is 
a  proof  of  his  love,  every  one  a  manifestation  of  his  wisdom,  and 
the  whole  united  an  infinite  dowry  ;  in  the  enjoyment  of  which 
the  Lamb's  wife  is  shown  to  be  the  delight  of  God  and  the  glory 
of  his  universe,  and  the  use  of  which  is  the  means  of  the  de¬ 
liverance  of  his  universe  from  the  curse  and  pollution  of  sin. 
Amongst  these  Gifts  there  are  three,  which  so  immeasurably 
transcend  the  rest,  and,  indeed,  so  exceed  all  that  the  heart  of 
man  could  have  conceived,  that  the  very  Salvation  which  they 
alone  could  have  conferred,  seems  to  human  reason  an  object 
unworthy  of  them.  It  is  only  as  we  comprehend  that  unsearch¬ 
able  love  and  grace  and  mercy  are  the  foundation  of  such  gifts, 
and  that  the  highest  glory  of  God,  as  well  as  the  endless  blessed¬ 
ness  of  the  universe,  is  involved  in  the  results  they  will  produce  ; 
that  we  can  see  it  to  be  capable  of  belief  that  God  has  given  his 
Son  to  die  for  his  Church,  his  Spirit  to  dwell  continually  amidst 
its  sorrows  and  its  sins,  and  his  Word,  made  known  through  so 
much  anguish  of  his  most  beloved  children,  to  be  a  light  and 
power  and  joy  to  those  so  utterly  unworthy  of  it.  Yet  these 
very  gifts  are  so  entirely  the  very  essence  of  salvation,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  explain,  or  ever  to  conceive,  any  part  of  it,  with¬ 
out  the  perpetual  presence  of  them  all.  Of  necessity,  therefore, 
they  have  been  continually  held  up  to  view,  in  all  I  have  said. 
Nevertheless,  the  special  aspect  in  which  we  now  encounter  them, 
demands  a  particular  statement  concerning  them. 

2.  The  personal  responsibility  of  every  human  being,  whether 
to  God,  to  individuals  like  himself,  or  to  those  public  authorities, 
ot  whatever  kind,  to  which  he  may  be  subject ;  is  the  most  fun¬ 
damental  result  of  our  personal  existence,  as  rational  and  moral 
creatures.  It  is  far,  however,  from  being  the  only  result  in  the 
nature  ot  responsibility,  to  which  the  circumstances  of  our  ex¬ 
istence  may  give  rise.  As  a  member  of  a  household,  of  a  body 
politic,  ot  the  Church,  nay,  as  a  member  of  the  great  human 
family,  or  one  of  the  particular  races  which  compose  that  great 
unity  ;  every  human  being  is  liable  to  suffer  and  to  be  blessed, 
and  that  out  of  all  proportion  to  his  personal  share  of  respon¬ 
sibility,  for  that  which  brought  him  happiness  or  misery.  This 
aggregate  responsibility  is  as  real,  as  our  personal  responsibility  ; 
and  can,  no  more  than  it,  be  overlooked  or  evaded. — In  like 
manner,  the  Gift  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  the  Gift  of 


CHAP.  XXVII.] 


GIFT  OF  THE  SON. 


493 


the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  Gift  of  the  Divine  Word,  has,  each,  a 
general  as  well  as  a  personal  relevancy,  in  the  dispensations  of 
God.  The  gift  of  each  of  them  to  the  individual  children  of 
God,  and  the  gift  of  each  of  them  in  organizing  these  children 
of  God,  under  Messiah,  through  the  Holy  Ghost,  into  the  divine 
kingdom  now  held  forth  as  the  Gospel  Church  :  has  been  already 
sufficiently  considered.  But  there  is,  also,  the  gift  by  God  of 
each  of  them  to  the  Church  contemplated  as  the  Body  of  Christ, 
in  a  sense  different  from  any,  that  it  has  been  hitherto  necessary 
to  state  very  explicitly.  Nay,  there  is  a  gift  of  each  of  them  by 
God,  to  the  whole  family  of  man  considered  merely  as  such  : 
which  we  are  apt  to  overlook,  because  it  does  not  result  in  salva¬ 
tion,  but  which  is,  nevertheless,  by  far  the  greatest  bestowment 
which  God  makes  to  our  race.  For  it  is  possible,  that  of  whole 
nations  and  races,  not  an  individual  might  sufficiently  regard  the 
message  of  salvation,  the  admonitions  of  the  Spirit,  and  the 
love  of  Christ,  to  believe,  repent  and  be  saved  :  while  yet  these 
divine  agencies  might  so  enlighten  their  darkness,  and  so  rebuke 
their  sins,  and  so  diffuse  a  real  power  for  what  is  good,  that  all 
other  blessings  given  to  them  might  be  insignificant,  compared 
with  these.  To  a  certain  extent  all  speculative  believers  in 
Christianity,  and  all  nominally  Christian  nations,  are  examples  of 
this  very  mercy  of  God  :  this  efficacy  of  these  divine  gifts  to  the 
world.  But  it  is  in  the  more  strict  sense  of  their  bestowment, 
namely, — upon  the  Church  of  Christ,  that  I  am  now  considering 
them. 

3.  He  whom  God  has  raised  from  the  dead,  and  set  at  his 
own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all  principality, 
and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is 
named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come  : 
he  under  whose  feet  God  has  put  all  things,  and  who  is  head  over 
all  things  :  he  it  is  whom  God  has  given  to  the  Church,  which  is 
his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all.1  He  filleth 
all  in  all :  and  the  Church  is  his  fulness — because  it  is  his  body. 
It  is  the  Son  who  made  all  things  and  who  rules  and  governs  all 
things. — As  Mediator  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  as  Head  of  the 
Church,  all  things  are  still  under  his  feet  :  things  in  heaven  and 
things  on  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth — things  present  and 
things  to  come.  He,  the  glorified  God-man,  that  liveth,  and 


1  Eph.,  i.  20-23. 


494  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

was  dead,  and  is  alive  forevermore,  in  whose  hands  are  the  keys 
of  death  and  hell  :  has  been  given  by  God  to  this  Church,  of 
which,  having  redeemed  it  with  his  most  precious  blood,  he  is 
the  Lord  and  Head.1  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  understand  the  na¬ 
ture  of  the  claim,  which  the  Son  of  God  has  on  the  believer 
whom  he  has  redeemed  from  hell,  and  made  a  member  of  his 
mystical  body  forever  ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  to  understand 
the  nature  of  the  claim  which  the  believer  has  in  that  divine 
Saviour,  given  to  him  by  God,  and  to  whom  his  soul  is  united  in 
the  bond  of  an  everlasting  covenant.  In  like  manner,  the  title 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  clear  and  perfect,  to  that  Church  which  he 
so  loved  that  he  gave  himself  for  it,  which  he  makes  worthy  to 
partake  of  his  own  glory  and  blessedness,  and  upon  which  he 
has  staked  his  renown  :  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  Church 
which  has  given  itself  to  Christ  to  be  his  Bride,  and  which  can 
produce  proofs  the  most  tender  and  the  most  august,  that  he 
has  redeemed  her,  purified  her,  and  owned  her  for  his  Spouse  ; 
has  such  a  claim  upon  Christ  her  Lord,  that  neither  death,  nor 
life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present, 
nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  crea¬ 
ture,  shall  be  able  to  separate  her  from  the  love  of  God,  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  her  Lord.3 

4.  Our  want  of  faith  and  our  sense  of  personal  unworthiness, 
cause  us  to  shrink  from  the  full  acceptance  of  God's  plain  dec¬ 
larations,  and  from  the  unavoidable  result  of  our  own  firmest 
beliefs  and  convictions.  How  is  it  possible  for  the  Saviour  to 
have  a  people,  unless  his  people  have  a  Saviour  ?  How  can  God 
give  a  kingdom  to  his  Son,  without  giving  his  Son  to  that  king¬ 
dom  ?  He  does  both.  He  gives  to  his  Son  an  eternal  kingdom  : 
to  his  people  an  almighty  Saviour.  And  though,  as  yet,  we  see 
not  all  things  put  under  him,  we  have  seen  that  he  who  was 
made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  for  the  suffering  of  death, 
has  been  crowned  with  glory  and  honour  :3  we  know  that  the  heav¬ 
ens  must  receive  him  until  the  times  of  restitution  of  all  things, 
which  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  prophets 
since  the  world  began  :4  and  we  need  no  more  doubt  that  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  will  become  the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord 
and  of  his  Christ,  than  if  we  beheld  the  heavenly  multitudes 


1  1  John,  Mi.  1 ;  iv.  10 ;  Rom.,  v.  8-10 ;  viii.  32. 
8  Heb.,  ii.  9. 


3  Rom.,  viii.  39. 

4  Acts.  Mi.  21. 


CHAP.  XXVII.] 


GIFT  OF  THE  SON. 


m 

rejoicing  over  this  assurance,  and  saw  the  four-and-twenty  El¬ 
ders  fall  upon  their  faces  before  God,  as  they  cry,  We  give  thee 
thanks,  oh  !  Lord  God  Almighty,  which  art,  and  which  wast, 
and  which  art  to  come,  because  thou  hast  taken  to  thee  thy 
great  power,  and  hast  reigned.1 

5.  It  is  manifest,  that  as  the  very  existence  of  the  Church 
hangs  on  her  relation  to  Christ,  and  his  relation  to  her  :  the  gift 
of  Christ  to  her  involves,  implicitly,  every  other  gift  which  that 
may  draw  after  it.  Wherefore,  the  manner  in  which  she  receives, 
cherishes,  and  uses  this  supreme  gift,  must  be  decisive  of  the  in¬ 
fluence  which  every  other  gift  of  God  will  exert  upon  her,  and 
upon  the  universe  through  her.  Christ  is  her  life  :  and  her  only 
hope  of  appearing  in  glory,  is  that  when  Christ  shall  appear,  she 
also  shall  appear  with  him.2  He  not  only  shows  her  the  way  :  he 
is  the  Way.  He  not  only  teaches  her  the  truth  :  he  is  the  Truth. 
He  not  only  conducts  her  to  life  :  he  is  the  Life.3  Having  said 
this,  making  himself  all  in  all :  he  adds — precluding  everything 
else,  Ho  man  cometh  to  the  Father,  but  by  me.  Whatever  of 
wisdom,  or  righteousness,  or  sanctification,  or  redemption,  the 
Church  can  enjoy  or  communicate,  she  possesses  not  only  by  but 
in  Christ :  for  he  is  made  of  God  unto  her,  not  only  the  method 
by  which  these  wonderful  gifts  are  bestowed,  but  in  the  highest 
possible  sense,  the  very  things  themselves.4  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  is  the  most  comprehensive  statement  of  the  sum  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  :  and  Christ  in  his  person,  his  work,  and  his  glory,  is  its 
concrete  form,  and  its  infinite  essence,  and  its  almighty  power. 
Christianity  may  exist  in  permanent  supernatural  records  :  it 
may  live,  as  an  activity,  in  the  hearts  of  believers  :  it  may  be 
proclaimed  as  a  rule  of  life  to  all  nations  :  it  may  be  taught 
as  a  science  in  the  schools  :  it  may  pervade  the  earth  as  a  per¬ 
fect  system  of  spiritual  truth  :  but  it  is  in  Christ  himself' that 
his  undefiled  Bride  possesses  it  absolutely.  She  possesses  him 
as  her  only  Mediator  with  God — -her  Immanuel,  Prophet,  Priest, 
and  King  :  the  author  and  finisher  of  her  faith— her  very  present 
help  in  every  time  of  need — her  glory  unto  her,  and  her  light  to 
enlighten  all  nations  :  her  final  judge,  deliverer,  and  rewarder  for 
all  she  has  done  and  suffered  for  his  name — her  eternal  and  satis¬ 
fying  portion  in  the  blessedness  of  the  life  to  come.  All  the 

1  Rev.,  xi.  16,  17.  3  Col.,  iii.  4. 

3  John,  xiv.  6.  4  1  Cor.,  i.  30. 


496  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

while  that  she  thus  possesses  him  as  her  own,  he,  her  Head  and 
Lord,  is  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  by  the  word  of  whose  power 
all  things  were  made  :  the  infinite  source  of  all  life,  and  light, 
and  truth,  and  goodness  :  the  infinite  Ruler  who  controls  and 
directs  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  wisdom  :  the  infinite  Bene- 
factor,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow,  and  through  the  word  of 
whose  grace  Salvation  is  bestowed  on  lost  sinners  !  Glorious 
Church  !  Transcendently  glorious  Saviour  ! 

6.  It  was  with  good  reason  that  the  ancient,  comprehensive 
and  universal  symbol  of  the  Christian  Church,  expressed  con¬ 
spicuously  amongst  its  fundamental  propositions  such  articles 
as  these  :  I  believe  in  the  holy  catholic  Church — I  believe  in 
the  communion  of  saints — I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
The  earliest  and  probably  most  rational  form  of  the  first  of 
these  three  statements  was — not  that  I  believe  in — but  I 
believe  the  Church.  Either  way,  the  conviction  may  well  be 
cherished  and  asserted,  that  she,  in  the  midst  of  whom  God 
dwells,  shall  never  he  moved  :  and  that  notwithstanding  the 
malice  of  devils  and  wicked  men,  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  her.1  Nor  can  it  be  doubted,  that  while  she 
holds  fast  to  Christ,  she  will  also  hold  fast  by  the  truth, 
which  he  himself  is  :  and  that  as  the  common  mother  of  all  be¬ 
lievers,  she  will  know  and  testify  the  doctrine  of  God,  in  propor¬ 
tion  as  she  walks  according  to  his  divine  will.3  Pure  in  Faith, 
true  and  spiritual  in  the  Worship  of  God,  and  holy  in  Life,  she 
needs  must  be,  so  long  as  she  possesses  Christ.  Nor  can  there  be 
any  uncertainty  touching  the  universal  duty  of  the  Communion 
of  Saints.  For  the  very  organization  of  the  visible  Church,  and 
every  ordinance  of  God  which  separates  it  from  the  world,  pre¬ 
sents  these  two  conspicuous  aspects  ;  that  therein  is  a  proof  of 
God’s  rejection  of  the  world,  and  therein  his  saints  constantly 

'  V 

profess,  that  as  the  brethren  of  Christ,  they  are  brethren.  For 
it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  be  united  to  their  common  Head 
by  faith,  without  being  united  to  each  other  in  love.8  But  one 
of  the  highest  obligations  of  Christian  love,  as  well  as  one  of  its 
clearest  manifestations,  is  the  perpetual  endeavour  to  keep  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace  :  since  we  know  that 
we  are  one  body,  and  have  one  hope  of  our  calling,  through  one 

1  Psalm  xlvi.  passim ;  Matt.,  xvi.  15-18.  a  Gal.,  iv.  26,  27  ;  John,  vii.  17. 

3  Col.,  i.  18;  Matt.,  xxiii.  8-10. 


GIFT  OF  THE  SON. 


497 


CHAP.  XXVII.] 

Lord,  one  Spirit,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of 
all.1  Nor  is  this  communion  of  Saints  less  important  in  itself, 
than  it  is  clear  in  its  grounds  and  obligations.  For  whether  we 
consider  the  nature  of  the  case,  or  the  plain  intimations  of  the 
Scriptures,  there  is  no  ordinary  possibility  of  Salvation,  out  of 
the  Church  of  Christ.2  For  the  forgiveness  of  Sin,  which  is  the 
third  point,  and  which  the  Church  has  in  charge  to  proclaim,  in 
the  name  of  J esus,  to  every  creature,  as  the  very  essence  of  the 
Gospel  unto  them  :  and  in  the  reality  of  which,  we  profess  our 
trust,  through  the  means  revealed  in  the  Gospel :  has  no  exist¬ 
ence  whatever,  except  in  connection  with  the  person  and  work 
of  Christ.  It  is  by  her  ministry,  that  proclamation  of  this  for¬ 
giveness  of  sin,  is  made  to  fallen  men  :  it  is  by  her  ordinances, 
that  this  forgiveness  is  sealed  to  penitent  sinners  :  it  is  through 
her  worship  that  they  are  built  up  in  the  sense  and  the  fruits  of 
it :  it  is  the  Saviour,  the  Spirit,  and  the  Word,  which  are  God's 
supreme  gifts  to  her,  whereby  any  possibility  exists  that  God  can 
be  just,  and  justify  the  ungodly.  When  we  say,  therefore,  that 
we  believe  in  the  holy  catholic  Church  :  and  immediately  add, 
that  we  believe  in  the  communion  of  saints,  and  in  the  forgive¬ 
ness  of  sins  ;  we  give  utterance  to  the  most  vital  truths  touching 
the  nature  and  office  of  the  Church,  considered  as  in  possession 
of  the  divine  Redeemer,  as  God's  unspeakable  Gift.3 

7.  I  think  I  have  shown  conclusively,  in  another  place,  that 
the  salvation  of  sinners  is  inconceivable  upon  any  supposition  of 
the  mode  of  the  divine  existence,  materially  different  from  that 
revealed  to  us  :  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  plan  of  salva¬ 
tion  actually  revealed  to  us,  is  incomprehensible,  except  on  the 
supposition  that  the  mode  of  the  divine  existence  revealed  in 
connection  with  it,  is  that  of  three  Persons  in  one  Essence. 
What  is  commonly  called  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  is  there¬ 
fore,  at  the  foundation  of  all  practical  godliness,  as  well  as  of  all 
exact  knowledge  concerning  God,  and  all  intelligible  exposition 
of  the  life  and  immortality  brought  to  light  in  the  Gospel.  This 
makes  it  very  wonderful,  that  this  great  doctrine  should  have 
been  considered  a  mystery  of  that  kind,  that  can  have  no  imme¬ 
diate  relation  to  the  life  of  God  in  the  human  soul.  But  when 
it  is  so  considered,  it  makes  it  very  plain  why  systems  of  The- 

1  Eph.,  iv.  1-6.  2  Acts,  ii.  47  ;  iv..  14 ;  xi.,,21-24. 

3  2  Cor.,  ix.  15 ;  James,  i.  17. 


VOL.  II. 


32 


498  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

ology  should  be  as  completely  emptied  of  all  spiritual  unction, 
as  systems  of  mere  Philosophy  :  and  why  so  much,  of  what  is 
meant  for  evangelical  preaching,  should  be  little  more  than  pious 
rhapsodies,  or  little  better  than  ethical  disputations.  The  Son 
of  God  given  to  the  Church,  is  the  true  God  and  eternal  life.1 
And  the  incontrovertible  foundation  of  the  whole  mystery  of 
godliness — is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.2  Nor  can  it  be  called  in 
question,  without  taking  down  the  whole  fabric,  and  rendering 
nugatory  every  remaining  support  on  which  it  rests.  For  why 
should  the  Spirit  justify,  or  the  unseen  world  obey,  or  the  Church 
proclaim,  or  the  human  race  accept,  or  heaven  receive  in  triumph: 
a  Saviour  who  neither  did,  nor  could,  deliver  a  single  soul  from 
death  :  and  concerning  whom,  everv  one  of  these  sublime  reali- 

o  J 

ties  becomes  an  utter  nullity,  the  instant  it  ceases  to  be  true — 
that  he  is  God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

8.  The  very  existence  of  the  Church,  then,  considered  as  the 
possessor  of  this  transcendent  gift  of  God,  is  to  the  end  that 
she  may  vindicate  to  the  universe  the  true  doctrine  of  Christ  : 
and  therein  the  true  doctrine  of  the  divine  being  and  perfec¬ 
tions.  In  the  very  preaching  of  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ,  and  in  all  attempts  to  make  men  see  the  fellowship  of 
the  mystery,  which  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  had  been 
hid  in  God  ;  it  is  the  intent  of  God,  that  now  unto  principalities 
and  powers  in  heavenly  places,  might  be  known,  by  the  Church, 
the  manifold  wisdom  of  God,  according  to  the  eternal  purpose, 
which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.3  No  wonder  then 
that  Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  gave  himself  tor  it :  no  wonder 
that  he  sanctifies  and  cleanses  it,  and  that  he  will  present  it  to 
himself,  a  glorious  Church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any 
such  thing  ;  but  holy  and  without  blemish.4  By  means  of  it, 
the  universe  will  be  taught  all  those  infinite  realities  concerning 
God,  his  perfections,  his  works  and  his  purposes,  now  revealed  in 
his  word,  which  otherwise  had  remained  forever  hidden  ;  now 
seen  in  part,  and  darkly  as  through  a  glass,  and  known  in  part — 
but  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  then  to  be  seen  face  to 
lace,  to  be  known  by  us  even  as  we  ourselves  are  known.5  And 
in  the  process  of  this  unspeakably  glorious  development,  the  in¬ 
finite  Goodness  and  Justice  of  God,  his  unsearchable  Grace,  and 

1  1  John,  y.  20.  2  1  Tim.,  iii.  16.  3  Eph.,  [[[,  8-10. 

*  Eph.,  v.  25,  27.  5  1  Cor.,  xiii.  9,  12. 


CHAP.  XXVII.] 


GIFT  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 


499 


his  immaculate  Holiness,  will  shine  forth  to  all  eternity  in  the 
salvation  of  his  elect,  the  perdition  of  Devils  and  ungodly  men, 
the  purgation  of  the  universe  from  the  pollution  of  sin,  the  re¬ 
capitulation  of  all  things  in  the  Son  of  God  as  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  and  the  everlasting  reign  of  blessedness  !  Is  it  possi¬ 
ble  to  exaggerate  the  position  of  such  a  Church,  with  such  a  Sa¬ 
viour,  and  such  a  mission  ?  Is  it  possible  to  exalt,  unduly,  that 
Gift  of  God  to  this  Church,  whereby  her  place  in  such  a  scheme, 
of  such  a  God,  is  at  once  assured,  and  made  effectual  to  such  re¬ 
sults  ? 

II  — 1.  It  behooves  to  treat  next  of  the  Gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  And  the  most  obvious  fact  concerning  his  indwelling  is, 
that  the  efficacy  of  every  act  and  every  function  of  the  Church, 
depends  as  absolutely  upon  him,  as  the  authority  of  every  one 
does  upon  Christ.  Whatever  the  Church  does,  derives  what¬ 
ever  validity  it  has  from  the  approval  of  Christ  :  whatever 
force  it  has  from  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Without  the 
former  everything  she  does  is  a  mere  usurpation  :  without  the 
latter,  it  is  a  mere  nullity.  All  that  has  been  advanced  con¬ 
cerning  the  knowledge  of  the  mystery  of  God’s  existence  and 
purposes,  as  developed  through  the  Church,  by  means  of  the 
gift  to  her  of  the  Son  of  God  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world  :  is 
equally  true,  according  to  its  own  manner,  of  the  gift  of  the  di¬ 
vine  Spirit  to  the  Church  to  be  the  Sanctifier,  alike  of  her,  of 
her  children,  and  of  her  acts.  The  fitness  of  her  children  to 
partake  of  the  blessings  she  is  capable  of  bestowing  on  them,  as 
well  as  their  fitness  to  be  the  instrument  of  bestowing  these  same 
blessings  upon  the  world  :  depends  upon  the  efficacy  of  the  work 
of  the  Spirit,  in  each  one  of  them.  And  the  ability  of  the 
Church  to  bless,  either  her  children  or  the  world,  depends  upon 
the  efficacious  working  of  the  same  divine  Spirit,  in  her  own 
bosom.  And  again,  the  efficacy  which  abides  in  her  acts,  her 
ordinances,  her  sacraments,  her  communion  of  Saints,  her  exer¬ 
cise  of  discipline,  her  proclamation  of  truth,  her  continued  sup¬ 
plications,  and  her  abounding  charities  :  results,  absolutely,  from 
the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

2.  There  is,  however,  a  great  difference  in  the  manner  of  be- 
stowment,  between  the  gift  of  the  Son,  and  that  of  the  Spirit. 
The  Son  is  given  simply,  freely,  and  sovereignly,  in  the  covenant 
of  God’s  eternal  love.  The  Spirit  is  given  not  only  as  the  prom- 


500  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

ised,  but  as  the  purchased  Spirit.  Christ  did  not  give  himself 
for  his  Church,  because  the  Spirit  would  sanctify  the  Church  : 
but  the  Spirit  sanctifies  the  Church,  because  Christ  has  pur¬ 
chased  it  with  his  blood.  It  is  the  work  of  the  Son,  which 
draws  after  it  the  work  of  the  Spirit :  the  Gift  of  the  Son,  upon 
which  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  depends.  He  is  sent  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son  :  and  his  coming  is  the  crowning  proof  of  the  glori¬ 
fication  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  certainty  of  the  eternal  triumph 
of  divine  grace.1  There  is  a  great  difference,  also,  in  the  man¬ 
ner  of  operation.  For,  on  the  one  hand,  the  operation  of  Christ 
is  external  to  us  :  while  on  the  other,  the  operation  of  the  Spirit 
is  internal  with  us.  Or  to  express  this  difference  in  other  words  ; 
the  operation  of  Christ  is  specially  with  God,  in  reference  to  us  ; 
wdiile  that  of  the  Spirit  is  specially  in  us,  with  reference  to 
Christ.  The  work  of  Christ  changes  our  estate  and  relations  to¬ 
wards  God  :  that  of  the  Spirit  changes  our  nature  in  a  way  of 
conformity  to  God. — Still  further,  there  is  a  great  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  relation  of  the  Son  and  that  of  the  Spirit,  to  human 
nature,  to  the  plan  of  Salvation,  to  the  Church,  and  to  the  world. 
Thus  : 

(a)  As  to  human  nature,  the  immense  difference  is,  that  the 
Son  has  taken  our  nature  into  personal  and  eternal  union  with 
,the  divine  nature  :  and  in  that  manner  human  nature,  in  its  to¬ 
tality,  becomes  partaker  with  the  divine  nature.  But  the  Spirit, 
remaining  separate  from  and  free  of  any  personal  union  with  hu¬ 
man  nature,  so  renews  that  nature  in  the  divine  image  in  every 
individual  who  is  elect  of  God  and  redeemed  bv  Christ  :  that  all 

V 

of  them  are  made  partakers  of  the  divine  nature,  and  are  filled 
with  all  the  fulness  of  God.3 

(b)  As  to  the  plan  of  Salvation,  the  difference  is,  that  Christ 
as  the  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  has  actually  wrought 
it  out  as  God-man,  in  his  estate  of  Humiliation,  and  administers 
it  as  God-man,  in  his  estate  of  infinite  Exaltation.  While  the 
Spirit,  continuing  simply  God,  applies  the  whole  work  of  Christ 
and  makes  it  all  effectual,  through  the  merits  and  in  the  name 
of  Christ,  quickening,  enlightening,  sanctifying,  and  comforting 
the  Church,  and  all  her  children,  by  means  of  what  Christ  has 
done  and  now  administers.3 


i  Acts,  it  ‘passim. 


2  2  Pet.,  i.  4;  Eph.,  iil  19. 


3  Rom.,  viii.  1-1 7. 


CHAP.  XXVII.] 


GIFT  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 


501 


(c)  As  to  the  Church,  the  difference  is,  that  the  relation  of 
the  Son  is  that  of  elder  brother  to  every  child  of  the  God  and 
Father  of  all  ;  that  of  husband,  head  and  Lord  to  the  body  of 
Christ,  which  they  unitedly  compose  ;  that  of  Mediator  of  the 
eternal  Covenant,  and  as  such  the  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King  in 
Zion  :  who  having  accomplished  all  that  appertained  to  him  in 
humiliation,  now  administers  from  the  throne  of  God  all  that 
appertains  to  his  estate  of  exaltation.  While  the  relation  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  Church  is,  that  he  is  the  Vicar  of  Christ 
here  actually  and  divinely  present  with  her,  and  with  all  her 
children  :  working  in  them  to  will  and  to  do  according  to  the 
good  pleasure  of  God,  as  manifested  in  Jesus  Christ.  Which  he 
does  with  authority  so  plenary,  that  to  resist  and  grieve  him  is  to 
shut  ourselves  out  from  Christ  ;  and  to  blaspheme  against  him, 
is  the  same  thing  as  to  make  our  bed  in  hell ;  while  to  honour, 
love,  and  obey  Christ  is  the  infallible  means  of  increasing  the 
gifts  and  graces  of  the  Spirit,  to  the  greater  glory,  through  the 
Church,  of  her  divine  Lord.1 

(i d )  As  to  the  world,  the  difference  is,  that  the  Son,  who 
made  it  and  all  that  is  therein  by  the  word  of  his  power,  and 
who  is  able  to  save  it  by  the  word  of  his  grace,  rules  it  with  infi¬ 
nite  dominion  as  head  over  all  things,  and  head  of  the  Church  ; 
by  his  revealed  will  in  the  Scriptures  commanding  all  men  to 
believe  and  repent  that  they  may  be  saved,  and  making  known 
to  the  Universe,  through  his  Church,  his  manifold  wisdom  ;  by 
his  secret  will,  upon  which  his  adorable  providence  proceeds,  con¬ 
ducting  all  things  to  the  infinite  issue  which  God  purposed  in 
himself,  from  all  eternity.  While  the  Spirit  has  to  the  same 
fallen  world,  the  relation  of  its  divine  Reprover,  convincing  it  of 
sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment.  Of  sin,  because  they 
believe  not  in  Christ  ;  of  righteousness,  because  Christ  is  gone 
to  his  Father,  and  is  seen  no  more  ;  of  judgment,  because  the 
prince  of  this  world  is  judged.  All  the  while  being  the  Spirit 
of  truth — glorifying  Christ — and  comforting  his  Church  and  his 
brethren,  and  guiding  them  into  all  truth.2 

3.  All  the  promises,  mercies  and  gifts  of  God,  are  in  Jesus 
Christ.  Out  of  him  God  is  a  consuming  fire  to  fallen  creatures. 
The  name  of  Jesus  is  the  only  name  given  under  heaven  amongst 
men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved.  Still,  there  was  a  reason, 

1  John,  xiv.  15,-17 ;  1  John,  iii.  23,  24  a  John,  xvi.  7-15. 


502  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

which  God  has  clearly  stated,  which  led  him  to  bestow  on  fallen 
man  the  unspeakable  gift  of  his  only  begotten  Son  ;  and  we  must 
beware  lest  we  fall  into  the  error  of  supposing,  that  it  was  this 
gift  itself  which  produced  God's  purposes  of  mercy  to  us.  It  is 
not  because  he  has  given  his  Son  to  the  world,  that  God  so  loves 
the  world  ;  for  then,  while  the  reason  for  the  love,  after  the  gift, 
might  be  clear,  no  motive  for  the  gift  itself  would  be  exhibited. 
The  method  of  the  unsearchable  riches  of  God’s  grace,  as  ex¬ 
plained  by  himself  is,  that  Christ  loved  the  Church  and  gave 
himself  for  it  but  that  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy,  not  only  so 
loved  us,  that  on  account  of  that  great  love  he  quickened  us  to¬ 
gether  with  Christ,  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sins  ;2  but  this 
amazing  love  of  God  towards  us,  was  manifested  in  the  very  fact 
that  he  sent  his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might 
live  through  him.3  And  Jesus  himself,  when  expressly  recount¬ 
ing  the  grounds  and  objects  of  his  coming  in  the  flesh,  says  that 
it  was  God’s  love  for  the  world,  that  caused  him  to  give  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish 
but  have  everlasting  life.4  This,  then,  is  the  order  of  these 
mysteries  of  divine  grace  ;  the  infinite  beneficence  of  God,  is  the 
source  of  our  salvation  ;  this  manifested  itself  in  the  unsearch¬ 
able  love  he  bore  to  fallen  sinners  of  the  human  race  ;  this  love 
exhibited  itself  in  the  eternal  covenant  of  grace  between  the 
Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  the  outbirth  of  this 
eternal  Covenant  is  the  whole  Mediatoral  work  of  Immanuel,  with 
all  the  results  thereof  ;  the  sending  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  upon  the 
glorification  of  the  Mediator,  after  his  work  of  humiliation  was 
over,  was  the  immediate  result  both  of  that  glorification,  and  of 
the  eternal  covenant  ;  of  which  sending  of  the  Spirit,  the  actual 
result  was  the  Gospel  Church,  together  with  all  it  has  received 
with  the  Spirit,  and  by  means  of  it  ;  and  the  general  and  certain 
result,  complete  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  total  exclu¬ 
sion  of  sinners  from  God’s  mercy,  except  through  him,  by  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

4.  This  divine  exposition  clears  the  whole  relation  of  the 
Spirit  to  the  work  of  Christ  on  one  side,  and  to  the  Gospel 
Church  on  the  other,  of  all  obscurity.  The  Spirit  considered  as 
the  author  ot  the  Hew  Creation,  under  all  possible  aspects  of 
that  creation,  has  relation  to  the  Godhead  as  the  third  Person 

1  Eph.,  v.  25.  2  Eph.,  ii.  4,  5.  3 1  John,  iv.  9.  4  John,  iii.  15. 


CHAP.  XXVII.] 


GIFT  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 


503 


thereof,  to  the  covenant  of  grace  as  a  party  thereto,  and  very 
especially  to  the  Son  considered  as  the  Mediator  of  that  cove¬ 
nant  ;  but  considered  in  a  special  manner  as  the  gift  of  God 
to  the  Gospel  Church,  the  Spirit  has  direct  and  inseparable  rele¬ 
vancy  to  the  work  of  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  The 
operation  of  the  Spirit,  therefore,  through  the  Church,  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Spirit  in  the  Church,  must  depend,  always,  upon 
the  position  of  the  Church  with  reference  to  the  person  and  work 
of  Christ  ;  that  is,  upon  the  amount  of  its  actual  knowledge  of  the 
Redeemer,  and  the  state  of  its  actual  faith  concerning  him.  For 
while  it  is  universally  true,  that  all  who  are  saved,  are  so  by  means 
of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and,  therefore,  through  the  merits  of 
Christ,  applied  to  them  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  still,  the  clearness, 
the  fulness,  and  the  power  of  any  particular  dispensation,  or  age, 
or  saint,  with  reference  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  could  not,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  exceed  the  actual  knowledge  of  Christ,  and 
the  actual  faith  thereby  possible  in  him.  And  we  are  thus  fur¬ 
nished  with  an  explanation  of  all  those  differences  observable  in 
the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit,  under  successive  dispensations  of 
the  Church,  and  during  different  periods,  and  even  in  different 
individuals  under  the  same  dispensation.  Whatever  views  we 
may  see  fit  to  hold  concerning  the  sovereignty  of  divine  grace, 
or  the  ability  of  man  to  that  which  is  acceptable  to  God  ;  it  is 
certain  that  all  the  manifestations  of  that  grace  of  God,  which 
bringeth  salvation,  are  by  means  of  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ 
to  us  and  in  us  ;  both  of  which  are  accomplished  only  by  the 
divine  Spirit.1 

5.  As  soon,  then,  as  it  is  admitted  that  the  Gospel  Dispensa¬ 
tion  is  more  clear  and  powerful,  than  the  dispensations  which 
preceded  it ;  there  remains  no  possibility  of  doubting  that  the 
gift  of  the  Spirit  under  it  exceeds,  in  the  same  degree,  all  that 
went  before.  The  more  of  Christ,  the  more  of  the  Spirit  also. 
So  that  what  took  place  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  what  has 
been  taking  place  ever  since  ;  is  no  more  than  is  inevitable,  if 
the  resurrection  and  ascension  of  the  Saviour,  be  once  admitted  : 
no  more  than  the  ancient  prophets  had  foretold  :  and  Jesus  had 
taught  his  Apostles  in  the  most  explicit  manner,  to  await  it  as 
their  unction  for  their  great  ministry.2  For  the  Church  of  the 
living  God  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth  :  and  however 

J  Tit.,  ii.  11-15;  iii.  3-7.  2  John,  xvi.  7-16;  Acts,  i.  3-9;  ii.  14—33. 


504 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


great  may  be  that  mystery  of  godliness  which  is  the  sum  of  that 
blessed  truth,  the  elements  which  compose  it  are  beyond  all  con¬ 
troversy.  For  the  sum  both  of  the  truth  and  of  the  mystery,  is 
revealed  as  contained  in  these  six  incontrovertible  propositions, 
namely  :  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  Spirit,  seen 
of  angels,  preached  unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the  world, 
received  up  into  glory.1  Of  these  six  propositions,  five  are,  in  a 
manner  expletive  of  the  first  The  second  is  to  the  effect,  that 
the  whole  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  unto  the  whole  person,  work 
and  glory  of  the  God-man — one  vast,  perpetual,  perfect  justi¬ 
fication.  And  so  the  Saviour,  the  Church,  the  truth,  and  the 
mystery  of  godliness,  are  all  divinely  attested  by  the  Spirit  :  and 
the  ends  designed  in  all  are  made  complete  and  effectual,  through 
him. 

6.  In  a  peculiar  manner,  therefore,  the  Church  of  God,  after 
the  day  of  Pentecost  and  until  the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of 
man,  is  a  Dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  a  Dispensation 
administered  by  the  glorified  Eedeemer,  and  executed  by  the 
Divine  Spirit,  through  grace  and  truth, — and  as  a  Gospel ;  and 
is  declared  by  the  word  of  God  to  be  far  more  glorious  in  all  re¬ 
spects,  than  any  that  has  preceded  it :  amongst  other  things, 
in  the  completeness  of  our  knowledge  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and 
the  corresponding  power,  fulness,  and  extent  of  the  saving  work 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.2  Nor  is  anything  in  the  teachings  of  Christ 
more  explicit  than  what  relates  especially  to  this  subject  :  any¬ 
thing  in  the  divine  record  concerning  the  establishment,  and 
early  life  of  the  Christian  Church,  more  distinctly  explained.  It 
is  expedient  for  you,  said  Jesus,  that  I  go  away  :  for  if  I  go  not 
away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I  depart,  I 
will  send  him  unto  you.3  And  then  he  explained,  as  I  have  be¬ 
fore  shown,  how  this  promised  Spirit  would  glorify  him,  both  as 
he  would  be  the  Reprover  of  the  world,  and  the  spirit  of  truth 
in  all  believers  :  and  added  the  emphatic  promise  of  his  own  re¬ 
turn — the  great  promise  of  the  New,  as  his  advent  was  of  the 
Old  Testament.4  And  amongst  his  last  words  to  his  Apostles 
were  these,  Behold  I  send  the  promise  of  my  Father  upon  you  : 
but  tarry  ye  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  until  ye  be  endued  with 
power  from  on  high.5  And  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  the 

1  1  Tim.,  iii.  15,  16  2  2  Cor.,  iii.  passim. 

3  John,  xvi.  7.  4  John,  xvi.  16  ;  Col.,  iii.  1;  1  John,  iii.  2. 

5  Luke,  xxiv.  49  ;  Acts,  L  3,  4 ;  Joel,  ii.  28  ;  Isa.,  xliv.  3. 


505 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  GIFT  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

great  promise  was  fulfilled,  Peter  standing  undismayed  amidst 
the  overwhelming  proofs  of  God's  immediate  presence,  explained 
to  the  wondering  multitude  gathered  around  him  in  the  temple 
from  every  quarter  of  the  earth,  the  great  miracle  and  the  great 
truth  it  attested.  This,  said  he,  is  that  which  was  spoken  by 
the  prophet  Joel,  It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  saith 
God,  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.  This  Jesus, 
whom  ye  have  taken  and  with  wicked  hands  have  crucified  and 
slain,  God  hath  raised  up,  whereof  we  are  witnesses.  Therefore, 
being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and  having  received  of 
the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  hath  shed  forth 
this,  which  ye  now  see  and  hear.1  It  is  added  most  significantly, 
by  the  sacred  historian,  that  the  same  day  about  three  thousand 
souls  gladly  receiving  the  word,  were  baptized  and  added  to 
them.  And  from  that  to  this,  and  from  this  day  onward,  as  long 
as  these  last  days  shall  continue,  in  the  sense  divinely  limited  : 
the  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit  upon  all  flesh,  is  the  promise 
of  the  Father  upon  which  the  continuance  of  the  Church  de¬ 
pends  :  and  from  which  Joel,  and  Peter,  and  Paul,  each  contem¬ 
plating  that  promise  from  a  different  point  of  view,  unite  in 
drawing  the  same  grand  conclusion  of  practical  grace,  Whoso¬ 
ever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.2  And 
with  this  agrees  the  wide  declaration  of  John  ;  that  the  life 
which  was  in  Christ,  was  not  only  the  light  of  men  :  but  was 
the  true  light,  that  lightetli  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world.3  Alike  in  duration,  in  extent,  and  in  efficacy,  the  Promise 
of  the  Father,  the  Redemption  of  the  Son,  and  the  Work  of  the 
Spirit,  go  hand  in  hand  across  all  these  last  days,  during  whose 
continuance  the  Gospel  Church  has  in  charge,  to  preach  the  gos¬ 
pel  to  every  creature.4 

7.  There  is  a  distinction  to  be  made  between  the  manifesta¬ 
tions  of  the  Spirit.  For  though  every  manifestation  of  him  is 
a  gift  of  God,  and  every  one  is  in  order  that  they  also  receive  it 
may  profit  withal :  yet  there  are  diversities  of  gifts  by  the  same 
Spirit,  differences  of  administration  by  the  same  Lord,  diversities 
of  operation  by  the  same  God,  which  worketh  all  in  all.  And 
the  body  also  is  one — though  its  members  like  its  gifts,  bo  both 
numerous  and  diverse.  All  are  baptized  in  one  body,  by  one 

2  Joel,  ii.  32  ;  Acts,  ii.  21  ;  Rom.,  x.  13. 

4  Mark,  xvi.  15. 


i  Acts,  ii.  16,  17,  32,  33. 
3  John,  L  8.  9. 


506  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

Spirit — all  are  made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit — everything  being 
wrought  by  one  and  the  self-same  Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man 
severally  as  he  will.  This  distinguishing  peculiarity  of  our  di¬ 
vine  religion,  and  of  the  power  which  gives  it  all  its  vitality,  has 
been  clearly  and  systematically  explained  by  the  Spirit  himself.1 
I  have  already  pointed  out  that  every  operation  of  the  Spirit 
that  has  relation  to  the  covenant  of  grace,  has  also  immediate 
relevancy  to  Christ :  and  that  his  saving  operations  bear  a  direct 
relation  to  the  clearness  and  fulness  of  our  knowledge  of  Christ. 
But  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  some  of  the  greatest  and 
most  indispensable  operations  of  the  Spirit,  considered  as  under 
the  covenant  of  grace,  and  as  immediately  relevant  to  Christ, 
and  as  directly  indispensable  to  the  Church,  and  to  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  men  :  are  not  of  that  kind  which  disclose  him  as  the  in¬ 
dwelling  life  of  .the  Church,  or  which  disclose  him  as  the  Quick¬ 
ening  Spirit  in  the  human  soul,  leading  it  into  all  truth,  working 
in  it  all  holiness,  and  diffusing  through  it  divine  love  and  peace. 
These  manifestations  are  distinguished  by  calling  them  Extraor¬ 
dinary.  Examples  of  them,  having  immediate  connection  with 
the  gift  of  the  Spirit  to  the  Church  by  God,  are  the  most  re¬ 
markable  of  all  that  are  revealed  to  man.  It  was  in  one  of  these 
that  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord  received  the  Spirit,  as  the  prom¬ 
ise  of  the  Father,  so  signally  announced  by  Christ :  and  through 
his  unction  were  anointed  and  qualified  for  their  great  work,  as 
the  immediate  founders  of  the  Gospel  Church.  It  was  in  one 
of  these,  that  they  and  the  other  servants  of  Jesus  Christ,  who 
spake  and  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who 
had  so  long  withheld  all  manifestations  of  this  kind  :  made  those 
divine  utterances,  which  are  recorded  in  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures,  wherein  the  revelation  of  God  is  completed.  It  was 
in  one  of  these,  that  miraculous  power  was  added  to  miraculous 
authority  and  miraculous  insight  :  whereby,  through  signs  and 
wonders  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  authority  of  the  action, 
the  truth  of  the  utterance,  and  the  fitness  of  the  persons  chosen 
by  Christ,  were  all  divinely  attested.  It  has  seemed  good  to  the 
Head  of  the  Church,  that  these  manifestations  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  should  be  permanently  continued  only  in  their  effects. 
And  the  whole  career  of  the  Church  since  they  ceased  to  be 
made,  sufficiently  attests  how  thoroughly  her  very  existence  de- 

1  1  Cor.,  xii.  passim. 


CHAP.  XXVII. 1  GIFT  OF  THE  SPIRIT.  507 

J  ✓ 

pended  on  their  "bestowal  at  first  :  and  how  completely  all  her 
fitness  still  depends,  in  their  permanent  effects,  upon  their  orig¬ 
an  d  efficacy. 

8.  But  it  is  by  the  saving  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that 
all  Extraordinary  Manifestations  of  himself,  can  be  savingly  re¬ 
alized  in  the  soul,  and  by  the  Church.  The  truth  revealed  by 
inspired  men,  remains  ;  the  work  of  the  Apostles  in  taking  down 
the  fabric  of  the  preceding  dispensation,  and  reconstructing  the 
Church,  also  remains  ;  the  signs  and  wonders,  and  diverse  mira¬ 
cles,  and  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  are  no  less  real  now,  than  when 
thevwere  first  manifested.  The  whole  of  these  effects  of  the  Ex- 

V 

traordinary  Manifestations  of  the  Spirit,  are  made  efficacious  to  us 
for  salvation,  precisely  in  the  same  manner  they  were  made  effi¬ 
cacious  to  those  who  personally  witnessed  them  :  in  all  instances 
not  by  the  Extraordinary  Work  of  the  Spirit  which  produced 
them,  and  which  has  ceased  from  the  Church  ;  but  by  his  gra¬ 
cious,  quickening,  enlightening,  and  sanctifying  work,  still  pow¬ 
erfully  wrought.  And  the  mode  in  which  the  merits  of  Christ 
are  applied  to  men,  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  and  the  efficacy  which 
he  gives  to  the  preached  Gospel,  and  to  all  the  ordinances  of 
God ;  are  exactly  the  same,  as  when  the  Church  manifested  her 
early  life  in  her  present  form,  amidst  miracles  and  inspiration 
under  the  teaching  and  rule  of  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord.  In 
addition  to  these  we  have  long  centuries  of  God's  most  glorious 
providence  developed  to  his  Church — and  of  his  wonderful  work¬ 
ing  in  the  souls  of  men.  The  divine  and  saving  element  provided 
in  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  permanent  and  constant  ;  sov¬ 
ereign,  always,  in  the  actual  operation.  The  Extraordinary  ele¬ 
ment,  provided  in  the  divine  gift — not  permanent  in  its  manifes¬ 
tation,  but  permanent  in  the  effects  of  that  manifestation  :  which 
also  are  made  efficacious,  through  the  manifestation  which  is  per¬ 
manent.  And  those  effects  survive  through  all  generations — and 
upon  every  generation  is  accumulated,  besides,  all  the  treasures 
of  practical  knowledge  and  grace,  which  all  preceding  generations 
yield  :  these  last  accumulating  in  force,  under  the  continually 
increasing  proofs  of  the  presence  and  power  of  God. 

9.  The  relation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  Church  is,  there¬ 
fore,  in  every  sense  vital :  and  the  doctrine  and  life  of  the  Church 
with  reference  to  this  great  gift  of  God,  are  completely  decisive 
of  its  state.  Independently  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  there  can  be 


inal  reality 


508  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

no  Christian  Church — no  Christian  man.  It  was  so  always.  But 
under  the  present  Dispensation,  there  is  an  emphasis  in  this  great 
truth,  derived  from  all  that  is  peculiar  to  it,  in  addition  to  all 
that  is  common  to  every  dispensation.  And  it  is  the  more  im¬ 
portant  that  this  should  be  carefully  considered  by  every  believer, 
because  the  doctrine  of  the  Spirit,  in  itself  and  with  reference  to 
the  Church,  is  continually  assailed,  from  the  most  opposite  quar¬ 
ters,  and  upon  the  most  diverse  grounds.  Nor  is  there  any  point 
upon  which  the  truth  and  the  Church  can  be  assailed,  under  more 
deceptions  appearances  of  eveiy  sort ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand, 
any  point  upon  which  all  possible  assaults  can  be  more  effectu¬ 
ally  resisted,  as  soon  as  they  are  disclosed,  both  by  the  everlast¬ 
ing  testimony  of  God,  and  by  the  inward  convictions  of  every  one 
of  his  children,  and  by  the  true  life  of  the  Church  itself.  It  is 
here,  therefore,  that  the  Church  is  most  secure  when  she  lives 
near  to  God — most  exposed  when  she  sinks  into  indifference,  or 
is  carried  away  by  fanaticism.  The  more  she  cherishes  and  uses 
this  great  gift,  the  more  she  increases  while  she  scatters ;  and  the 
more  she  withholds  both  its  diligent  use,  and  its  free  bestowment, 
the  more  she  tends  to  poverty.  The  waters  of  eternal  life  are 
free  for  the  whole  family  of  man.  The  Spirit  saith  to  all  that 
are  athirst — come  !  Let  the  Bride,  also,  say — come  !  As  she 
leads  her  children  beside  the  still  waters,  and  teaches  them  that 
they  are  the  waters  of  eternal  life  ;  let  it  dwell  in  her  heart  that 
the  last  exhortation  of  her  Lord  is,  to  be  urgent  that  all  men 
take  of  them  freely.1 

III. — 1.  The  third  Supreme  Gift  of  God  to  his  Church,  is  his 
Written  Word  :  concerning  which  it  remains  to  treat  briefly, 
considered  in  that  light.  It  is  in  the  third  aspect  of  the  King¬ 
dom  of  God,  namely,  the  aspect  of  it  as  held  forth  in  its  mem¬ 
bers,  and  therefore  called  his  Church ;  that  the  revelation  of  the 
will  of  God  concerning  Salvation,  and  especially  that  revelation 
considered  in  its  written  and  permanent  form,  is  always  exhibited 
as  the  Gift  of  God  to  his  Kingdom.  Considered  under  the  first 
aspect  of  that  Kingdom, — namely,  as  the  Messianic  Kingdom  : 
Christ,  the  Head  of  the  Kingdom,  and  the  Mediator  between 
God  and  man,  and  so  the  Saviour  of  the  world — is  the  great  Gift 
of  God  to  it.  And  considered  as  the  New  Creation,  which  is  its 
second  aspect :  the  Divine  Spirit,  sent  from  the  Father  and  the 

1  Rev.,  xxii.  17. 


GIFT  OF  THE  WORD. 


509 


CHAP.  XXVII.] 

Son,  whose  work  is  the  efficient  cause  of  all  salvation,  is  always 
exhibited  as  the  Gift  of  God  to  his  Kingdom.  These  gifts  of 
God  have  a  necessary  and  a  perpetual  relation  to  each  other,  and 
to  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Though  we  can  distinguish,  in  thought, 
between  the  Kingdom  itself  and  the  aspects  of  it  thus  presented  ; 
and  cannot  confound,  in  thought,  the  Kingdom  with  the  gifts 
bestowed  on  it — much  less  can  we  confound  these  gifts  with  each 
other  :  yet,  under  the  whole  oeconomy  of  salvation,  the  Kingdom 
is  not  manifested  independently  of  all  three  of  these  supreme 
gifts  of  God  to  it :  and  throughout  that  oeconomy  they  are  all 
manifested  unto  Salvation,  always  in  precisely  the  same  relation 
to  each  other.  With  regard  to  the  Written  Word,  it  is  very 
certain  that  none  of  it  is  older  than  the  age  of  Moses  ;  unless 
the  Book  of  Job  belongs  to  the  period  between  the  giving  of  cir¬ 
cumcision  and  the  giving  of  the  Passover.  If  this  exception  be 
insisted  on,  even  then,  the  written  word  began  after  the  distinct 
organization  of  the  visible  Church  began.  And  from  Moses  until 
the  last  inspired  writer,  the  divine  organization  and  the  revela¬ 
tion  in  a  permanent  form,  went  on  ;  till  both  were  delivered  up 
in  their  perfect  and  final  condition,  and  the  Gospel  Church  stood 
before  men,  invested  with  all  divine  gifts.  Commensurate,  too, 
with  the  rise  of  a  permanent  revelation  to  the  Church,  and  a  per¬ 
manent  organization  of  it:  God  laid,  in  the  miraculous  preserva¬ 
tion  of  the  first-born  in  Egypt,  the  foundation  of  priesthood  and 
ministry  for  his  gathered  Church — -and  at  Sinai  restated  on  tables 
of  stone,  and  uttered  audibly  to  all  Israel,  as  the  foundation  of 
all  his  written  revelation,  that  moral  law  which  he  had  written, 
at  the  Creation,  in  the  nature  of  man.  So  that  the  divine  Teacher 
and  his  Word  of  truth,  and  the  divine  Spirit  which  justifies  him 
and  makes  it  effectual,  and  the  organic  visibility  of  the  divine 
Kindom,  and  the  permanent  institution  of  a  ministry  between 
God  and  man,  with  God's  holy  will  and  holy  ordinances  committed 
to  them  :  stand  in  immediate  and  indissoluble  relation  to  each 
other,  in  the  origin  as  well  as  in  the  entire  progress  of  the  King¬ 
dom  of  God,  considered  as  visibly  separated  from  the  world  and 
organized  as  the  Church  of  Christ. 

2.  Whatever  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  done,  or  will  do  for 
his  Church,  and  by  consequence  the  foundation  of  all  that  the 
Spirit  has  done,  or  will  do,  in  her  and  by  her  :  has  no  other  infal¬ 
lible  record  and  repository,  accessible  to  man  in  his  mortal  condi- 


510  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

tion,  than  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  whole  of  them  is  declared 
to  he  given  by  inspiration  of  God  :  to  be  spoken  by  holy  men  of 
God  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost :  to  be  able  to  make 
men  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ; 
to  be  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruc¬ 
tion  in  righteousness  ;  to  be  the  means  whereby  the  man  of  God 
may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works.1  These 
Scriptures,  therefore,  holy  in  themselves,  and  in  all  they  teach, 
divine  in  their  origin  and  in  their  contents  ;  are  a  complete  reve¬ 
lation  from  God,  of  the  great  end  of  our  being,  and  of  the  way 
in  which  we  may  accomplish  it.  They  are,  as  to  the  form  of 
them,  invested  with  divine  certainty  ;  as  to  the  matter  of  them, 
with  divine  authority.  And  thus  they  are  the  only  infallible  rule 
whereby  men  may  know  what  duty  God  requires  of  them,  and 
what  they  ought  to  believe  concerning  him.  In  their  present 
form,  they  present  to  the  Gospel  Church  the  means  of  knowing 
the  will  of  God,  in  some  important  respects,  different  from  what 
existed  under  all  previous  dispensations — widely  as  their  several 
conditions  may  have  differed  from  each  other.  God’s  Kingdom 
existed  in  this  world  for  many  centuries,  without  possessing  any 
written  revelation  of  his  will ;  and  it  might  have  existed  con¬ 
tinually,  in  that  condition — through  the  same  divine  means  that 
actually  sustained  it  so  long — or  through  whatever  other  resources 
of  the  infinite  wisdom,  power,  and  grace  of  God.  As  soon  as 
God  began  to  separate  his  Kingdom — visibly  and  organically 
from  the  world  which  he  rejected,  he  began,  also,  to  bestow  on  it 
the  permanent  knowledge  of  his  will,  in  a  written  form — as  I 
have  before  shown.  But  under  the  Mosaic  Dispensation,  these 
written  revelations  of  the  will  of  God  were  given,  little  by  little, 
through  many  centuries  ;  whereas  we  possess  the  complete  and 
final  record  of  his  whole  will  concerning  our  salvation.  To  esti¬ 
mate  with  some  degree  of  certainty,  the  practical  effect  of  a  dif¬ 
ference  which  seems  to  be  so  great ;  there  are  other  elements  of 
the  problem,  and  they  decisive,  which  are  to  be  considered.  The 
word  of  God,  when  unwritten,  was  adequate  for  the  guidance  of 
the  ancient  people  of  God  in  the  way  of  life  ;  and  the  successive 
p  'rtions,  as  written,  were  adequate  in  the  same  way,  to  the  Jewish 
Church.  But  after  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were  complete, 
and  the  Jewish  Church  and  people  had  crucified  the  Lord  of  life, — 

1  2  Pet.,  iii.  10;  2  Tim.,  iii.  15-17. 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  GIFT  OF  THE  WORD.  511 

the  whole  became  a  sealed  hook  unto  them — even  to  this  day. 
And  now  God's  entire  word,  in  its  perfect  form,  does  not  avail, 
of  itself,  to  keep  the  nominal  professors  of  the  religion  of  Jesus 
from  fatal  heresy  and  iniquity,  much  less  to  subdue  his  avowed 
enemies.  We  must  add,  therefore,  on  one  side,  the  extraordinary 
presence  of  God,  in  his  ancient  Church,  and  the  constant  mani¬ 
festation  of  miracles,  prophecy,  and  immediate  divine  inspira¬ 
tion  ;  and  on  the  other,  the  mighty  increase  of  the  saving  work 
of  the  Spirit,  commensurate  with  the  increase  of  the  saving  reve¬ 
lation  of  Christ,  in  the  Gospel  Church.  So  far  from  diminishing 
the  pre-eminence  of  the  Gospel  Church  state — these  added  con¬ 
siderations  seem  to  increase  it  greatly  ;  and  to  point  out  to  us, 
in  the  sum  of  its  relations  to  Christ,  to  the  Spirit,  and  to  the 
written  Word — the  ground  of  that  undeniable  supremacy  over 
all  preceding  dispensations,  which  is  so  clearly  asserted  in  the 
Gospel.1 

3.  With  the  Written  Word  complete  ;  with  Christ  crucified, 
and  then  infinitely  exalted  ;  with  the  Spirit  actually  poured  out 
according  to  the  promise  of  the  Father,  actually  dwelling  in  the 
Church,  with  all  his  saving  influences;  with  her  own  organization 
complete,  according  to  the  will  of  God  ;  and  with  the  accumu¬ 
lated  fruits  and  experience  of  eighteen  centuries  of  labour,  of 
warfare,  of  witness-bearing,  of  suffering,  and  of  rejoicing,  as  the 
Bride  of  the  Lamb  :  the  Church  of  God  presents  herself  to  the 
actual  generation  of  perishing  sinners — with  the  one  Great  Mes¬ 
sage,  repeated  through  all  ages,  and  in  all  tongues, — Deny  thy¬ 
self — take  up  thy  Cross — follow  Jesus  Christ  in  the  regeneration! 
Her  fundamental  means  of  grace,  is  the  Knowledge  of  this 
Written  Word.  Her  highest  duty,  is  to  hold  and  teach  the 
whole  counsel  of  God,  therein  revealed.  The  great  office  of  the 
ministry  given  to  her  by  God,  is  to  preach  this  blessed  Gospel — 
which  is  the  power  of  God  unto  Salvation,  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth.  And  the  highest  necessity,  as  well  as  the  chief  duty,  of 
every  one  that  hears  the  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  glory  to  God 
in  the  highest,  on  earth  peace,  good  will  towards  men  ;  is  to 
arise  from  the  dust,  and  hail  the  blessed  day,  and  hasten  to  the 
light  of  Zion  and  to  the  brightness  of  her  rising.  For  here  is 
that  truth,  of  which  this  Church  of  God  is  the  pillar  and  ground. 
Here  is  that  household  of  faith,  of  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the 

!  Gal.,  iii.  and  iv.  passim ;  lleb.,  vii.  passim. 


512 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


chief  Corner  Stone  ;  of  which  all  the  Prophets  and  Apostles  have 
been  successive  foundations;  in  which  all  true  believers  are  fellow- 
citizens  with  the  saints  :  which  the  Holy  Spirit  builds  together 
as  a  habitation  for  God  ;  and  whose  life  is  first  given,  and  then 
perpetually  nourished,  through  that  incorruptible  and  imperish¬ 
able  truth.1 

4.  From  the  beginning  of  the  world  God's  will  was  made 
known  to  man,  in  a  supernatural  manner,  concerning  all  that 
relates  to  his  spiritual  advancement.  It  was  so  before  the  fall 
of  man  :  still  more  emphatically  so  after  the  fall.  Through  all 
the  centuries  the  revelation  of  divine  truth  continually  increased  ; 
and  it  is  capable  of  being  shown — as  I  think  I  have  shown 
in  a  former  Treatise — what  was  the  aggregate  state  of  divine 
Knowledge  among  men,  at  every  great  era  of  the  past — and 
what  was  added  by  God  from  period  to  period.  At  length,  all 
that  had  been  revealed  was  reduced,  by  men  chosen  and  inspired 
of  God,  into  a  written  form,  and  delivered  to  his  ancient  Church 
as  soon  as  it  was  completely  organized  :  and  thenceforward, 
during  many  centuries,  as  further  revelations  were  made  to  it  by 
men  chosen  and  inspired  by  God,  they  were  reduced  to  writing 
and  delivered  to  the  Church.  And  coincidently  with  the  complete 
organization  and  establishment  of  the  Church  in  the  gospel  form 
of  it,  and  her  complete  possession  of  the  whole  revealed  truth 
of  God  unto  Salvation,  inspiration  from  God  ceased  altogether  ; 
and  with  it,  the  power  of  miracles,  and  the  spirit  of  prophecy, 
by  which  God  was  accustomed  to  attest  the  extraordinary  voca¬ 
tion  of  bis  divine  messengers.  And  now  for  nearly  eighteen 
centuries,  this  Gospel  Church,  visible,  universal,  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  has  possessed  this  inestimable  gift  of  God  in  this 
complete  form.  Thus  considered,  the  subject  presents  itself  to 
us  under  two  distinct  aspects.  In  the  first  place,  this  complete 
revelation  must  be  contemplated  as  a  perfect  system  of  divine 
truth — -independently  of  any  divine  efficacy  external  to  the 
written  Word,  as,  for  example,  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  and  inde¬ 
pendently  of  the  effects  of  that  superadded  efficacy,  in  us.  In 
this  aspect,  it  has  whatever  efficacy  truth,  of  itself,  has  :  and 
it  has  this  in  the  highest  degree — because  this  truth  is  complete 
—and  has  no  error  mixed  with  it  ;  and  the  failure  of  that  inhe¬ 
rent  efficacy  of  truth,  when  this  truth  is  brought  to  bear  on 

1  1  Tim.,  iii.  15  ;  Eph..  ii.  19-22. 


CHAP.  XXVII.] 


GIFT  OF  THE  WORD. 


513 


man,  is  necessarily  attributable  to  some  quality  in  man  himself — 
as,  for  example,  the  sinful  blindness  of  his  mind  or  hardness  of 
his  heart — and  not  to  the  untruth  of  truth  itself.  Uttered  by 
God  with  infinite  authority  and  certainty  ;  addressed  to  the 
understanding  of  man  with  perfect  simplicity,  directness,  and 
clearness,  making  known  to  him  more  distinctly  all  moral, 
spiritual,  and  eternal  things  which  he  knew  before,  and  re¬ 
vealing  to  him  the  most  glorious  truths,  before  wholly  unknown 
to  him  ;  appealing  to  bis  heart  and  conscience  in  a  manner  the 
most  effective,  by  methods  the  most  powerful,  and  with  motives 
the  most  transcendent :  whatever  it  is  possible  for  truth,  of  itself, 
to  effect,  responsive  to  itself  in  the  mind,  and  soul,  and  nature, 
and  life  of  man  ;  this  heaven-descended  truth — issuing  from  the 
bosom  of  Jehovah,  embodied  in  the  person  of  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh,  inspired  by  God  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  must  be  competent 
to  effect,  far  out  of  comparison  with  the  combined  effects  of  all 
other  truths  of  which  man  can  have  any  knowledge.  Indepen¬ 
dently  of  any  superadded  efficacy,  this  is  the  natural  efficacy,  so 
to  speak,  of  this  gift  of  God  to  his  Church  ;  and  upon  the 
ground  thereof,  the  obligation  to  make  its  contents  known  to 
every  being  capable  of  being  influenced  by  truth,  is  complete  : 
and  the  rejection  of  it  by  any  such  being,  is  a  demonstration  of 
his  own  depravity.  But  in  the  second  place,  this  efficacy  of 
divine  truth,  transcendent  as  it  is  when  compared  with  all  analo¬ 
gous  means  of  influencing  man  ;  is  as  nothing  compared  to 
the  efficacy  of  that  same  divine  truth,  when  it  is  used  by  the 
divine  Spirit  as  the  divine  instrument  of  our  salvation.  Just  as 
the  Spirit  executes  his  work  of  grace,  with  reference  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  :  so,  also, 
he  executes  that  work  with  reference  to  divine  truth  in  its  prac¬ 
tical  application  to  our  souls, — of  which  truth  Christ,  in  all  his 
offices,  is  the  central  object.  And  just  so  far  as  the  sacred 
Scriptures  contain  the  revelation  of  the  will  of  God  unto  salva¬ 
tion  ;  in  the  same  degree  the  divine  truth  they  contain,  is  that 
truth  which  the  Spirit  uses  as  his  instrument,  and  with  reference 
to  which  he  performs  his  work,  in  man's  salvation.  But  as  these 
Scriptures  are  by  inspiration  of  the  Spirit  himself,  and  contain 
his  own  record  of  the  way  of  saving  sinners  :  it  is  merely  im¬ 
possible  that  sinners  saved  through  him,  can  be  saved  by,  or 
into,  any  other  form  of  truth  ;  impossible  if  he  works  by  truth 
vol.  ii.  33 


514  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

at  all,  that  he  should  fail  to  work  by  this  very  truth  ;  impossible 
that  this  truth,  thus  used  by  him,  should  fail  to  effect  the  very 
object  for  which  he — very  God — both  revealed  it,  made  it  per¬ 
manent,  and  now  uses  it.  This  is  the  aspect  of  this  gift  of  God 
to  his  Church,  considered  with  reference  to  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  in  our  salvation  ;  and  so  considered,  it  is  absolutely  cer¬ 
tain  that  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation 
to  every  one  that  believeth  ;  and  is  the  great  means  bestowed  on 
the  Church  by  God  for  the  promotion  of  his  glory,  and  her  own 
blessedness. 

5.  Considered  in  itself,  and  considered  as  the  heritage  of  the 
Church  by  the  gift  of  God,  this  Written  Word  is  capable  of  an 
appreciation  perfectly  distinct,  and  as  immense  as  we  are  compe¬ 
tent  to  make,  (a)  It  is  unto  the  Church  her  divine  warrant,  for 
all  that  it  is  her  duty  to  attempt  on  earth  ;  and  is,  in  addition, 
a  divine  guaranty  of  support,  of  comfort,  and  of  final  triumph, 
in  all  her  faithful  endeavours  to  accomplish  the  will  of  God. 
( h )  It  is  an  infallible  guide  to  her  faith,  also,  wherein  her  own 
blessedness  is  assured,  in  proportion  to  her  holiness  ;  and  wherein 
salvation  is  secured  to  every  one,  upon  the  single  condition  of  ac¬ 
cepting  her  Lord,  as  their  Lord,  (c)  Widening  from  these  ele¬ 
mental  points,  it  is  the  divine  record  of  the  entire  life  of  the 
Church,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  time  ;  the  record,  also, 
of  the  career  of  the  human  race,  from  its  creation  to  the  con¬ 
summation  of  all  things  ;  the  record,  also,  of  the  bearing  of  all 
earthly  things  upon  the  Church  and  upon  the  human  race, 
and  of  each  of  these  upon  the  other.  So  that,  standing  in  the 
midst  of  the  centuries  as  they  roll  over  her,  she  has  the  means 
of  comprehending  clearly,  both  herself  and  all  things  that 
touch,  or  in  any  wise  affect  her.  However  dark  the  place  may 
be,  she  has  a  divine  light  which  shines  into  it.  (c?)  Still  widen¬ 
ing,  it  carries  her  back  into  immensity  and  eternity,  setting  be¬ 
fore  her  the  system  of  the  Universe,  of  which  all  earthly  things 
are  so  small  a  part, — making  known  to  her  the  position  which  the 
race  of  man  occupies  in  that  boundless  system — revealing  the 
influence  of  his  fall  and  recovery  upon  it— -the  relation  of  the 
method  of  his  recovery  to  it — and  the  relation  of  all  these  stu¬ 
pendous  realities  to  the  being,  the  counsel,  the  providence,  the 
grace  and  the  glory  of  God,  as  manifested  throughout  his  im¬ 
measurable  works  and  dominion.  So  that,  face  to  face  with  the 


515 


CHAP.  XXVII.]  GIFT  OF  THE  WORD. 

unseen  world,  she  may  comprehend  her  own  mission,  and  posture 
with  relation  to  the  whole  Universe,  (e)  Still  widening,  it  opens 
before  her  the  eternity  to  come — the  life  beyond  death  with  its 
wondrous  laws — her  own  consummation  in  boundless  glory — the 
ruin  of  all  the  enemies  of  God  with  an  endless  ruin — the  con¬ 
summation  of  all  power,  and  wisdom,  and  justice,  and  good¬ 
ness  and  truth,  and  love  over  all  worlds,  to  all  eternity.  And 
amidst  all  these  fearfully  immense  issues  of  so  much  force 
so  long  applied,  her  own  sublime  and  endless  exaltation — her 
own  transcendent  relations  to  God  and  to  the  Universe,  when 
God  will  be  all  and  in  all,  and  the  Universe  retrieved  from  sin, 
will  be  full  of  the  blessedness,  which  her  own  Lord  and  Saviour, 
Head  over  all,  will  have  bestowed  on  it,  through  her  his  elect 
Bride  !  So  that  all  along  her  pilgrimage  there  is  no  moment  of 
darkness  so  profound,  but  that  if  she  could  endure  it,  she  might 
have  the  vision  of  God  ;  no  moment  of  weakness  so  abject,  but 
that  if  she  could  lift  up  her  head,  she  might  behold  upon  the 
heights  of  heaven,  the  banner  that  was  dipped  in  blood  ! 

6.  We  seem  prone  to  form  the  most  erroneous  opinions,  con¬ 
cerning  the  true  nature  of  the  Church  of  God.  On  one  side, 
men  attribute  to  her  an  authority  essentially  divine  ;  and  claim 
for  her  ordinances  and  office-bearers,  powers  which  reside  only  in 
God.  On  the  other  side,  they  strip  her  of  all  authority,  reduce 
her  to  the  condition  of  a  merely  human  association,  and  look  to 
her  own  articles  and  acts  as  the  only  source  of  her  power.  Widely 
different  from  both,  God  represents  his  Church  to  be  a  real  spir¬ 
itual  Kingdom,  strictly  subordinated  to  himself,  yet  charged  with 
a  sublime  mission,  and  invested  with  authority  to  execute  a  work 
unspeakably  glorious.  Giving  to  her  his  only  begotten  Son,  his 
Divine  Spirit,  and  his  Inspired  Word,  it  is  not  possible  to  con¬ 
ceive  that  he  could  hold  men  guiltless,  who  resist  his  purposes  of 
infinite  grace  and  mercy  through  her.  How  then,  should  those 
who  profess  to  be  his  people,  pervert  her  nature,  contemn  her  au¬ 
thority,  or  corrupt  her  life  ;  without  forfeiting  many  of  the  most 
costly  blessings  provided  for  them,  and  putting  at  hazard  the 
whole  work  to  which  they  suppose  they  are  called  P  Where  the 
divine  Redeemer,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
abide — even  if  it  be  with  the  humblest  children  of  God  ;  there 
God  abides  also.  But  when  these  unspeakable  gifts  are  bestowed 
by  God  as  marks  of  his  divine  favour,  to  his  Kingdom  made 


516  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

visible  on  earth — and  as  the  efficacious  means,  besides,  wherein 
that  Kingdom  grounds  its  very  existence,  and  whereby  it  is  able 
to  execute  the  eternal  purpose  of  God's  will  ;  we  insult  the  ma¬ 
jesty  of  God,  and  we  obstruct,  according  to  our  ability,  the 
progress  of  his  grace,  by  whatever  departure,  on  the  one  side  or 
the  other,  from  the  simple  and  complete  reception,  as  they  come 
from  heaven,  of  ordinances  which  have  the  most  convincing 
proof  that  they  are  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


DIVINE  ORDINANCES:  THE  SABBATH— THE  SACRAMENTS— INSTI¬ 
TUTED  WORSHIP— DISCIPLINE— EVANGELIZATION. 

I.  Statement  of  the  General  Demonstration. — II.  1.  The  Sabbath  a  perpetual  element 
in  the  Moral  System  of  the  Universe. — 2.  Its  indissoluble  connection  with  the 
whole  Creative,  Providential,  and  Gracious  Work  of  God. — 3.  Its  unspeakable 
importance  to  Man. — III.  1.  The  true  idea  of  the  Sacraments. — 2.  Nature  and 
Use  of  these  Divine  Mysteries. — 3.  Descriptive  explanation  of  them. — 4.  The 
Ends  they  serve  and  promote. — 5.  Their  Efficacy  depends  on  the  Work  of  the 
Spirit  in  him  who  receives  them,  and  is  Wrought  through  our  Eaith  in  Christ. — 
6.  The  Number  of  them,  and  its  constancy:  their  Relation  to  the  Church  under 
Successive  Dispensations :  Christ’s  relation  to  them,  and  their  Record  of  him. — 

IV.  1.  The  Instituted  Worship  of  God:  Atheism  repugnant  to  our  natural  con¬ 
victions:  The  Spiritual  Worship  of  the  true  God  repugnant  to  our  depraved  na¬ 
ture. — 2.  The  Revealed  Will  of  God  concerning  the  Worship  he  requires:  its 
Object,  Nature,  Means,  Rule,  Obligation  and  End. — 3.  Particulars  of  Revealed 
Worship.  First  class:  Sanctification  of  the  Sabbath — Stated  Assembling  of  Con¬ 
gregations — Almsgiving. — 4.  Second  class:  Particulars  of  stated  Public  Worship 
ordained  by  God  for  each  congregation. — 5.  Third  class :  Administration  of  the 
Sacraments,  Infliction  of  Church  Censures,  Public  Fasting  and  Thanksgiving. — 

V.  1.  The  Ordinance  of  Discipline:  Its  Nature,  and  Efficacy. — 2.  Manner  and 
Objects  of  its  Administration. — 3.  The  Censures  of  the  Church  are  wholly  spirit¬ 
ual  :  those  inflicted  upon  offending  members. — 4.  Administration  of  the  Censures 
of  the  Church  against  all  the  Enemies  of  God. — VI.  1.  The  Evangelization  of  the 
world,  an  Ordinance  of  God :  its  Obligation  on  the  Church. — 2.  Brief  Apprecia¬ 
tion  of  that  great  Endeavour. 

I.  Thf,  execution  of  God's  eternal  Covenant  of  Grace,  pro¬ 
duces  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  its  threefold  aspect  of  the  Mes¬ 
sianic  Kingdom  under  Christ  its  head,  the  New  Creation  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  Church  of  the  Living  God  held  forth 
in  the  covenant  people  of  God.  In  this  last  aspect  the  Kingdom 
of  God  becomes  visible  and  organized  by  the  divine  use  of  the 
two  ideas  of  the  Headship  of  Christ  and  the  communion  of 
saints  :  and  the  whole  of  that  organization,  and  the  whole  action 
of  the  Church  by  means  of  every  part  thereof,  are  products  of 
divine  ordinances  revealed  by  God,  and  every  one  of  them  a  Gift 
of  God  to  his  Church.  These  divine  ordinances  therefore,  em- 


518  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

brace  everything  which  gives  visibility,  organization,  and  efficacy 
to  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  now  manifested  in  this  world,  consid¬ 
ered  as  the  Church  of  Christ.  Of  the  three  supreme  Gifts  of 
God  to  this  Church,  which  I  have  considered  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  only  the  third  one — his  written  word — can  be  considered 
as  strictly  an  ordinance  ;  and  that,  perhaps,  only  in  its  form  as 
written  and  therefore  permanent.  Nevertheless,  there  is  a  pro¬ 
found  sense  in  which  not  only  the  written  word,  but,  also,  both 
the  Saviour  and  the  Spirit  are,  as  I  have  endeavoured  to  explain, 
peculiar  Gifts  of  God  to  his  Church  visible  and  organized,  pecu¬ 
liarly  related  to  all  these  ordinances  bestowed  on  her  in  those  re¬ 
spects.  The  chief  of  those  ordinances  by  means  of  which  those 
three  supreme  Gifts  of  God  are  made  effectual,  I  am  now  to  con¬ 
sider  as  briefly  as  I  can.  First  generally  ;  afterwards  those  called 
sacraments,  more  particularly ;  then  the  office-bearers  who  ad¬ 
minister  them,  and  the  Government  which  these  office-bearers 
compose  and  administer  by  the  ordination  of  God.  In  this  man¬ 
ner  the  analogy  will  be  complete  between  the  second  and  third 
books  of  this  Treatise,  on  one  side,  wherein  the  Subjective 
Knowledge  of  God,  first  in  the  actual  work  in  the  individual 
soul  and  then  in  the  effects  of  that  work,  is  disclosed  ;  and  the 
fourth  and  fifth  books  on  the  other  side,  wherein  first  the  actual 
constitution  of  the  visible  Church,  and  then  the  outward  divine 
movement  of  it,  are  attempted  to  be  demonstrated.  And  thus 
the  whole  Treatise  to  the  end  of  this  book,  ought  to  present  to 
us  one  large  and  connected  demonstration  of  the  mode  in  which 
God  saves  his  elect,  the  personal  work  in  their  souls,  their  indi¬ 
vidual  lives  resulting  therefrom,  their  organization  into  a  visible 
Church,  the  true  nature,  end,  and  work  of  that  Church,  the 
supreme  Gifts  of  God  to  it,  its  divine  ordinances,  its  divinely- 
ordained  office-bearers,  and  divinely-appointed  Government  and 
the  movement  thereof. 

II. — 1.  The  consecration  of  man  to  the  service  and  enjoyment 
of  God,  and  therewith  his  investiture  by  God  with  dominion  over, 
and  property  in,  the  earth  and  all  things  therein,  and  the  divine 
command  to  possess  and  to  replenish  it  with  his  seed  ;  was  coin¬ 
cident  with  the  creation  of  the  first  parents  of  our  race.1  The 
other  great  act  of  God's  providence  preceding  the  Covenant  of 
Works,  was  that  he  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it.* 

1  Gen.,  i.  27-30.  s  Gen.,  n  i_3. 


DIVINE  ORDINANCES. 


519 


CHAP.  XXVIII.] 

Throughout  the  Scriptures  no  two  ideas  are  more  perpetually 
held  forth,  than  these  two  of  the  primeval  consecration  of  man 
and  of  the  Sabbath  ;  and  amidst  the  great  variety  of  aspects  in 
which  the  latter  is  presented  to  us,  we  are  never  left  in  doubt 
that  it  is  a  fundamental  element  in  the  moral  system  of  the  uni¬ 
verse  to  which  man  appertains.  Its  primary  conception  is  that 
of  a  hallowed  rest,  whose  use  shall  be  the  special  worship  of  God, 
the  cultivation  of  the  divine  life  in  our  own  souls,  and  the  doing 
of  good  to  our  fellow-men.  It  is,  therefore,  a  divine  ordinance 
containing  in  itself,  in  some  sort,  a  summary  of  all  human  obli¬ 
gation  ;  our  duty,  namely,  to  God,  to  ourselves,  and  to  each 
other.  In  this  manner  we  see  it  connected  with  the  whole 
work  of  God,  as  manifested  in  creation,  in  providence,  and  in 
grace.  In  this  manner  it  is  connected  with  the  origin,  course, 
and  destiny  of  our  race  under  both  Covenants,  under  every 
dispensation  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  with  reference  to  our 
entire  being  in  this  life,  and  to  all  the  issues  of  it  in  the  life 
to  come. 

2.  I  have  already  pointed  out  the  fact  of  its  institution  in 
immediate  connection  with  the  work  of  creation,  and  as  one  of 
the  two  great  acts  of  God's  providence  towards  man  in  his  estate 
of  original  perfection.  And  the  reason  of  that  connection,  and 
of  the  connection  of  those  two  acts  of  God  towards  man  with 
each  other,  is  clearly  and  repeatedly  given  by  him.  The  act 
commemorated,  alike,  God's  work  of  creation,  and  God's  ceasing 
from  further  creative  work,  in  ineffable  repose,  when  that  work 
was  done,  and  he  saw  that  everything  he  had  made  was  very 
good  :  and  it  ordained  that  man,  the  created  and  the  blessed 
head  of  this  whole  work,  should  thus  commemorate,  forever,  his 
own  origin  and  blessedness,  and  the  being,  and  glory,  and  work, 
and  rest  of  God,  in  whose  image  he  was  created.1  And  this  was 
its  special  use,  under  both  covenants — with  such  additions  as  in¬ 
creasing  revelations  of  the  grace  of  God  made  thereto — until  the 
work  of  humiliation  by  Christ  was  complete,  and  he  had  risen 
from  the  dead.  Its  connection  with  the  moral  nature  of  man, 
and  the  moral  Law  written  in  that  nature  by  God  at  the  creation 
of  man,  is  no  less  immediate.  When  God,  at  Sinai,  restored  upon 
two  tables  of  stone,  the  sum  of  that  unalterable  rule  of  all  duty 
required  of  man,  and  laid  it  at  the  foundation  of  his  written 

1  Gen.,  ii.  1-3 ;  Exod.,  xx.  8-11. 


520  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

word  ;  one  of  the  four  commandments  of  the  first  table,  the  sum 
of  which  as  interpreted  by  Christ,  is  the  duty  of  supreme  love  to 
God,  was  the  distinct  reiteration  of  this  ordinance  of  the 
Sabbath  day,  as  possessing  the  very  highest  moral  obligation.1 
Nor  was  its  connection  less  close  with  the  civil  polity,  ordained 
by  God  for  his  ancient  people.  The  feast  of  the  Passover  which 
commemorated  both  the  bondage  and  the  deliverance  of  the 
Jewish  people,  the  feast  of  Pentecost  which  commemorated  the 
mvins:  of  the  Law  at  Sinai,  and  the  feast  of  Tabernacles  which 
commemorated  their  pilgrimage  from  Egypt  to  Canaan — the 
greatest  events  in  their  history,  were  all  as  really  sabbatical  as 
they  were  national ;  and  both  their  years  of  Jubilee,  the  seventh 
and  fiftieth — the  most  remarkable  features  of  their  political  insti¬ 
tutions,  were  purely  sabbatical  years.  Indeed  the  idea  of  hal¬ 
lowed  time — time  consecrated  to  God  and  a  Sabbath  for  man, 
pervaded,  thoroughly,  every  civil  institution  of  that  remarkable 
commonwealth.  The  ceremonial  system  added  to  the  moral  and 
political  systems,  completed  the  outward  organization  of  the 
Jewish  Dispensation  ;  and  the  idea  of  the  divine  and  perpetual 
obligation  of  the  Sabbath  day  was  as  completely  fixed  in  the 
whole  Levitical  and  sacrificial  system,  and  in  the  Dispensation 
considered  as  a  whole,  as  I  have  just  shown  it  to  have  been  in  its 
moral  and  civil  elements.  In  the  wilderness  no  manna  fell  on 
the  Sabbath  day.  Nothing  might  be  brought  in  through  the 
gates  of  Jerusalem  on  that  day.  And  so  completely  was  the 
right  observance  of  the  day  a  conspicuous  token  between  God 
and  his  ancient  people,2  that  this  has  been  continually  made  a 
pretext  for  rejecting  the  Sabbath,  as  a  purely  Jewish  institution. 
In  like  manner,  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  and  the  Christian 
Dispensation,  have  not  only  accepted  and  perpetuated,  in  a  man¬ 
ner  the  most  complete,  this  vital  conception  and  ordinance  ;  but 
they  have  articulately  enlarged  its  significance  by  investing  the 
Sabbath  with  the  idea  of  Redemption  as  well  as  the  idea  of  Crea¬ 
tion — the  idea  of  the  divine  Saviour  as  well  as  the  idea  of  the 
omnipotent  God.  Christ  proclaimed  himself  to  be  the  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath  day  ;s  his  inspired  Apostles  called  the  day  on  which 
he  rose  from  the  dead — and  repeatedly  appeared  to  them — the 
Lord's  day  ;4  and,  divinely  authorized,  they  distinguished  that 

1  Exod.,  XX  8-11;  Mat.,  xxii.  37,38.  2  isa>>  iviii.  13,  14;  Ezekiel,  xx.  12-20. 

3  Mat.,  xii.  8.  4  Rev.,  i.  10;  John,  xx.  19.  26. 


CHAP.  XXVIII.] 


DIVINE  ORDINANCES. 


521 


day  as  the  perpetual  Sabbath  of  the  Christian  Church  :  which 
that  Church  has  observed  through  all  ages,  with  a  fidelity  exactly 
proportioned  to  the  measure  of  its  grace. — And  finally,  this  en¬ 
during  and  august  summary  of  the  sublime  spiritual  system  of 
which  God,  and  man,  and  creation,  and  providence,  and  redemp¬ 
tion  are  the  everlasting  elements — is  projected  into  eternity  ;  and 
the  assurance  of  a  rest — a  sabbatism — on  the  other  side  of  the 
Jordan  of  death — even  that  heaven  into  whicl\  Jesus  the  Son  of 
God,  our  great  high  priest  has  passed,  is  revealed  to  our  faith  as 
one  of  its  very  firmest  supports.1 

3.  To  us,  then,  this  Sabbath  day  is  a  sign  between  God  and 
our  own  souls,  alike  of  our  original  perfection  as  his  creatures, 
and  of  our  crowning  and  endless  blessedness  as  his  redeemed 
children.  It  is  besides  a  joy  and  a  support  to  us,  all  along  our 
weary  pilgrimage,  fighting  as  we  go  the  good  fight  of  faith 
Truly  has  our  Lord  said,  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man  ;2  and, 
therefore,  how  could  it  be,  that  the  Son  of  man  should  not  be 
Lord  of  the  Sabbath  ?  Take  from  the  Christian  Church  this 
very  first  gift  of  God  to  man,  and  who  can  conceive  by  what 
other  means  she  can  either  gather  or  perfect  God’s  saints  ? 
Take  from  a  world  full  of  sin,  and  toil,  and  ignorance,  and  mis¬ 
ery,  this  hallowed  rest,  and  then  imagine  by  what  possibility  the 
human  race  can  be  extricated  from  perpetual  degradation  in  this 
life,  and  endless  ruin  in  that  which  is  to  come  P  Silence,  in  the 
hearts  of  all  God’s  saints,  those  words  of  solemn  admonition  and 
of  sweetest  consolation,  Kemember  the  Sabbath  day  ;  and  who 
could  endure  a  life  of  temptation,  and  trial,  and  warfare,  and 
sorrow — robbed  of  all  hallowed  rest  on  earth — robbed  of  all  type, 
and  sign,  and  seal  of  eternal  rest  to  come  ?  And  who  should 
restore  to  God  the  glory  and  the  praise  of  all  penitent  and 
believing  souls — the  glory  and  the  praise  of  all  created  and 
redeemed  souls — when  the  day  of  the  Lord  should  return  no 
more,  and  the  voice  of  the  bride  be  heard  no  more  ?  Many 
things  are  done  and  many  are  left  undone,  both  by  the  Church 
and  the  world,  which,  while  we  see  the  omission  or  the  act  to  be 
wrong,  we  see  also  some  way  to  explain  the  motive  for  that  which 
we  condemn.  But  that  the  Church  or  the  world  could  ever  appre¬ 
hend  the  ordination  of  the  Sabbath  day — as  anything  else  than 
a  transcendent  blessing  to  our  ruined  world — a  transcendent. 

2  Mark,  ii.  21,  28. 


1  Heb.,  iv.  passim . 


522  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

proof  of  the  goodness  and  wisdom  of  God — seems  to  be  incapa¬ 
ble  of  any  explanation,  that  is  not  grounded  in  the  total  obdu¬ 
racy  of  our  depraved  nature. 

III. — 1.  The  covenant  in  eternity  between  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Spirit,  is  the  complete  and  is  the  most  remote  expres¬ 
sion  of  all  God’s  grace  toward  fallen  man  ;  and  each  penitent 
sinner,  a  party  in  interest  from  the  beginning  through  Christ  his 
covenant  head,  becomes  a  party  in  fact  from  the  moment  of  his 
union  with  Christ,  in  his  effectual  calling.  Following  the  anal¬ 
ogy  of  this  infinitely  vast  conception  and  example,  God  has  been 
pleased  from  time  to  time,  when  he  revealed  to  man  some  signal 
mercy  which  he  had  in  store,  to  reduce  the  statement  of  it  into 
the  form  of  a  covenant,  and  to  add  a  sign  and  seal  of  the  covenant 
in  the  form  of  a  sacrament. — The  Covenant  of  Works  was  the 
first  example  :  and  the  special  divine  covenants  under  all  dispen¬ 
sations  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  are  additional  examples  more 
or  less  complete — all  of  which  and  their  sacraments,  whether 
extraordinary  or  permanent,  are  manifestations  of  that  eternal 
covenant.  Until  the  time  of  Abraham,  these  merciful  dealings 
of  God  with  man,  were  of  a  kind  that  did  not  create  any  visible 
and  permanent  separation  of  his  people  from  the  world,  nor  lead 
to  the  outward  organization  of  his  Church.  But  to  the  covenant 
which  God  made  with  him,  which  contained  so  many  stipula¬ 
tions  and  such  numerous  and  glorious  promises,  he  added  the 
sacrament  of  circumcision — a  token  of  the  covenant — and  by  it 
signified  every  stipulation  and  sealed  every  promise  of  it.1  The 
ideas  involved  in  this  remarkable  transaction  are  very  clear  in 
themselves,  and  are  reiterated,  explained  and  enforced  through¬ 
out  the  Scriptures.  As  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  treat  the 
two  sacraments  of  the  Christian  Church  separately,  I  shall  in 
this  place  speak  only  of  that  which  is  common  to  all,  as  the  sec¬ 
ond  great  ordinance  of  God. 

2.  God’s  Covenant,  whereby  grace  is  given  to  men,  is  ex¬ 
hibited  in  permanent  rites,  appointed  by  himself.2  These  rites 
are  tokens,  signs,  and  seals  between  God  and  his  people,  con¬ 
sidered  both  individually  and  collectively,  of  his  covenant  together 
with  every  promise  made  and  every  truth  held  forth  in  it,  and 
also  of  every  duty  enjoined  and  every  right  conferred  by  it. 

1  Gen.,  xvii.  9-16;  Rom.,  i v.  passim. 

2  Gen.,  xvii.  9-14;  Ex.,  xii.  1-20;  1  Cor.,  xi.  23-34;  Matt.,  xxviii.  19;  John,  lii.  22. 


DIVINE  ORDINANCES. 


523 


CHAP.  XXVIII.] 

Above  all,  these  rites  bold  forth  Christ,  the  Mediator  of  that 
eternal  covenant  of  Grace  to  which  every  sacrament  of  the 
Church  of  God  appertains  ;  and  they  hold  forth  those  blessings 
which  he  confers  on  all  believers — most  especially  those  benefits 
which  are  connected  with  the  righteousness  of  faith  ;  the  whole 
of  which  are  thus  signified  and  sealed,  according  to  the  measure 
of  the  true  knowledge  of  God  under  each  dispensation — and  most 
conspicuously  of  all  under  the  sacraments  of  the  Gospel  Church.1 
We  call  these  sacraments ,  after  the  Latin  Fathers,  who  trans¬ 
lated  the  Greek  word  pvorrjpLov  which  is  of  such  frequent  occur¬ 
rence  in  the  New  Testament,  not  by  the  more  obvious  Latin 
word  arcanum  which  the  Romans  had  consecrated  to  their  idola¬ 
trous  mysteries,  but  by  the  word  sacramentum  whose  previous 
use  was  chiefly  juridical  and  military.  The  true  sense  of  the 
original  term  is  a  divine  secret  ;  and  the  proper  signification  of 
our  term  sacrament  is  the  entire  thing  to  which  God  gave  the 
original  name  ;  not  merely  the  outward  elements  and  rites,  not 
simply  the  sign  and  the  seal,  but  also  the  sublime  spiritual  reali¬ 
ties  which  all  these  hold  forth  to  our  faith. 

3.  Sacramental  signs  and  ceremonies,  of  whatever  kind,  are 
to  be  clearly  distinguished  from  moral  obligations,  which  are 
binding  upon  all  men  :  for  the  former  are  obligatory  upon 
believers  only,  and  are  accessible  only  to  them.  They  are  insti¬ 
tuted  and  revealed  by  God  ;  are  wholly  destitute  of  natural 
existence,  and  of  human  authority ;  and  so  both  their  obligation 
and  their  efficacy  are  divine.  In  order  to  any  efficacy,  there  must 
be  some  external,  visible,  substantial  sign,  distinguishing  them 
from  mere  oral  instruction — and  which  in  its  application  to  us, 
becomes  sensible  and  real.  There  must  be  a  correspondence, 
indeed  a  union,  between  the  sign  and  the  thing  signified  ;  not 
indeed  natural,  much  less  physical — but  moral  and  spiritual,  and 
at  the  same  time  constant  and  authoritative.  There  must  be  the 
things  signified — the  benefits  held  forth,  taught,  confirmed  unto 
those  to  whom  the  outward  signs  are  applied  ;  and  those  also 
properly  qualified  to  receive  those  signs,  and  to  partake  of  the 
blessings  they  signify — to  seal  which  unto  worthy  recipients  is 
the  chief  end  of  every  Sacrament.  And  that  great  end  must  be 
clearly  set  forth  and  understood,  in  the  proper  use  of  every  sacra¬ 
ment,  as  being  accomplished  in  us,  not  by  the  inherent  efficacy 

1  Gal.,  iiL  27  ;  1  Cor.,  x.  16;  John,  vi.  27-65. 


524  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

of  the  sacrament — nor  by  the  power  or  intention  of  him  who 
administers  it — nor  by  the  will  of  him  who  receives  it — hut  by 
the  power  of  God  who  instituted  it,  and  who  exhibits  and  applies 
his  grace  by  means  of  it. 

4.  There  are,  therefore,  obvious  and  various  ends  and  uses, 
all  of  them  of  the  highest  importance,  to  which  sacraments  are 
relevant,  and  to  which  God  has  caused  them  to  be  applied.  Pri¬ 
marily,  both  of  the  sacraments  of  the  Church  after  Abraham, 
and  both  of  those  of  the  Gospel  Dispensation,  served  as  visible 
marks  of  separation  between  those  in  covenant  with  God,  and 
the  world  out  of  which  he  had  called  them  to  be  his  people.  As 
sacred  rites,  God’s  people  by  their  first  use  make  open  profession 
of  giving  themselves  away  to  him  ;  and  by  their  after  use  renew 
their  public  profession  of  being  his — with  personal  and  solemn 
engagements  to  his  service,  through  Christ,  by  the  Gospel.  As 
divine  ordinances,  God’s  people  by  their  use  make  profession  of 
that  true  faith  by  which  alone  sinners  can  be  saved  ;  holding 
forth  in  this  manner  the  sum  of  the  great  truths  and  promises 
of  God,  and  their  acceptance  of  them  all,  and  of  Christ  the  sum 
of  all — as  a  testimony  to  the  world  that  lieth  in  sin.  They 
serve,  by  their  use,  to  realize  the  communion  of  all  saints  with 
each  other,  and  with  their  common  Lord,  through  the  Holy 
Ghost,  by  the  word  of  God  ;  and  thus  to  promote  amongst  all 
saints,  a  more  perfect  fellowship,  in  the  Church  which  is  the 
Body  of  Christ,  a  more  complete  spiritual  unity,  a  deeper  sense 
of  the  supreme  headship  of  Christ,  and  a  fuller  participation  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  _  They  serve  as  sensible,  perpetual,  and  sacred 
manifestations,  on  the  part  of  God,  to  the  faith  of  his  people,  of 
the  reality  of  his  promises  and  the  exactness  of  his  fidelity  in 
their  performance  ;  according  to  his  eternal  covenant,  in  Jesus 
Christ,  by  his  Spirit  and  his  Word.  They  serve  as  perpetual 
means  whereby  the  obedience  and  love  of  God’s  penitent  and 
believing  children,  are  both  manifested  and  strengthened  ; 
wherein,  by  the  use  of  God’s  appointed  signs  and  seals  of  his 
Covenant — all  his  promises,  and  Jesus  Christ  the  sum  of  them 
all,  are  so  made  over  to  them,  that  the  merits  of  Christ  and  the 
work  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  consolations  of  the  Gospel,  are  more 
and  more  effectual  in  their  souls — to  their  great  growth  in  grace, 
and  increase  in  all  spiritual  gifts.  And  finally,  they  serve,  by 
their  true  and  lawful  use,  as  a  perpetual  exhibition  of  the  ex- 


DIVINE  ORDINANCES. 


525 


CHAP.  XXVIII.] 

istence,  the  life,  and  all  the  infallible  marks  of  the  Church  of  the 
Living  God,  to  which  they  appertain  by  his  gift  ;  manifesting 
the  power  of  God’s  word  and  ordinances,  and  the  efficacy  of  that 
ministry  bestowed  on  it  by  Christ,  and  in  whose  hands  is  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments  of  the  Christian  Church. 

5.  The  nature  of  all  sacraments  is  such  that  their  mere  use 
cannot  insure  salvation — nor  their  mere  absence  defeat  it.  Being 
only  of  positive  obligation,  and  not  in  their  nature  moral,  they 
are  in  their  nature  variable,  and  in  their  use  efficacious  only  in 
the  way  and  to  the  extent  revealed  by  God,  and  only  by  reason  of 
his  blessing  on  their  use.  So  far  from  involving  salvation,  there¬ 
fore,  their  efficacy  is  indissolubly  connected  with  faith  in  Christ, 
and  they  cannot  of  themselves  confer  any  grace.  On  the  other 
hand,  being  ordained  of  God,  and  their  lawful  use  enforced  by 
divine  commands  and  promises ;  their  neglect,  perversion,  and 
coiTuption  are  not  only  heinous  sins,  hut,  according  to  the  gross¬ 
ness  of  the  abuse  of  them,  are  infallible  proofs  of  unbelief,  of 
backsliding,  of  depravity,  of  apostacy.  Considered  as  outward 
and  visible  signs,  of  inward  and  invisible  grace  ;  they  would 
be  pertinent  to  any  grace,  and  might  be  held  forth  in  any  sign, 
that  God  would  appoint.  In  effect  these  principles  and  truths 
have  had  a  wide  application,  as  every  student  of  the  Scriptures 
is  aware;  and  perhaps  the  tendency  of  those  who  have  expounded 
those  sacred  oracles,  has  been  rather  to  enlarge  than  to  limit  the 
application  of  the  great  principle  on  which  the  idea  of  all  sacra¬ 
ments  rests,  namely,  the  confirmation  of  God’s  promises  to  man, 
by  outward  signs  and  seals.  It  is  certain — as  I  have  already  said, 
that  true  sacraments  can  have  no  efficacy  except  through  the 
work  of  the  divine  Spirit  in  us  ;  and  that  it  is  through  our  faith 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  the  efficacy  imparted  to  them  by 
the  Spirit  produces  its  effects  in  us.  And  since  the  word  of  God 
is  the  infallible  rule  of  our  faith,  and  Christ  crucified  is  the  spe¬ 
cific  object  of  it ;  whatever  can  he  accepted  as  a  true  sacrament 
of  the  gospel  Church,  must  have  the  precise  warrant,  in  that 
word,  of  that  Saviour  ;  and  must  hold  forth  that  Saviour  in  his 
person,  his  work,  his  promises,  and  all  his  benefits. 

6.  The  number  of  ordinary  and  perpetual  sacraments  of  the 
Covenant  of  Grace,  is  but  two.  The  truths  and  principles  upon 
which  they  rest  are  permanent — and  the  essential  characteristics 
of  those  divine  rites  which  signify  and  seal  to  us  the  blessings 


526  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

and  benefits  which  the  Redeemer  confers  on  penitent  sinners, 
must  also  be  constant.  We  need,  and  he  secures  for  us,  on  the 
one  hand  pardon  and  acceptance  with  God,  and  on  the  other  re¬ 
storation  to  his  lost  image.  This  is  the  sum  of  whatever  form  of 
revealed  salvation  for  fallen  man  through  the  Mediator ;  the  sum 
of  what  is  held  forth  in  the  sacraments  of  the  Covenant  of 
Grace — however  their  form  may  have  been  divinely  varied.  That 
change  of  form  has  occurred  but  once — and  will  occur  no  more  : 
for  the  state  of  the  revealed  Knowledge  of  God,  so  increased  from 
Ahraham  to  Christ  as  to  require  the  change  of  their  form  under 
the  Gospel  Church,  is  constant  under  it  till  the  second  coming  of 
the  Son  of  Man.  I  have  shown  in  another  place,  how  the  insti¬ 
tution  and  use  of  these  sacraments  necessarily  involved  the  visi¬ 
bility  and  organization  of  the  Church  of  God,  and  the  visible  and 
sacramental  rejection  of  the  world  by  him  ;  how,  therefore,  their 
institution  was  so  long  delayed  ;  and  how,  coincidently  with  their 
institution,  and  again  with  the  change  in  their  form,  all  things 
relating  to  the  Kingdom  of  God  considered  as  held  forth  in  his 
children  organized  into  a  visible  and  separate  Church,  received 
successively  their  shape  and  direction.  The  Church  is  before  the 
Sacraments,  before  every  ordinance  of  God  bestowed  on  it ;  even 
the  Sabbath  day,  was  ordained  and  hallowed  after  God  had 
created  man,  and  consecrated  him  to  his  service.  But  the  Sacra¬ 
ments  are  before  the  Church  considered  as  visible,  organized,  and 
separate  from  the  world  ;  and  are,  together  with  all  the  other 
ordinances  bestowed  on  her  by  God,  the  outward  means  of  pro¬ 
ducing  her  organization,  of  perpetuating  her  existence,  and  of 
achieving  her  triumph.  The  Sacrament  of  Circumcision  was  im¬ 
mediately  connected  with  the  Abrahamic  Covenant,  which  is,  in 
a  manner,  the  great  charter  of  the  Church  of  God,  and  of  the 
human  race.  The  Sacrament  of  the  Passover,  formed  the  point 
of  separation  between  the  Abrahamic  and  Mosaic  dispensations — 
appertaining  to  both  ;  and  the  Jewish  institutions,  possessing  no 
sacrament  peculiar  to  themselves,  accepted  these  two,  and  by 
means  of  them  perpetuated  the  sacramental  unity  of  the  visible 
Church,  during  the  long  interval  between  the  dispensation  of 
Abraham  and  that  of  Christ.  Christ  came,  not  to  destroy  but  to 
fulfil.  A  priest  forever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek — an  order 
above  and  before  Abraham  himself — the  end  of  all  the  priest¬ 
hood,  all  the  sacrifices,  all  the  righteousness  of  the  law  of  Moses; 


CHAP.  XXYIII.]  DIVINE  ORDINANCES.  527 

he  accepted  these  primeval  sacraments,  used  them,  ratified  them, 
changed  their  form,  fulfilled  them  into  a  perfect  accordance  with 
the  perfect  form  of  the  Knowledge  of  God.  He  came  by  water 
and  blood — the  Spirit  being  his  witness.  In  heaven  the  Father 
and  the  Word  bear  record  ;  in  earth,  the  water  and  the  blood 
bear  record  ;  the  Spirit  in  this  great  spiritual  dispensation, 

bears  record  both  in  heaven  and  in  earth  ;  in  heaven,  as  one 

with  the  Father  and  the  Word;  in  earth  as  agreeing  in  one 

with  the  water  and  the  blood  ;  and  this  is  the  witness  of 

God  which  he  hath  testified  of  his  Son.1  In  the  Sacrament  of 
Baptism  by  water,  and  in  the  sacramental  use  of  the  symbols  of 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  therefore,  there  is  a  threefold  re¬ 
cord  in  earth — agreeing  with  a  threefold  record  in  heaven. — to 
the  Son  of  God  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

IV. — 1.  The  Church  of  God  to  which  he  has  given  the  Sab¬ 
bath  and  the  Sacraments,  has  by  his  ordination  an  instituted 
Worship.  In  a  previous  chapter  I  have  discussed  the  question 
of  worship  acceptable  to  God,  considered  as  one  of  the  infallible 
marks  of  the  true  Church  ;  and  have  treated  the  whole  idea  of 
it,  in  connection  with  a  pure  faith  on  one  side,  and  a  holy  life  on 
the  other,  as  obedience  rendered  with  a  willing,  subject,  and 
trustful  heart,  to  the  Triune  God,  by  his  people,  according  to  his 
law.  That  worship  may  be  considered  as  personal,  domestic  and 
social,  or  public  :  it  is  public  worship,  as  connected  with  tbe 
true  Church,  and  as  a  divine  ordinance,  which  I  am  now  to  con¬ 
sider  very  briefly.  I  understand  the  Scriptures  to  assert  that 
the  existence  of  God  is  manifested  by  God  himself,  in  the  con¬ 
viction  of  every  soul  created  by  him  ;  and  that,  on  this  account, 
invisible  things  concerning  him — amongst  the  rest  his  eternal 
power  and  Godhead — are  clearly  manifested  to  men,  by  the 
things  he  has  created  ;  and  thus  every  man  is  left  without 
excuse.  Thus  knowing  God,  men  neither  glorify  him  nor  rejoice 
in  him  ;  but  reject  him  and  corrupt  themselves,  until  at  length 
they  transfer  the  glory  due  to  the  incorruptible  God,  to  images  of 
corruptible  man,  and  birds  and  beasts,  and  creeping  things. 
Then  God  gives  them  over  to  all  degrading  sins,  to  change  his 
truth  into  a  lie,  to  a  mind  utterly  reprobate,  and  to  the  fellow¬ 
ship  of  all  whom  he  judges  worthy  of  death.2  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation 

1  1  John,  v.  6-9.  2  Rom.,  i.  18-32. 


528 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


to  every  one  that  believetli  ;  for  therein  is  the  righteousness  of 
God  revealed  from  faith  to  faith  ;  as  it  is  written,  The  just  shall 
live  by  faith.1  In  effect,  atheism  is  incompatible  with  the  nature 
and  convictions  of  any  created  being,  who  has  reason  and  con¬ 
science  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  recognition  and  worship  of 
the  true  God,  are  incompatible  with  the  nature  and  desires  of 
any  created  being  having  reason  and  conscience — who  is  depraved 
and  left  without  the  grace  of  God.  Religion  and  worship,  man 
must  have.  Left  to  himself  in  his  fallen  state,  they  will  cer¬ 
tainly  be  false — probably  brutal.  If  pure  and  true,  they  must 
be  revealed  by  God,  and  perpetuated  through  his  grace. 

2.  All  religious  worship  should  be  rendered  to  the  true  God 
the  triune  God  is  the  only  true  God  ;3  no  religious  worship 
should  be  rendered  to  any  other  being.4  I  have  proved  at  large 
in  previous  chapters,  that  the  word  of  God  is  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith,  obedience,  life — and  in  the  most  special  sense,  of 
all  religious  worship  ;  with  reference  to  which,  the  law  of  God  is 
the  rule  prescribed  by  him  to  us,  of  all  that  we  ought  to  do  and 
to  avoid,  under  the  penalty  of  death  to  the  disobedient,  and  the 
promise  of  life  to  the  obedient.5  The  special  manner  in  which 
God  requires  man  to  approach  him,  is  in  the  way  of  spiritual 
worship  ;  and  in  the  first  table  of  the  Law  he  has  revealed,  in 
the  form  of  a  covenant  binding  and  unalterable  forever,  the  sum 
of  all  duty  due  directly  to  himself  ;  and  this  sum  our  Lord  has 
explained  to  be  supreme  love  to  God.6  All  worship  rendered  to 
God  by  fallen  man,  must  be  rendered  through  the  Mediator  of 
the  Covenant  of  Grace  ;  who  is  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God 
and  the  Saviour  of  the  world.7  It  must  be  rendered  also  by  the 
help  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;8  and  according  to  the  will  of  God.9 
And  seeing  that  God  is  a  spirit,  they  who  worship  him,  must 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth  :10  and  all  who  do  thus  worship 
him,  are  his  covenant  people — and  being  kept  by  the  power  of 
God,  through  faith  unto  salvation,  will  inherit  eternal  life.11 
This  summary,  brief  as  it  is,  of  the  revealed  will  of  God  con¬ 
cerning  the  worship  due  to  him  ;  discloses  with  perfect  clearness, 

I  Rom.,  i.  16,  IT.  2  Deut.,  vi.  13 ;  x.  20. 

s  1  Jno.f  v.  7  ;  2  Cor.,  xiii.  14 ;  Mat.,  xxviii.  19.  4  Matt.,  iv.  10 ;  Ex.,  xx.  3. 

5  Matt.,  xix.  17  ;  Rom.,  i.  18-32.  6  Ex.,  xx.  1-11 ;  Mat.,  xxii.  37,  38. 

7  1  Tim.,  ii.  5  ;  John,  xiv.  6.  8  Rom.,  yiii.  26;  Eph.,  ii.  18. 

8  1  John,  y.  14.  10  John,  iv.  24. 

II  Phil.,  iii.  3;  1  Pet.,  i.  5. 


529 


CHAP.  XXVIII.]  BIVINE  ORDINANCES. 

its  object,  its  nature,  its  means,  its  rule,  its  obligation,  and  its 
end  ;  and  at  the  same  time  discloses  the  most  fundamental  truths 
concerning  God,  concerning  ourselves,  and  concerning  those 
great  relations  between  him  and  ourselves  which  we  express  by 
the  word  religion.  When  we  come  to  apply  the  revealed  truths 
which  I  have  stated,  to  the  practical  life  of  God's  visible  Church, 
so  as  to  determine  with  certainty  the  particulars  of  that  divine 
worship  which  he  has  instituted  for  her  ;  we  find  the  whole  mat¬ 
ter  revealed  with  the  clearness  and  the  completeness  which  dis¬ 
tinguish  God's  word.  I  shall  not  in  this  place  for  lack  of  room, 
attempt  to  disclose  the  particulars  of  God's  instituted  public 
worship,  which  were  peculiar  to  any  preceding  dispensations  ; 
but  confine  myself  to  those  which  appertain  to  the  Gospel 
Church.  And  in  summing  up  the  chief  of  these  from  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  I  will  endeavour  to  classify  them  in  such  a  way  as  to 
avoid  all  confusion  ;  the  object  being,  not  to  comment  on  them, 
but  to  show  what  they  are,  and  that  they  are  of  divine  authority. 

3.  There  is  a  class  of  these  particulars  of  which  it  may  be 
said,  they  are  stated  in  their  recurrence,  general  in  their  appli¬ 
cation,  and  universal  in  their  obligation.  The  chief  of  these  are 
the  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath  day ;  public  worship  by  the 
congregations  of  God's  people,  especially  on  that  day  ;  and  the 
giving  of  alms  for  the  poor,  and  for  other  pious  purposes,  as  an 
act  of  religious  worship.  The  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath,  as 
a  duty  we  owe  to  God,  is  expressly  revealed  as  a  part  of  the 
moral  law  ;  its  indissoluble  connection  with  all  recognition  of  the 
true  God  by  man,  and  all  recognition  by  God  of  any  people  as 
his,  is  manifested  throughout  the  Scriptures  ;  and  its  relation  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  is  so  close,  that  on  it  he  rose  from  the  dead,  on 
it  continually  appeared  to  his  disciples,  on  it  finally  ascended  up 
into  heaven,  and  in  commemoration  of  him  his  inspired  Apostles 
changed  the  day  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  called  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Sabbath,  the  Lord's  day.1  The  stated  assembling  of  the 
gathered  congregations  of  God's  people  on  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
for  his  solemn  worship,  was  obligatory  and  habitual  from  the 
foundation  of  the  Gospel  Church ;  and  the  weekly  contribution 
of  the  saints  to  pious  purposes,  was  as  distinctly  commanded,  as 
any  other  divine  ordinance  of  its  class.2  Nor  was  either  of  the 

1  Ex.,  XX.  8-11;  Matt.,  v.  II,  18;  Rev.,  i.  10;  Heb.,  iv.  3-11. 

2  Heb.,  x.  25;  Acts,  ii.  42;  xx.  7  ;  1  Cor.,  xvi.  1-4;  Gal.,  ii.  9,  10. 

vol.  ii.  34 


530  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

particulars  just  stated,  new  to  the  Gospel  Church.  For  under 
every  preceding  dispensation  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath  had 
been  a  fundamental  part  of  revealed  religion  ;  the  synagogue 
worship  goes  back,  possibly,  to  the  captivity  in  Egypt — certainly 
to  the  captivity  in  Babylon  ;  and  the  service  of  God  by  means 
of  our  worldly  substance,  religiously  appropriated  according  to 
his  will,  is  as  ancient  as  religion  itself,  and  thoroughly  pervaded 
the  institutions  of  Moses.  The  Church  of  God  ought  never  to 
forget,  that  special  blessings  and  duties  rightly  performed,  go  to¬ 
gether. 

4.  There  is  another  class  of  these  particulars  of  which  it  may 
be  said,  as  of  the  preceding,  that  they  are  stated  in  their  recur¬ 
rence,  and  universal  in  their  obligation,  but,  unlike  the  others, 
they  are  special — not  general — in  their  application.  They  ap¬ 
pertain  to  each  congregation,  severally,  with  all  the  force  of  a 
divine  appointment,  and  embrace  its  stated  duties  and  privil¬ 
eges,  as  an  assembly  habitually  meeting  for  the  worship  of  God. 
I  had  occasion  in  a  previous  chapter,  when  treating  of  purity  of 
worship  as  an  infallible  mark  of  the  true  Church  ;  to  state  all  the 
divine  ordinances  for  public  worship  in  each  Christian  congre¬ 
gation,  and  to  adduce  Scripture  proof  of  what  I  taught. — I, 
therefore,  limit  myself  here  to  a  brief  recapitulation.  It  is  the 
ordinance  of  God,  plainly  declared  in  his  word,  that  in  the  stated 
public  worship  of  each  Christian  congregation,  the  sacred  Scrip¬ 
tures  shall  be  read  in  the  hearing  of  the  people,  prayer  shall  be 
offered  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  God's  praises  shall  be 
sung  by  the  congregation,  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  shall 
be  preached  to  the  people,  and  the  blessing  of  God  shall  be  in¬ 
voked  upon  them.  It  is  thus  that  God  has  provided,  in  the 
stated  worship  of  every  congregation,  for  the  manifestation  of  his 
own  glory,  for  the  comfort  and  edification  of  his  saints,  for  the 
conversion  of  sinners  unto  himself,  for  restraining  and  rebuking 
the  iniquity  of  the  impenitent,  and  for  the  perpetuation  and  in¬ 
crease  of  the  Church  itself. 

5.  The  last  class  of  these  particulars,  though  all  of  them  are 
ordained  of  God,  and  all  as  ordinances  of  God  have  relation, 
more  or  less  intimate  and  direct,  to  his  Church  ;  that  relation 
varies  too  much  amongst  the  several  particulars,  to  admit  of 
any  general  definition  of  it,  that  would  embrace  all  and  be  at 
once  brief  and  exact.  The  administration  of  the  sacraments, 


531 


CHAP.  XXVIII.]  DIVINE  ORDI  N  A  N  C  E  S. 

in  each  particular  congregation,  to  all  such  as  are  entitled  to  re¬ 
ceive  them,  is  of  stated,  but  at  the  same  time  of  occasional  and 
special  obligation.1  The  infliction  of  Church  censures  consid¬ 
ered  as  the  public  execution  of  sentence  ;  and  in  like  manner 
the  public  restoration  of  such  as  have  been  separated  from  the 
Church  by  due  process  of  Discipline  ;  are  both  parts  of  the  in¬ 
stituted  worship  of  God,  of  only  special  obligation.2  Public  and 
solemn  fasting  and  humiliation — as  well  as  public  and  solemn 
thanksgiving,  are  divine  ordinances  of  a  peculiar  kind  ;  for  while 
it  is  competent  to  the  civil  power,  as  appointed  of  God,  to  ap¬ 
point  both  with  reference  to  the  commonwealth  ;  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  whole  Church  upon  occasions  relevant  to  the  whole,  and 
of  each  particular  congregation  upon  occasions  relevant  to  it,  to 
observe  these  ordinances  of  worship,  whose  obligation  is  only 
special — and  may  arise  very  often,  or  very  seldom.3  It  cannot 
be  said  that  the  rite  of  marriage  appertains  in  any  way  to  the 
instituted  worship  of  God — •nor  that  the  burial  of  the  dead  is  a 
spiritual  ordinance  obligatory  upon  the  Church  :  nevertheless, 
marriage  is  treated  in  the  Scriptures  as  being  far  more  than  a 
merely  civil  contract ;  and  the  relation  of  temporal  death  to 
sin,  together  with  the  certainty  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
impart  to  the  burial  of  our  dead  the  deepest  solemnity.  It  is  in 
accordance  with  the  revealed  will  of  God,  that  both  particulars 
should  be  attended  with  special  religious  solemnities. — The  office 
bearers  and  government  of  the  Church,  both  of  which  are  ordi¬ 
nances  of  God,  have  the  most  intimate  connection  with  the  mat¬ 
ters  I  have  been  discussing.  But  as  it  will  be  necessary  to  treat 
those  topics  more  fully,  they  are  passed  over  here.  The  especial 
fitness  of  the  former  for  their  respective  places  in  every  congre¬ 
gation,  and  their  diligent  discharge  of  the  duties  appertaining 
to  their  several  stations  ;  are,  next  to  the  blessing  of  God,  the 
decisive  element  in  the  practical  effect  of  every  particular  in  the 
instituted  worship  of  the  Church  of  God. 

Y. — 1.  Though  the  public  infliction  and  the  public  removal 
of  Church  censures,  are  particulars  of  the  worship  appointed  of 
God  ;  it  appertains  to  the  government  ordained  of  God  for  his 
Church,  to  determine  the  particular  cases  in  which  censures  shall 

1  Matt.,  xxvi.  26-29  ;  xxviii.  19 ;  Acts,  ii.  41,  42  ;  1  Cor.,  xi.  23-29. 

9  Matt.,  xviii.  15-18;  1  Cor.,  v.  1-5;  2  Cor.,  ii.  6-8. 

3  Luke,  v.  35 ;  Psalm  1.  14  ;  Phil.,  iv.  6. 


532  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

be  inflicted  or  removed,  according  to  the  divine  law  and  the 
merits  of  each  case  ;  and  the  practical  administration  of  that  law 
of  G-od,  both  as  a  function  of  government,  and  as  a  part  of  wor¬ 
ship,  is  what  is  specialty  meant  by  the  Discipline  of  the  Church, 
which  is  one  of  the  great  ordinances  bestowed  upon  her  by  God. 
The  commonwealth  is,  both  in  thought  and  in  fact,  before  and 
above  any  particular  form  which  is  given  to  what  we  call  govern¬ 
ment  ;  and  that  again  is  before  and  above  any  particular  institu¬ 
tions  which  are  created  for  the  community,  in  connection  with 
the  co-existing  form  of  government.  But  in  whatever  state  of 
advancement  any  commonwealth  may  be,  and  whatever  may  be 
the  form  of  its  government,  and  whatever  may  be  its  peculiar  in¬ 
stitutions,  whether  civil,  political,  or  social  ;  it  is  certain  that  the 
just,  wise,  and  faithful  administration  of  its  government  and 
institutions,  is  indispensable  in  the  accomplishment  of  whatever 
they  are  designed  or  competent  to  effect.  In  the  Christian 
Church  considered  as  a  free  commonwealth,  which  it  is,  there  is 
this  great  peculiarity,  that  the  community  itself  exists  after  a 
spiritual  manner,  and  for  spiritual  ends — and  that  the  visible  form 
which  it  acquires  is  prescribed  by  God  in  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
together  with  all  government  and  all  institutions  relevant  thereto. 
The  just,  wise,  and  faithful  administration  of  the  government, 
institutions,  and  whole  interests  of  such  a  community,  is,  upon 
the  conditions  stated,  perfectly  vital  :  and  when,  in  addition, 
God  gives  to  this  universal  administration  the  dignity  of  a  divine 
ordinance,  and  bestows  it  upon  the  Church  as  at  once  a  special 
command  and  a  special  blessing  ;  the  Discipline  of  the  Church 
becomes  a  matter  not  merely  necessary  to  her  peace,  her  edifica¬ 
tion,  and  her  purity — but  indispensable  to  her  continued  existence 
as  the  visible  Kingdom  of  God.  According  as  the  laws  and  or¬ 
dinances  of  God  are  administered,  more  or  less  truly  and  exactly, 
in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  by  the  government  he  has  established 
in  that  Kingdom  ;  the  Kingdom  itself  is  more  or  less  prosperous, 
more  or  less  glorious.  But  when  they  cease  to  be  administered 
•<as  laws  and  institutions  of  God,  and  the  government  itself  is 
depraved,  and  discipline  is  at  an  end  :  however  God’s  individual 
children  may  be  still  faithful  to  him — the  visible  organization  is 
corrupt — and  must  repent  and  reform,  or  become  totally  apostate. 
There  is  no  instance  in  the  history  of  Christianity,  of  the  restora¬ 
tion  of  a  Church  which  has  completely  forsaken  God. 


CHAP.  XXVIII.] 


DIVINE  ORDINANCES. 


533 


2.  I  shall  consider  the  government  of  the  Church  in  another 
place :  concerning  its  particular  nature  nothing  more  being 
necessary  here,  than  is  commonly  allowed  by  all  Christian  peo¬ 
ple.  No  one  will  deny  that  the  people  of  God  considered  as  his 
Church,  are  entitled  to  have  that  form  of  government  and  those 
ordinances,  which  God  judges  to  he  best  for  them  ;  and  few  will 
hesitate  to  admit  that  the  obligation  resting  on  them  as  a  Church, 
as  office  hearers  therein,  and  as  members  thereof,  is  not  only 
complete,  hut  divine,  to  use  their  highest  endeavours  to  obtain 
and  to  perpetuate  that  government  and  those  ordinances.  What 
is  insisted  on  here,  is  the  divine  and  universal  obligation  resting  on 
the  whole  Church,  and  on  all  office  hearers  of  it  who  are  invested 
with  any  sort  of  authority  or  power,  and  on  all  tribunals  of  it, 
and  on  every  separate  portion  of  it,  and  on  every  private  mem¬ 
ber  of  it — each  in  his  place,  and  according  to  his  degree,  and 
his  opportunity  ;  to  contribute  all  he  can  towards  the  wise,  just, 
and  faithful  administration  of  the  actual  government  and  ordi¬ 
nances,  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  men.  This  high 
duty  is  specially  and  officially  binding  on  those  who  bear  rule  in 
the  Church.  The  government  which  the  Lord  Jesus  has  appoint¬ 
ed  in  his  Church,  distinct  from  the  civil  power,  is  charged  with 
the  momentous  duties  of  admitting  penitent  and  believing  sin¬ 
ners  into  it, — of  watching  over  and  guiding  the  Church,  and 
every  one  who  is  a  member  of  it, — and  of  administering  those 
Censures  which  God  has  ordained  in  his  word,  and  which  bear 
to  its  threats,  a  relation  somewhat  analogous  to  that  which  the 
sacraments  bear  to  its  promises.1  For  the  objects  of  it  are,  the 
reclaiming  of  offenders  against  the  Law  of  the  Lord, — the  deter¬ 
ring  of  believers  from  the  commission  of  offences, — the  purging 
out  of  evil  leaven  from  the  Church, — the  vindicating  of  the  pro¬ 
fession  of  the  Gospel,  the  maintaining  of  the  honour  of  Christ, 
and  the  preventing  of  the  wrath  of  God  from  falling  on  the 
Church.2  The  administration  of  these  censures,  whether  it 
serves,  actually,  as  a  correction  of  offences,  or  simply  as  a  pun¬ 
ishment  of  them  ;  in  both  ways  purifies  the  Church,  confirms 
believers,  and  glorifies  God.  For  in  the  former  case  censures 
iustly  inflicted  bring  offenders  to  repentance,  and  in  the  latter 
case  they  serve  to  declare  and  manifest  the  ruin  that  awaits  the 

1  Matt.,  xvi.  19 ;  xxviii.  1*7,  18. 

a  1  Cor.,  v. ;  1  Tim.,  v. ;  1  Thess.,  v.  11-25;  John,  xx.  19-23. 


534  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

wicked.1  And  in  these,  as  in  all  things,  they  who  do  not  corrupt 
the  word  of  God,  but  sincerely,  as  by  his  authority,  and  in  his 
sight,  do  his  will ;  are  unto  God  a  sweet  savour  in  Christ,  in 
them  that  are  saved,  and  in  them  that  perish.2 

3.  The  Censures  of  the  Church  are,  like  the  Church  itself, 
wholly  spiritual ;  they  have  no  civil,  political,  or  temporal  sanc¬ 
tion — nor  any  force  but  that  which  is  purely  moral  and  spiritual. 
They  are  executed  in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  and  are  grounded  exclusively  on  the  written  word 
of  God.  Being  destitute  of  any  of  these  elements,  they  are  utterly 
void  :  while,  possessing  them  all,  they  carry  with  them  a  weight 
which  they  who  defy  are  lost,  unless  they  be  able  to  defy  the  Lord 
of  glory  also.  When  addressed  to  the  members  of  the  Church, 
they  consist  of  excommunication  from  it,  suspension  from  its 
privileges,  rebuke,  and  admonition  ;  to  which  in  the  case  of  such 
as  bear  office,  are  to  be  added  deposition  therefrom,  and  suspen¬ 
sion  from  its  exercise.  In  all  cases  of  restoration  of  offenders, 
and  removal  of  Church  censures  ;  repentance  for  the  sin  com¬ 
mitted,  and  where  it  is  possible,  reparation  for  the  injury  in¬ 
flicted,  are  wholly  indispensable  ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  since 
it  is  the  glory  cf  Christ  that  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost 
all  who  come  to  God  by  him — and  the  joy  of  his  Church  to  em¬ 
brace  all  that  are  his — no  ecclesiastical  censure  can  be  irrevoca¬ 
ble.  No  one  can  be  more  sensible  than  I  am,  how  inconsistent 
all  the  parts  of  this  brief  summary  are,  with  the  doctrine  and 
the  practice  of  most  corrupt,  and  all  apostate  Churches  ;  and 
how  different  the  view  of  the  Church  of  God  and  her  Discipline 
herein  presented  is,  from  that  commonly  entertained  concerning 
both  by  ungodly  men.  I  believe,  however,  that  what  I  have 
advanced  will  be  accepted — imperfect  as  it  is,  as  true,  by  most 
sincere  disciples  of  Christ ;  and  few  earnest  students  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  will  gainsay  it.  Supposing  I  have  taught 
what  is  true, — it  is  obvious  that  mankind  at  large,  and  all  civil 
States,  have  the  highest  interest  in  delivering  themselves  from 
the  opposite  view  of  the  Church  and  her  Discipline  ;  which  be¬ 
gins  by  establishing  corruption  in  her  own  bosom,  proceeds  by 
transforming  her  into  a  persecutor  and  an  oppressor,  and  ends  by 
demanding  for  her  the  double  sword,  the  triple  crowm,  the  keys 

»  Matt.,  xviii.;  1  Cor.,  v.;  xvi.  22;  1  Tim.,  i.  20. 

*  2  Cor.,  ii.  14-17. 


CHAP.  XXVIII.]  DIVINE  ORDINA  N  C  E  S .  535 

of  heaven  and  hell,  and  an  unlimited  despotism,  temporal  and 
spiritual,  over  the  human  race. 

4.  What  I  have  said,  as  yet,  has  special  relation  to  the  inter¬ 
nal  administration  of  the  Church  of  God  ;  the  application  of  his 
commands  and  threatenings,  to  offences  and  offenders  in  her  own 
bosom,  the  use  of  ecclesiastical  Censures  by  the  Church  for  self- 
edification,  self-purification.  There  is  another  and  external  use 
of  the  divine  ordinance  of  Discipline,  more  general,  less  personal, 
perhaps  more  difficult,  yet  of  the  highest  necessity  and  obliga¬ 
tion.  The  Church  has  immense  duties  to  perform  towards 
the  world  without.  It  is  through  her  instrumentalitv  that  men 
are  converted  to  God  ;  it  is  her  part  to  carry  the  glad  tidings  of 
salvation  to  all  the  families  of  the  earth — and  to  beseech  men  to 
be  reconciled  to  God.  But,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  her  duty  not 
to  shun  to  declare  unto  them,  the  whole  counsel  of  God  ;  and, 
therefore,  the  threatenings  of  God  against  the  impenitent  are  to 
be  administered  by  her  as  faithfully,  as  the  promises  of  God  to 
the  penitent.  The  Censures  of  the  Church,  as  I  have  before 
intimated,  have  a  relation  to  these  threatenings  of  God,  in  some 
degree  analogous  to  the  relation  between  the  sacraments  of  the 
Church  and  the  promises  of  God  :  and  while  the  hitter  are  to  be 
administered  to  ail  God’s  children,  the  former  are  to  be  adminis¬ 
tered  to  all  his  enemies.  The  administration  is,  no  doubt,  widely 
different  in  the  two  cases  ;  widely  different,  as  respects  censures 
merely,  when  administered  against  those  without,  and  those 
within  the  Church.  What  is  insisted  on  is,  that  although  the 
administration  be  different  in  form,  it  is,  nevertheless,  a  real 
administration  of  the  threatenings  of  God,  in  the  way  of  eccle¬ 
siastical  Censures,  exceeding  the  mere  preaching  of  the  terrors 
of  God's  wrath,  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  ungodliness  and 
unrighteousness  of  men.  The  Church  is  bound  and  obliged,  in 
the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  will  of  God,  to  rebuke  and  to  condemn  all  heretics  who  deny 
the  faith,  all  schismatics  who  break  the  bond  of  charity,  all 
apostates  who  deny  the  Lord  that  bought  them,  all  idolaters  who 
transfer  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible  God  to  images  of  corrupti¬ 
ble  things,  all  open  enemies  of  God  and  his  Christ  who  insult 
the  majesty  of  heaven  and  turn  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie  ;  all, 
in  short,  whose  sins,  of  whatever  kind,  expose  them  flagrantly 
to  the  wrath  of  God,  and  come  up  before  the  face  of  the  Church 


536 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  Y. 


as  perpetual  hindrances  to  her,  in  the  work  of  saving  souls,  in 
the  maintenance  of  the  truth  of  which  she  is  the  pillar  and 
ground,  or  in  her  witness-bearing  for  the  glorious  Lord  who  loved 
her  and  gave  himself  for  her.  She  may  no  more  refuse  to  ad¬ 
minister  the  threatenings  of  God  against  sin  and  sinners,  whom 
he  has  exhibited  to  her  as  objects  of  divine  abhorrence  ;  than 
she  may  omit  to  proclaim  salvation  to  every  one  who  will  call 
upon  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  she  may  settle  it  in  her  heart, 
that  exactly  in  proportion  as  she  grows  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  God,  and  manifests  her  fidelity  to  him,  and  her 
zeal  in  his  service,  she  will  incur  the  hatred  of  all  who  hate  God 
and  his  Christ  :  and  at  the  same  time,  let  her  know  assuredly, 
that  hut  for  her  own  steadfast  resistance,  even  unto  blood, 
throughout  all  past  ages,  every  vestige  of  the  Gospel  would  long 
ago  have  been  swept  from  the  earth.  Nor  has  any  preceding 
age  demanded  of  her  a  wiser  or  a  more  exact  fidelity,  in  execu¬ 
ting  the  high  duty  here  disclosed,  than  the  one  now  passing  over 
her  ;  the  whole  world,  on  one  hand,  'open  to  the  Gospel,  and  on 
the  other,  crowded  with  every  hideous  form  of  sin  that  can  make 
the  Gospel  of  none  effect. 

YI. — 1.  All  the  Gifts  of  God  which  have  relation  to  salvation, 
whether  those  supreme  ones  which  have  been  considered  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  or  those  treated  of  under  the  name  of  Ordi¬ 
nances  in  this  chapter,  have  a  very  special  relation  to  the  Church 
on  which  he  has  bestowed  them  ;  but,  nevertheless,  all  of  them 
have,  also,  very  obvious  relations  to  the  world  of  sinful  men  from 
amongst  whom  God’s  children  are  taken,  to  all  of  whom  salvation 
is  offered,  and  every  one  of  whom  will  be  judged  by  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  great  day.  The  Son  of  God  is  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
the  Spirit  of  God  is  poured  out  upon  all  flesh,  the  Word  of  God 
is  made  known  to  every  creature,  the  Sabbath  is  a  universal 
blessing  and  obligation,  the  sacraments  are  the  most  simple  and 
the  most  solemn  representations  to  all  men  of  the  sum  of  Gospel 
truth,  the  instituted  worship  of  the  Church  is  the  most  effectual 
means  of  teaching  the  human  race  all  things  whatsoever  Christ 
has  commanded  us  and  of  enforcing  it  all  upon  the  conscience, 
and  the  censures  of  the  Church,  as  I  have  just  shown,  are  insti¬ 
tuted  means  used  by  the  Spirit  in  his  work  of  convincing  the 
world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment.1  Now  it  is  the 

1  John,  xvi.  7-11. 


CHAP.  XXVIII.]  DIVINE  ORDINANCES.  537 

bounden  duty  of  the  Church  to  give  this  outward  efficacy, 
according  to  her  utmost  ability,  to  all  these  gifts  and  ordinances 
of  God  ;  and  so  the  crowning  Ordinance  given  to  the  Church, 
has  the  most  special  reference  to  the  world — namely  its  Evange¬ 
lization.  And  the  more  perfect  is  the  inward  efficacy  of  all 
Gifts  and  Ordinances  of  God — the  more  completely  is  the  Church 
fitted  and  the  more  earnestly  is  she  inclined,  to  give  outward 
efficacy  to  every  one  of  them  ;  and  thus  complete  in  her  own  di¬ 
vine  equipment,  to  address  herself,  in  the  power  of  God  and  by 
the  authority  of  God,  to  the  great  work  of  saving  the  world.  It 
is  God  who  has  given  her  this  blessed  work  to  do  :  she  may  not, 
without  impiety  to  him,  and  dishonour  to  herself  and  ruin  to  the 
world,  omit  to  do  it.  It  is  God  who  has  bestowed  on  her  every 
gift  which  could  fit  her  for  its  performance — every  ordinance 
which  could  aid  her  in  its  accomplishment — every  promise  which 
could  render  its  achievement  certain.  And  then  he  has  staked 
her  crown,  and  his  own  glory,  upon  her  success  in  the  great  work  ; 
and  he  calls  to  her  from  heaven, — Be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  over¬ 
come  the  world  I1 

2.  The  perpetuity  of  the  Church,  from  generation  to  genera¬ 
tion,  depends  on  the  thoroughness  with  which  this  work  of  Evan¬ 
gelization  is  done  by  her.  If  it  were  to  cease  altogether,  the 
shortness  of  human  life  would  cause  the  almost  immediate  extin¬ 
guishment  of  the  Church.  If  it  is  done  unfaithfully,  the  pro¬ 
portion  of  unconverted  professors  of  religion  constantly  increases 
— hurrying  the  Church  into  formality,  deadness,  heresy,  corrup¬ 
tion,  apostacy  :  a  fearful  course,  every  step  of  which  is  palpable 
throughout  the  history  of  the  human  race.  And  yet  to  do  it 
faithfully,  is  far  beyond  any  power  on  earth  except  that  of  the 
Church  ;  and  far  beyond  hers  except  as  the  life  of  God  animates 
all  her  endeavours.  A  whole  world  in  utter  rebellion  against 
God,  is  to  be  subdued  :  a  thousand  millions  of  impenitent  sin¬ 
ners  are  to  be  converted  :  every  form  of  false  religion  is  to  be 
extirpated  :  the  mental  darkness  of  the  human  race  is  to  be 
enlightened — its  temporal  degradation  is  to  be  removed.  In 
attempting  this — toils,  and  sufferings,  and  self-denials,  and  dan¬ 
gers  are  to  be  encountered,  which  no  other  end  would  justify.  To 
gain  any  triumph,  and  to  secure  every  one  as  it  is  gained,  to  pre¬ 
pare  us  for  the  very  doing  of  the  work  and  to  maintain  the  Church 

1  John,  xvi.  33. 


538  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

in  a  posture  to  do  any  part  of  it — the  temporal  means  which  are 
demanded  for  a  thousand  necessities,  at  home  and  abroad,  must 
never  cease  to  flow  into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the 
course  of  ages  must  exceed  all  computation.  Wisdom  too,  ap¬ 
parently  more  than  human,  there  must  be,  to  direct  all  the  im¬ 
mense  forces  of  every  sort,  which  are  organized  by  God  unto  this 
vast  end  :  an  unwavering  pursuit  by  millions  of  men,  from  age 
to  age,  of  the  one  immense  object,  through  the  same  divinely 
appointed  means  :  a  consecration  which  has  no  limit,  and  which 
recurs  forever,  of  the  purest,  the  best,  the  greatest  that  adorn 
the  Church,  to  one  part  or  another  of  this  greatest  of  all  attempts. 
If  there  be  in  this  world  a  class  of  persons  who  have  an  object 
and  a  career  for  which  nothing  but  the  grace  of  God  can  qualify 
them — and  in  the  pursuit  of  which  nothing  but  unqualified  devo¬ 
tion  to  God  can  sustain  them  :  surely  that  is  the  class  of  persons 
whose  hearts  are  consumed  with  the  desire  and  the  endeavour  to 
execute  this  crowning  Ordinance  of  God.  No  zeal  can  surpass 
the  zeal  they  need  ;  no  knowledge  can  exceed  the  knowledge 
they  require  ;  no  patience,  no  courage,  no  perseverance,  no 
activity  is  too  great  to  be  exacted  of  them  ;  no  faith  is  beyond 
that  which  their  trials  demand  ;  and  blessed  be  God,  no  recom¬ 
pense  can  equal  that  which  God  has  in  store  for  them.  In  the 
meantime,  their  hearts  are  sustained  by  every  consideration 
drawn  from  the  great  duty  which  God  requires  of  them,  and  the 
great  honour  he  has  put  upon  them,  and  the  great  reward  he  has 
laid  up  for  them — as  the  hope  of  their  high  calling  is  more  and 
more  sealed  unto  them,  and  the  hour  of  their  entrance  upon  their 
eternal  rest  draws  nigher  and  nigher.  Oh  !  that  every  follower 
of  Christ  was  of  the  same  mind  with  those,  who  lead  the  fore¬ 
front  of  that  glorious  array,  whose  banner  hns  always  floated 
over  the  hottest  of  the  conflict  with  every  enemy  of  God  !  Oh  ! 
that  the  heart  of  every  soldier  of  the  cross  responded,  as  the 
watchword  of  the  unconquerable  host  swells  along  its  ranks — 
Brethren  !  Advance  the  banner  of  the  Lord  ! 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM:  ITS  NATURE  AND  DESIGN:  SUBJECTS 
OF  IT :  MODE  OF  ADMINISTRATION :  APOSTOLIC  PRACTICE. 

I.  1.  Circumcision:  its  origin  and  Nature. — 2.  Its  Relation  to  Christian  Baptism. — 
3.  Mission  and  Baptism  of  John. — 4.  The  Baptism  of  the  Apostles,  during  Christ’s 
personal  Ministry. — 5.  Institution  of  Christian  Baptism,  by  the  Risen  Saviour. — 
6.  Outpouring  of  the  Spirit  with  Power ;  Relation  thereof  to  Christian  Baptism. 
— 7.  Certainty  of  these  Divine  Mysteries :  and  their  Sum. — 8.  Their  relation  to 
the  doctrine  of  God,  and  of  Salvation — II.  1.  The  relation  between  Baptism  and 
the  blessings  of  which  it  is  the  Seal. — 2.  All  who  have  title  to  the  Blessings,  have 
title  to  the  Seal. — 3.  Vindication  in  eleven  propositions,  of  the  Right  of  the  In¬ 
fant  Seed  of  believers,  to  Christian  Baptism. — 4.  Effects  of  the  neglect,  and  of 
the  exercise  of  this  right. — III.  1.  Effect  of  the  mode  of  Baptism  on  the  validity 
of  the  Ordinance. — 2.  Immersion  in  commemoration  of  the  Burial  of  Christ,  a 
total  perversion  of  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism. — 3.  Exposition  of  the  Scriptural 
Doctrine  of  Baptism — as  related  to  the  death  and  burial  of  Christ. — 4.  Various 
Scriptural  Senses  of  the  term  Baptism :  Authority  of  Christ  to  fix  the  sense  of 
this  term,  and  the  mode  of  this  Sacrament. — 5.  Proof  in  five  propositions  of  the 
mode  of  administration  intended  by  Christ. — IV.  1.  Apostolic  Practice  :  Day  of 
Pentecost,  and  the  Baptism  then  administered.— 2.  Evidence  afforded  by  this  great 
example:  stated  in  three  propositions. — 3.  First  Gentile  Baptism. — 4.  Evidence 
afforded  by  it,  stated  in  three  propositions. — 5.  Doctrine  of  Baptism  deduced  from 
the  Apostolic  Practice. 

I. — 1.  When  Abram  was  ninety  and  nine  years  old  the  Lord 
appeared  unto  him,  and  under  his  name,  the  Almighty  God,  re¬ 
newed  unto  him  all  his  promises  and  enlarged  them,  changed  his 
name  to  Abraham — father  of  many  nations — reduced  the  whole 
into  the  form  of  an  everlasting  covenant  to  be  a  God  unto  him 
and  to  his  seed  after  him,  and  instituted  the  sacrament  of  circum¬ 
cision  as  the  perpetual  token  of  the  covenant,  and  the  common 
seal  of  all  its  stipulations.1  He  who  entered  into  this  covenant 
with  Abraham  declared  himself  to  be  Jehovah — and  the  divine 
names  under  which  he  binds  himself,  express,  in  a  peculiar  man¬ 
ner,  his  almightiness  and  his  all-sufficiency. *  In  the  sacrament 
which  is  the  outward  token  of  this  covenant,  lies  the  first  step  in 

1  Gen.,  xvii.  1-14.  *  ituy  Vn  rnm 

-  -  ••  r  ; 


540 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


the  separate  organization  of  the  Church  of  God  considered  as 
visible  :  a  sacrament  which,  under  three  dispensations  of  the 
Covenant  of  Grace,  and  under  twTo  very  distinct  forms  has  con¬ 
tinued  for  about  four  thousand  years,'"'  to  be  a  sign  and  a  seal  of 
God’s  grace  to  his  people.  Moses  simply  continued,  by  a  positive 
enactment,  the  sacrament  of  circumcision  as  he  found  it  estab¬ 
lished  amongst  his  people  and  engrafted  it  into  the  dispensa¬ 
tion  he  was  sent  to  organize  out  of  the  descendants  of  Abraham 
through  Isaac,  upon  one  branch  of  the  great  promises  sealed  by 
this  sacrament.  Christ  himself  plainly  tells  us  that  this  was  the 
relation  of  this  sacrament  to  the  Levitical  dispensation  ;2  and 
therein  points  out  the  nature  of  its  relation  to  the  whole  Jewish 
system.  It  was  the  token  of  all  the  promises  of  a  strictly  per¬ 
sonal  kind,  made  to  Abraham  :  the  token,  also,  of  all  the  prom¬ 
ises  made  in  favour  of  Ishmael  and  his  posterity,  and  Esau  and 
his  posterity :  the  token,  also,  of  the  far  higher  promises,  both 
temporal  and  spiritual,  made  to  the  descendants  of  Abraham 
through  Isaac  and  Jacob — who  were  very  specially  heirs  according 
to  the  promise  of  God.  In  this  respect  circumcision  was  the  basis 
of  the  Hebrew  commonwealth,  and  of  the  peculiar  system  of  the 
Jews  in  all  its  aspects.  But  its  fundamental  sense  and  use  were 
to  signify  and  seal  divine  grace,  and  to  bind  and  oblige  men  to 
the  performance  of  all  duties  corresponding  thereto.3  And  there¬ 
fore,  God  called  it  from  the  beginning  a  token  of  the  covenant 
between  him  and  Abraham,4  and  declared  two  thousand  years 
afterwards,  by  the  mouth  of  Paul,  that  Abraham  received  it  as  a 
seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith — the  great  stipulation  of  the 
covenant,  that  Abraham  should  be  heir  of  the  world,  not  being- 
through  the  law,  but  through  the  righteousness  of  faith.5  Where¬ 
fore,  and  in  like  manner,  justification  was  sealed  by  it  to  all  be¬ 
lievers,  of  whom  Abraham,  through  this  covenant,  is  the  common 
Father  by  which,  also,  sanctification  was  signified  and  sealed 

*  The  chronology  adopted  in  this,  and  the  former  Treatise,  is  that  which  is  com¬ 
monly  accepted  as  settled  upon  the  foundation  of  the  labours  of  Petaviu-  and  his 
successors.  This  is  done,  not  as  assenting  to  the  accuracy  of  any  part  of  it,  preceding 
the  Christian  era,  but  because  any  discussions  on  such  a  topic,  in  the  present  state  of 
opinion,  and  in  connection  with  such  labours  as  I  have  been  attempting,  would  only 
perplex  my  general  subject,  even  if  they  cleared  up  the  chronology  of  it  before  the  es¬ 
tablishment  of  the  Gospel  Churoh — which  was  far  more  than  I  could  expect. 

J  Lev.,  xii.  3.  3  John,  viL  22.  3  Deut.,  x.  16. 

4  Gen.,  xvii.  11.  5  Rom.,  iv.  11,  12.  6  ^ 


541 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

unto  them,  through  this  sacrament.  For  God  promised  to  cir¬ 
cumcise  the  hearts  of  his  ancient  people,  as  well  as  to  bring  them 
into  the  promised  land.1  And  in  truth,  in  the  very  nature  of 
things,  he  was  not  a  Jew  who  was  one  outwardly,  neither  was 
that  circumcision  which  was  outward  in  the  flesh  ;  but  he  was  a 
Jew  who  was  one  inwardly,  and  circumcision  was  of  the  heart, 
in  the  spirit,  not  in  the  letter.2 

2.  We  are  not  left  any  room  to  believe  that  the  particular 
form  of  circumcision  under  which  this  great  and  permanent  sa¬ 
crament  was  first  instituted, — under  which  it  endured  as  the  seal 
of  all  the  promises  for  two  thousand  years,  and  endures  still  as 
the  token  of  a  portion  of  them  ;  was  intended  by  God  to  con¬ 
tinue,  as  the  token  between  God  and  his  Church  visible,  and  a 
sign  and  seal  of  covenanted  grace,  any  longer  than  the  glorious 
dispensation  of  the  Gospel  should  be  fully  manifested  on  earth. 
Why,  demanded  Peter  of  the  Assembly  of  Apostles  and  Elders, 
met  to  consider  this  very  question — -why  tempt  ye  God,  to  put 
a  yoke  upon  the  neck  of  the  disciples  P3  My  sentence  is — said 
James, — after  proving  that  it  had  always  been  the  purpose  of 
God  to  visit  tlfe  Gentiles,  to  take  out  of  them  a  people  for  his 
name  ; — My  sentence  is  that  we  trouble  not  them,  which  from 
among  the  Gentiles  are  turned  to  God.  And  the  whole  Assem¬ 
bly,  divinely  authorized  and  divinely  taught,  broke  in  two  the 
heavy  yoke  of  the  ceremonial  law,  and  of  circumcision  as  a  token 
of  it.4  The  Apostle  Paul,  largely  proving  these  things  to  the 
Churches  of  Galatia,  told  them,  that  if  they  persisted  in  being 
circumcised,  Christ  profited  them  nothing — for  they  not  only  re¬ 
jected  his  grace  thereby,  but  made  themselves  debtors  to  do 
the  whole  law.5  For  Christ  had  expressly  commanded,  that  Bap¬ 
tism  with  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  should  be  the  form  of  this  sacrament,  from 
the  moment  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost.6  For  then  the  long  predicted  time  would  be  fully 
come,  for  the  Church  of  God  to  be  opened  to  the  long  excluded 
Gentile  world,7  and  for  the  proclamation  of  that  Hew  Covenant, 
so  long  predicted- — not  according  to  the  covenant  under  which 
Israel  was  brought  up  out  of  Egypt,  but  according  to  an  ever¬ 
lasting  covenant,  under  which  all  shall  know  the  Lord.3  We 

1  Deut.,  xxx.  6.  2  Rom.,  ii.  28,  29.  3  Acts,  xv.  10.  4  Acts,  xv .passim. 

6  (tal.,  v.  1-6.  6  Matt.,  xxviii.  19  ;  Luke,  xxiv.  49;  Acts,  i.  8. 

i  Amos,  ix.  11,  12  ;  Acts,  xv.  15-17.  8  Jer.,  xxxi.  31-37. 


542  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

may  therefore  confidently  say  that  circumcision  was  the  primeval 
sacrament  of  the  dispensation  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  insti¬ 
tuted,  by  God,  in  Abraham  and  his  seed  :  that  it  was  a  token 
between  God  and  every  one  beneficially  interested  in  that  cove¬ 
nant,  of  the  covenant  itself  and  of  every  promise  made  in  it : 
and,  as  such,  was  accepted  by  Moses,  and  engrafted  into  the 
Jewish  dispensation,  as  the  foundation  thereof.  Ordained  by 
God  in  the  fiesh  of  his  covenant  people' — the  seed  of  his  friend 
Abraham,  it  became  the  first  mark  of  the  visible  separation  of 
God’s  people  from  the  world — the  first  step  in  the  visible  organ¬ 
ization  of  the  Church  of  God  ;  and  as  such,  its  main  use  and 
significance  were,  that  it  was  a  token  and  a  seal  of  the  deliver¬ 
ance  of  believers  in  God  from  sin  and  endless  death,  by  the  only 
way  in  which  God  ever  delivered  any — to  wit,  by  the  Son  of  God 
as  the  Saviour  of  sinners — whose  advent  was  the  chief  stipula¬ 
tion  of  the  covenant :  and  that  its  period,  under  the  form  origi¬ 
nally  given,  was  until  the  end  of  all  that  was  legal,  typical  and 
ceremonial,  and  the  complete  manifestation  of  divine  grace  and 
truth,  through  Jesus  Christ — by  whose  command,  Baptism  with 
water,  in  the  name  of  the  Triune  God,  took  its  place  as  a  token 
and  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  under  the  Gospel  dispensa¬ 
tion. 

3.  The  Scriptures  clearly  explain  the  mission  of  John  the 
Baptist,  as  the  forerunner  of  Christ,  together  with  the  nature 
and  whole  course,  fruits  and  end  thereof.*  It  is  repeatedly  de¬ 
clared,  that  one  grand  part  of  that  mission,  was  to  baptize  the 
people,  in  the  preparation  of  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  with  ex¬ 
plicit  reference  to  his  immediate  appearance  in  his  personal 
ministry.  Behold,  said  John,  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world.  This  is  he  of  whom  I  said,  after  me 
cometh  a  man  which  is  preferred  before  me  ;  for  he  was  before 
me.  And  I  knew  him  not :  but  that  he  should  be  manifest  to 
Israel,  therefore  am  I  come  baptizing  with  water.  I  saw  the 
Spirit  descending  from  heaven  like  a  dove,  and  it  abode  upon 
him.  And  I  knew  him  not :  but  he  that  sent  me  to  baptize  with 
water,  the  same  said  unto  me,  Upon  whom  thou  shalt  see  the 
Spirit  descending,  and  remaining  on  him,  the  same  is  he  which  bap- 
tizeth  with  the  Holy  Ghost.1  It  is  therefore  certain  that  John 
was  divinely  commanded  to  baptize  :  that  this  baptism  had  a  di- 

*  Luke,  iii.  1-22;  Matt,  iii.  passim ;  xl  1-19.  i  John,  i.  29-33. 


543 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

rect  relevancy  to  the  immediate  manifestation  of  Jesus  Christ, 
as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world  ;  and  that  Jesus 
Christ  would  initiate  a  better  baptism  than  one  of  mere  water  unto 
repentance,  which  was  the  nature  of  John's  baptism,  as  explained 
by  himself,  while  he  describes  that  of  Christ  as  a  baptism  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  fire.1  The  baptism  of  John,  therefore,  bore 
the  same  relation  to  Christian  baptism,  that  John  himself  bore 
to  Christ.  It  was  not  instituted  by  Christ, — but  preceded  his 
ministry,  and  had  relation  only  to  that  ministry,  as  has  been 
shown, —  and  as  the  baptism  of  Christ  himself,  by  John,  abun¬ 
dantly  confirms.*  Moreover,  the  Apostle  Paul,  not  only  baptized 
disciples  who  had  already  been  baptized  unto  John’s  baptism  ; 
but  he  explained  why  he  did  it,  in  the  sense  I  have  already  stated.3 

4.  The  Lord  Jesus  did  not  personally  baptize  ;  but  his  disci¬ 
ples  did,  with  his  approbation,  in  his  presence,  and  as  part  of  the 
work  appropriate  to  them,  while  his  ministry  continued  :  indeed 
it  is  expressly  stated  that  they  did  this  before  the  close  of  John's 
ministry.]*  Nor  in  all  the  testimony  of  John  to  Christ,  as  the 
Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  is  there  anything 
more  clear  and  full,  than  his  exposition  of  these  very  circum¬ 
stances,  when  he  was  informed  of  them.8  Still  the  decisive  fact 
must  be  remembered,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  minister  of  the 
circumcision  :  sent  only,  so  far  as  his  personal  ministry  went,  to 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel  :  he  came  unto  his  own  and 
his  own  received  him  not.J  And  this  was  all  involved  so  deeply 
in  his  Mediatorial  work,  that  it  might  not  be  otherwise  :  and 
even  the  truth  of  God,  the  promises  made  unto  the  fathers,  and 
the  call  of  the  Gentiles  themselves,  exacted,  as  is  declared  by 
Paul,  this  very  form  of  the  coming  of  Messiah.4  He  neither 
took  down  the  Jewish  system,  nor  set  up  the  Christian  system  in 
its  stead  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  amongst  his  most  wonderful 
teachings,  were  his  expositions  of  the  spirituality  of  the  dispen¬ 
sation  to  which  his  own  mission  put  an  end.  Having  invested 
his  Apostles  with  all  power,  and  designated  the  circumstances  in 
which  they  should  receive  all  fitness ;  his  reserve  was  so  great, 
that  although  he  instituted  the  sacrament  of  his  body  and  blood 
while  he  observed  the  Passover  for  the  last  time,  he  did  not  then 

J  Matt.,  iii.  11.  *  Matt.,  iii.  13-17  ;  xxi.  23-27. 

7  Acts,  xix.  1-5.  -j-  John,  iv.  2  ;  iii.  22-24. 

3  John,  iii.  26-36.  *  Rom.,  xv.  8 ;  Matt.,  xv.  24 ;  John,  i.  11.  4  Rom.,  xv.  8-12. 


544  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

say  to  bis  Apostles  that  the  sacrament,  which  had  commemorated 
his  own  sacrifice  so  long,  and  which  was  to  commemorate  it  to 
the  end  of  time — must,  thenceforward  change  its  form.  In  like 
manner,  not  a  word  is  recorded  which  lends  any  support  to  the 
idea,  that  John  believed,  or  that  Christ  taught,  or  that  the  Apos¬ 
tles  understood,  that  either  the  baptism  of  John,  or  the  baptism 
habitually  practised  by  the  Apostles,  during  the  ministry  of  Christ, 
was  to  supplant  the  sacrament  of  circumcision.  On  the  contrary, 
it  was  not  until  long  after  Christianity  had  opened  its  bosom  to 
the  Gentile  world,  that  the  Apostles  themselves  could  see,  that 
the  true  Christian  Baptism  instituted  by  Christ  after  his  resur¬ 
rection,  was,  itself,  to  supplant  the  bloody  and  national  form  of 
the  ancient  sacrament.1  In  fine,  as  the  baptism  of  John  bore  to 
Christian  baptism  the  same  relation  that  John  bore  to  Christ, 
as  I  have  shown  ;  so  the  baptism  practised  by  the  Apostles,  dur¬ 
ing  the  personal  ministry  of  Christ,  bore  to  the  baptism  insti¬ 
tuted,  by  Christ,  after  his  resurrection,  the  same  relation  that  the 
ministry  of  Christ,  in  the  flesh,  as  a  minister  of  the  circumcision, 
bore  to. the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  administered  by 
Christ  from  the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  on  high.  Both  these 
forms  of  baptism  were  of  God  ;  but  neither  of  them  superseded 
circumcision  —  neither  of  them  was  identical  with  complete 
Christian  Baptism,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  expressly  instituted  by  Christ,  after  his 
resurrection.  They  were  the  steps  of  the  transition,  by  which 
the  Church  of  God  passed  from  the  legal  to  the  Gospel  state  : 
by  which  the  Sacrament  of  Pardon, — if  we  may  venture,  with 
all  the  Fathers,  to  call  it  so — passed  from  its  bloody  and  fore¬ 
shadowing  state,  into  its  perfect  state,  as  attested  by  the  Spirit, 
the  water,  and  the  blood  already  shed. 

5.  We  arrive,  at  length,  at  the  institution  of  the  final  and 
perfect  form  of  this  Sacrament.  The  testimony  of  John  the 
Baptist,  is  ended  :  the  work  of  Christ  as  a  minister  of  the  cir¬ 
cumcision,  is  accomplished.  Crucified,  dead,  buried, — risen  again 
on  the  third  day, — appearing  repeatedly  to  his  Apostles  and 
others  chiring  forty  days — he  is  at  length,  while  he  blessed  them, 
parted  from  them,  and  carried  up  into  heaven.  During  this 
most  remarkable  interval  between  his  resurrection  and  his  open 
and  glorious  ascent,  from  their  very  presence;  the  eleven  went  into 

»  Acts,  xxi.  17-26. 


545 


CHAr.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 


Galilee,  into  a  mountain  where  Jesus  had  appointed  them.  See¬ 
ing  him,  worshipping  him,  and,  strange  to  say,  some  doubting, 
Jesus  spoke  unto  them  those  sublime  words,  which  leave  to  men 
no  alternative  between  adoring  him  and  denouncing  him  ; — All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth  !  Go  ye,  therefore, 
and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.*  He  had  said  unto  Nic- 
odemus,  near  the  commencement  of  his  ministry,  Except  a  man 
be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  king¬ 
dom  of  heaven  ;*■ — and  now,  having  triumphed  over  death  and 
hell,  his  command  is — Teach, — Baptize  : — Lo  I  am  with  you  al- 
way,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  !  Go  into  all  the  world — 
teach  all  nations — disciple  them  all — teach  them  all  to  observe 
all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you.  And  as  they 
hear,  and  believe,  and  live,  gather  them  together  as  my  disci¬ 
ples.  Baptize  all  who  are  mine,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Here  is  the  warrant — here 
the  institution — the  command — the  promise  :  all  that  remains 
will  be  added  when  Pentecost  is  fully  come.2  It  is  the  crucified 
and  risen  Saviour  who  institutes  Christian  Baptism,  in  the  hands 
of  his  Apostles,  and  lays  it  as  distinctly  at  the  foundation  of 
the  Gospel  Church,  as  circumcision  was  laid  at  the  foundation 
of  the  visible  Church.  The  work  of  the  Spirit  in  us,  and  the 
benefits  signified  and  sealed  to  us  by  the  Sacrament  with  water, 
and  the  Sacrament  in  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  summarily 
involve  all  that  our  salvation  demands.  The  institution  of  the 
Supper  immediately  preceded  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  to  which  it 
so  closely  relates  :  the  institution  of  Baptism  immediately  pre¬ 
ceded  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  whose  work  it  so  distinctly 
attests. 

6.  The  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost — 
which  was  the  promise  of  the  Father,  which  Jesus  had  said  he 
would  himself  send  upon  his  Apostles,  by  which  they  would  be 
endued  with  power  from  on  high,  and  for  which  he  directed  them 
to  tarry  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem  ;3  initiates,  in  absolute  com¬ 
pleteness,  the  kingdom  of  God  with  power.4  Complete  to  teach 
— complete  to  disciple — complete  to  baptize.  And  that  same 
day,  about  three  thousand  souls,  gladly  received  the  word  spoken 


*  Matt,  xxviii.  16-19;  Mark,  xvi.  15,  16. 
3  Luke,  xxiv.  49. 

VOL.  II. 


3  Luke,  xxiv.  49 


35 


I  John,  iii.  5. 

II  Matt.,  vi.  13. 


546  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

by  Peter,  and  were  baptized,  and  so  added  to  Christ, — the  first 
fruits  of  the  Spirit  given  with  power.  It  is  true  that  no  one 
was  ever  saved  except  through  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Mediator 
between  God  and  men :  but  it  is  equally  true  that  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  that  Saviour  has  been  constantly  increased,  through  all 
the  dispensations  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  that  under  the 
Gospel  dispensation  it  has  reached  the  climax,  until  his  second 
coming.  In  like  manner,  no  one  was  ever  saved  independently 
of  the  quickening  and  sanctifying  work  of  the  Divine  Spirit  ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  the  saving  work  of  the  Spirit  had  univer¬ 
sal  relevancy  to  the  work  of  Christ,  and  the  knowledge  thereof 
attainable  by  man,  and  so  the  saving  dispensation  of  the  Spirit, 
with  power,  was  manifested  coincidently  with  the  miraculous 
testimony  he  gave  of  the  glorification  of  Christ.1  Christ  himself, 
in  the  very  institution  of  this  Sacrament,  made  the  distinction  be¬ 
tween  discipleing  men,  and  baptizing  them  :  a  distinction  which 
puts  an  end  to  the  pretext  of  Sacramental  Grace.  In  like  manner, 
the  whole  of  what  occurred  on  Pentecost,  establishes  the  distinc¬ 
tion  between  the  saving  and  the  extraordinary  work  of  the  Divine 
Spirit, — thus  putting  an  end  to  all  pretext  that  regeneration  is 
miraculous,  and  also  to  all  pretext  that  it  is  not  now^  the  effect 
of  the  saving  work  of  the  Spirit  with  power.  Nor  is  it  less  clear, 
from  all  that  occurred,  and  all  that  followed,  that,  without  the 
divine  word  there  is  no  authority  for  any  Church,  or  any  Sacra¬ 
ment,  just  as  there  can  be  no  efficacy  in  any  independently  of 
the  divine  Spirit.  It  is  as  a  method  of  divine  instruction,  that 
a  foundation  is  laid  in  any  Sacrament,  to  make  it  a  method  of 
divine  grace  ;  and  it  is  only  as  it  becomes  a  method  of  divine 
knowledge  and  grace,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  deals  with  the  souls 
of  men  through  it.  And,  as  both  the  Word  and  Spirit  have  ex¬ 
clusive  application  to  fallen  men,  through  the  work  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  it  is  only  so  far  as  he  is  exhibited  and  applied,  that  any 
Sacrament  has  any  authority,  or  any  efficacy.  In  Baptism  we 
make  profession  of  Jesus  Christ — -that  is,  we  receive  and  rely  on 
him  and  the  doctrine  taught  concerning  him  :  and  in  the  mode 
of  doing  this,  we  are  unreservedly  dedicated  to  the  Triune  God. 
What  iollows  to  the  worthy  recipient  is  fellowship  with  the  death 
and  resurrection  of  Christ;*  salvation  through  grace,  by  the 


1  Acts,  ii.  33. 


*  Rom.,  vi.  3-G ;  Col.,  ii.  9-13. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  547 

washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  shed 
on  us  abundantly,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.1 

7.  Of  all  these  sublime  mysteries,  there  are  three,  says  the 
Apostle  John,  that  bear  record  in  heaven  :  the  Father,  the  Word, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  and  these  three  are  one.  There  are  three 
also,  that  bear  witness  in  earth,  the  Spirit,  the  water,  and  the 
blood  ;  and  these  three  agree  in  one.  Well  does  he  add,  that, 
if  human  testimony  can  prove  anything,  here  is  divine  testimony 
which  cannot  be  resisted.  Of  these  five  witnesses,  one  is  common 
to  heaven  and  earth,  and  cannot  be  deceived.  But — so  the  be¬ 
loved  Apostle  urges — he  tha.t  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God,  hath 
the  witness  in  himself ;  and,  thereby,  the  record  that  God  hath 
given  to  us  eternal  life  and  that  this  life  is  in  his  Son,  is  sacra¬ 
mentally  sealed*to  the  believer,  both  by  the  three  that  bear  record 
in  heaven  and  the  three  that  bear  record  in  earth.2  It  is  certain, 
therefore,  that  Baptism  is  a  Sacrament  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace, 
appertaining  by  the  institution  of  Christ,  to  the  Gospel  Church  : 
wherein,  by  the  use  of  water,  through  the  ministry  of  the  word, 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
believers  testify,  through  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  their  union  with 
Christ  and  their  communion  with  each  other  ;  whereby  they  are 
established  in  their  fellowship  with  the  death  and  resurrection  of 
Christ,  and  have  the  benefits  thereof  signified  and  sealed  unto 
them,  amongst  which  benefits  are  remission  of  sins,  the  new 
obedience,  and  eternal  life  ;  they,  therein,  binding  themselves 
unto  all  the  duties  which  spring  from  faith  and  repentance,  unto 
the  salvation  of  their  own  souls,  and  the  glory  of  the  Triune 
God. 

8.  Presenting  in  a  condensed,  but  complete  form,  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  salvation  by  grace,  through  Jesus  Christ,  the  two  Sacra¬ 
ments  of  the  Gospel  Church  set  before  us,  distinctly,  the  nature 
and  work  of  God  himself.  If  we  had  nothing  but  the  divine  for¬ 
mulary  of  Baptism  to  teach  us,  we  could  not  fail  to  know, 
that  the  mode  of  the  Divine  existence  is  that  of  three  persons 
in  one  essence  ;  and  that  our  own  destiny  is  completely  involved 
in  this  transcendent  mystery.  Nor  can  we  contemplate  this  or¬ 
dinance  with  attention  and  avoid  perceiving  that  it  teaches  the 
participation  of  all  three  of  these  divine  persons,  in  the  matter 
of  our  salvation,  in  such  a  way,  that,  while  it  exhibits  the  unit}7, 

1  Titus,  iii.  4-7  5 1  John,  v.  4-12. 


648  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

of  the  divine  essence  to  be  the  unity  of  a  threefold  personality  ; 
it  involves,  as  to  us,  our  former  pollution,  our  present  repentance 
toward  God,  our  faith  toward  the  Son,  our  pardon  by  the  Father, 
our  purification  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  as  the  result,  our  future 
and  endless  salvation.  A  sacrament  of  the  Church  of  the  living 
God,  it  is  a  sign — a  token — of  that  eternal  Covenant  of  Grace,  of 
which  the  Church  is  an  outbirth,  and  a  seal  of  every  stipulation 
of  it,  of  every  promise  made  in  it,  of  every  blessing  conferred 
by  it.  It  is  a  divine  mystery — a  great  secret  of  God — opened  to 
the  spiritual  insight  of  his  children  ;  and  they  who  will  read  it 
truly,  will  find  great  light  and  great  peace. 

II. — 1.  They  to  whom  covenanted  blessings  belong,  have  a 
perfectly  clear  right  to  participate  in  the  enjoyment  of  whatever 
token  of  that  covenant  is  provided  by  its  own  terms,  as  the  seal 
of  those  blessings.  And  whatever  blessings  the  covenant  con¬ 
fers,  those  precisely,  neither  more  nor  less,  are  signified  and 
sealed  to  those  whom  the  covenant  embraces.  It  may  be  that 
the  sign  and  seal  has  relation  to  such  blessings  as  need  to  be  con¬ 
tinually  repeated  ;  in  which  case  it  also  may  require  frequent 
repetition.  This  is  true  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  broken  body 
and  shed  blood  of  Christ,  by  which  his  people  are  nourished  con¬ 
tinually  ;  and  so  the  Lord's  Supper  is  often  celebrated.  But,  it 
may  be,  that  the  sign  and  seal  has  relation  to  such  blessings,  as, 
in  their  nature,  can  be  conferred  on  us  but  once  ;  and  for  that 
reason,  such  a  Sacrament  cannot  be  repeated  without  superstition, 
or  impiety.  This  is  true  of  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism.  We 
cannot  be  ingrafted  into  Christ  but  once  ;  we  cannot  be  born 
again  but  once  ;  and  so  Baptism  cannot  be  lawfully  administered 
a  second  time.  And  such  has  been  the  universal  judgment  of 
the  Church  of  God,  and  is  the  unquestioned  doctrine  of  the 
Scriptures.  If  it  were  true  that  the  Sacraments  had  an  inherent 
efficacy,  no  one,  lawfully  baptized,  could  fail  of  being  born  again, 
and  ingrafted  into  Christ,  at  the  moment  of  his  baptism.  I  have 
abundantly  proved  that  nothing  of  this  sort  is  taught  by  God, 
or  true  in  fact.  The  blessings  and  benefits  signified  and  sealed, 
by  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism,  incapable  as  they  are,  in  their 
own  nature,  of  being  conferred  on  us  more  than  once  ;  were 
never  stipulated,  by  God,  to  be  conferred  along  with  the  ordi¬ 
nance.  On  the  contrary,  Abraham  received  the  sign  of  circum¬ 
cision,  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  the  faith  which  he  had,  yet 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  549 

being  uncircumcised.1  So  far  are  the  blessings  signified  and 
sealed  in  this  Sacrament,  from  being  limited,  for  the  efficacy 
given  to  the  Sacrament  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  the  moment  of  its 
administration  ;2  that  they  extend  over  our  whole  lives,  involve 
the  very  existence  of  the  life  of  God  in  our  souls,  and  relate  to 
the  most  perfectly  sovereign  of  all  the  acts  of  God's  grace 
towards  the  elect,  under  his  eternal  covenant,  namely,  the  time 
and  circumstances  of  their  new  creation.* 

2.  It  is  just  as  clear,  from  the  Hew  Testament  Scriptures, 
that  every  one  who  professes  to  be  a  follower  of  Christ  must  be 
baptized  with  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  it  is  from  the  Old  Testament  Scrip¬ 
tures,  that  every  Jew  was  circumcised  ;  and  the  command  of 
Christ  is  as  explicit,  that  his  disciples  must  be  thus  baptized,  as 
the  command  of  God  was,  that  the  seed  of  Abraham  must  be 
circumcised.f  And  the  testimony  of  Scripture  is  clear,  and  the 
judgment  of  the  Church  of  God  has  been  uniform,  that  every 
adult  believer  in  the  divine  Saviour  is  entitled  to  be  baptized, 
upon  a  credible  profession  of  repentance  toward  God  and  faith 
toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.3  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  right 
of  the  infant  seed  of  believers  is,  also,  perfectly  clear,  to  a  par¬ 
ticipation  in  that  Sacrament.  The  steadfast — I  regret  to  add 
the  contemptuous — denial  of  this  right  by  one  of  the  Christian 
denominations,  and  the  ceaseless  outcry  against  it  by  multitudes  of 
heretics  ;  make  it  proper  to  vindicate  it  somewhat  specially.  This 
I  will  attempt  to  do,  in  a  series  of  distinct  propositions,  as  much 
condensed  as  is  consistent  with  a  clear  statement  of  the  argu¬ 
ment  contained  in  each  ;  what  I  propose  to  establish  being  the 
absolute  right  of  the  infant  children  of  believers,  to  participa¬ 
tion  in  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  under  the  Gospel  dispensation. 

3.  (a)  The  original  Covenant  of  God.  It  is  indisputably 
certain  that  God's  covenant  with  Abraham  contained  stipulations 
and  promises,  whose  execution  sacramentally  created  by  means 
of  circumcision,  a  visible  and  separate  Church  out  of  the  de¬ 
scendants  of  Abraham  through  Isaac  and  Jacob — and  that  their 
seed  were  obliged,  by  express  command  of  God,  to  be  circumcised 
when  eight  days  old,  in  execution  of  that  covenant.4  But,  this 

2  Acts,  viii.  13-23. 

\  Matt.,  xxviii.  19;  Gen.,  xvii.  12 
*  Gen.,  xvii.  passim. 


1  Rom.,  iv.  10-12. 

*  John,  iii.  8  ;  1  Cor.,  ii.  11. 
3  Acts,  xx,  17-27. 


550  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

was  expressly  an  everlasting  covenant  between  God  and  Abraham 
and  bis  seed,  that  he  would  be  their  God  ;  and  by  it  the  adop¬ 
tion,  and  the  glory,  and  the  covenants,  and  the  giving  of  the 
law,  and  the  service  of  God,  and  the  promises  pertained  to 
Israel  r  and  the  chief  stipulation  of  it,  sealed  by  the  sacrament 
of  circumcision,  was  the  promise  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world, 
and  of  gratuitous  justification  through  the  righteousness  of  faith.* 
Therefore, the  children  of  believers  being  expressly  embraced  by 
an  everlasting,  spiritual  covenant,  in  the  original  organization  of 
the  visible  Church  of  the  living  God,  and  expressly  entitled  to 
have  the  promises  sacramentally  sealed  to  them  ;  are,  under  the 
present  Gospel  form  of  that  same  Church,  in  possession  of  the 
same  right — and  should  be  baptized. 

(i b )  Confirmed  under  every  Dispensation.  It  is  indisputably 
certain,  that  the  children  of  believers  were,  of  right,  and  in  fact, 
accepted  and  circumcised  as  members  of  the  visible  Church,  from 
its  foundation,  through  the  whole  patriarchal  dispensation,  from 
the  Covenant  with  Abraham  to  the  giving  of  the  Law,  through 
Moses  :  and  through  the  whole  Dispensation  of  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets,  to  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  God  :  and  through  his 
personal  ministry,  as  a  minister  of  the  circumcision — his  own  cir¬ 
cumcision  being  a  signal  example  and  test  of  what  had  been 
universal  in  the  visible  Church  from  its  origin  two  thousand  years 
before.2  But,  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  whether  presented 
as  the  Messianic  kingdom,  or  as  the  new  creation,  or  as  the  Church 
of  God — is  still  the  same  :  and  that  Church,  whether  presented 
without  or  with  a  visible  organization,  and  if  with  a  visible  or¬ 
ganization  then  under  every  successive  dispensation  is  still  the 
same  chosen  and  beloved  Bride  of  the  Lamb  :  and  now  since 
Pentecost,  manifested  under  the  Gospel  form — it  remains  the 
same  Church  of  the  living  God,  elect  in  his  eternal  Covenant  of 
Grace.  Therefore,  the  infant  children  of  believers  are  still  to  be 
accepted  as  of  right,  and  in  fact,  members  of  the  visible  Church, 
and  are  to  receive  in  like  manner  as  before,  the  sacramental  seal: 
the  variation  in  the  form  of  the  sacrament,  in  no  wise  affecting 
their  rights. 

(c)  Immutability  of  the  Gifts  and  Calling  of  God.  The 
spiritual  gifts  and  blessings  of  God,  which  are  manifestations  of 

1  Rom.,  ix.  4. 

*  Rom.,  iv.  passim ;  Gal.,  m.  passim ;  Acts,  iii.  25,  26;  Gen.,  xxii.  18;  xxvi.  4. 

2  Luke,  ii.  21-40. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  551 

his  grace — and  the  vocation  of  his  people  by  him — are  all  immu¬ 
table.  And  these  precious  truths  are  nowhere  taught  more 
clearly,  than  in  the  connection  of  all  of  them  with  God’s  ancient 
people,  and  in  such  connection  with  them,  even  after  the  rejec¬ 
tion  and  crucifixion  of  the  Saviour,  and  after  the  calling  of  the 
Gentiles,  as  to  establish  the  perpetuity  of  every  right,  in  every 
creature,  founded  on  such  divine  gifts,  blessings  and  vocation."5 
But,  undeniably,  the  children  of  believers  have  received  of  God 
that  vocation  which  he  declares  to  be  immutable,  and  all  those 
immutable  gifts  and  blessings  which  appertain  to  membership  in 
the  visible  Church  were  signified  and  sealed  to  them,  sacramen¬ 
tally  and  without  question,  from  the  call  of  Abraham  till  the 
ascension  of  Christ.  And  the  clearest  statement  of  the  principle 
here  involved,  is  made  by  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  while 
Christian  children  were  actually  enjoying  the  rights  his  argument 
establishes,  throughout  Christendom.  Therefore,  the  seed  of  be¬ 
lievers  are  still  entitled  to  the  sign  and  seal  of  God’s  immutable 
grace  and  vocation  through  Jesus  Christ — which,  for  them  in  the 
Gospel  Church  is  Christian  Baptism. 

(d)  The  Oath  of  God.  The  impossibility  of  the  failure  of  the 
immutable  counsel  and  promise  of  God,  and  of  the  grace  and 
vocation  connected  therewith,  is  confirmed  unto  the  heirs  of 
promise  by  the  oath  of  God  :  so  that  by  two  immutable  things, 
in  which  it  was  impossible  for  God  to  lie,  they  might  have  a 
strong  consolation. f  But,  that  oath  of  God  was  sworn  to  Abra¬ 
ham,  the  Father  of  the  faithful,  in  whose  flesh  and  the  flesh  of 
his  seed,  the  Church  of  God  became  visible  by  the  sacrament  of 
circumcision,  which  Christ,  who  was  the  chief  promise  sealed  in 
circumcision,  supplanted  by  baptism,  which  he  ordered  to  be  ad¬ 
ministered  to  those  innumerable  heirs  of  promise  which  Paul 
proves  are  the  same  innumerable  seed,  in  behalf  of  whom  God 
took  the  oath  of  confirmation  to  Abraham.  Therefore,  whatever 
title  Isaac  and  Jacob  had  to  their  part  in  the  divine  blessings 
they  received,  and  to  the  use  of  the  seal  thereof ;  and  whatever 
title  the  Jewish  Church  and  people  had  to  their  part  and  to  the 
seal  thereof ;  and  whatever  title  the  Gospel  Church  has  to  her 
part  and  to  the  seal  thereof ;  precisely  the  same  title  to  their  part 
and  to  the  seal  thereof, — which  is  baptism — the  seed  of  believers 
now  have,  by  the  promise,  the  covenant,  and  the  oath  ot  God. 

*  Numb.,  xxxiii.  19-24 ;  Rom.,  xi.  29-36.  f  Gen.,  xxii.  16-19  ;  Heb.,  vi.  12-20. 


552  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

(e)  The  Way  of  Salvation .  The  righteousness  of  Christ  is 
the  sole  meritorious  ground  of  the  salvation  of  sinners.  That 
righteousness  is  imputed  to  us  by  God,  as  the  ground  of  our  jus¬ 
tification,  and  is  wrought  in  us  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  our  regene¬ 
ration  and  sanctification.  It  is  by  faith  in  Christ  that  we  receive 
his  imputed  righteousness,  and  faith  in  Christ  is  the  grace  per¬ 
petually  manifested  by  the  regenerated  and  sanctified  soul.  And 
the  Scriptures  expressly  assert,  that  circumcision  was  the  seal 
of  the  righteousness  of  faith  —  and  was  so  received  from  the 
first,  and  so  taken  by  Abraham  as  the  father  of  all  believers — to 
whom  righteousness  ever  would  be  imputed  ;  without  which  he 
could  not  have  been  the  heir  of  the  world.1  This  whole  way  of 
salvation  is  retained  and  more  clearly  exhibited  in  the  Gospel 
Church,  than  before  ;  the  bloody  form  of  the  sacrament  being 
discarded  bv  Christ,  and  the  use  of  water  in  the  name  of  the 
three  persons  of  the  Godhead  being  substituted  by  him,  to  make 
the  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith,  accord  more  perfectly  with 
the  grace  and  truth  which  came  by  Jesus  Christ.  But,  under 
the  Abrahamic  Covenant,  and  throughout  the  Patriarchal  and 
Mosaic  dispensations  and  during  the  ministry  of  Christ,  the  seed 
of  believers  were  entitled  to  receive,  and  did  receive,  that  sacra¬ 
ment  which  was  the  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith — through 
which  alone  can  sinners  be  saved.  Therefore,  to  deny  to  them 
under  the  Gospel  Church,  the  use  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism, 
is  not  only  to  reverse,  as  to  them,  the  whole  method  of  salvation; 
but  it  is  to  put  them  wholly  out  of  the  provisions  of  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Grace,  in  which  they  had  been  expressly  and  sacramen¬ 
tally  embraced,  from  the  foundation  of  the  visible  Church.  It 
is  to  do  this,  not  only  without  one  word  of  God  to  justify  it,  but 
against  his  immutable  promise  and  vocation,  against  his  ever¬ 
lasting  covenant,  and  against  his  oath  expressly  sworn  to  confirm 
them  all.  It  is  to  do  it  in  contempt  of  the  direct  command  of 
Christ  not  to  forbid,  but  to  suffer  little  children  to  come  unto 
him  :v  taking  the  seal  of  the  righteousness  which  alone  fits  us 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  absolutely  from  those  of  whom  the  Lord 
of  that  kingdom  has  declared  that  of  such  is  the  kingdom  itself, 
and  leaving  them,  under  the  Gospel  dispensation,  no  alternative 
but  the  universal  damnation  of  all  who  die  in  childhood,  or  their 


1  Rom.,  iv.  11-17. 


*  Matt.,  xix.  13—15  ;  xviii.  2-6. 


553 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

salvation  outside  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  independently 
of  the  righteousness  of  Christ ! 

(/)  The  Teaching  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles.  Christ  being 
a  minister  of  the  circumcision,  and  at  the  same  time  the  great 
Teacher  of  men,  and  all  the  while  the  Son  of  God  and  the  onlv 
Mediator  between  God  and  men  ;  what  he  said  and  did  must  be 
conclusive.  Moreover  Peter  and  Paul  being  both  of  them  in¬ 
spired  Apostles  of  the  Lord,  acting  in  his  name,  by  his  authority, 
and  with  plenary  inspiration  ;  both  of  them  Jews,  and  the  former 
sent  specially  to  the  circumcision,  while  the  latter  was  sent  specially 
to  the  uncircumcision  :  we  are  obliged  to  accept  their  teaching — as 
embracing  both  the  Jewish-Christian  and  the  Gentile-Christian 
aspect  of  the  relation  of  the  seed  of  believers  to  the  Church  of 
God,  under  the  Gospel  dispensation.  It  is  impossible  to  doubt 
what  that  relation  was  under  all  previous  dispensations  back  to  the 
origin  of  the  visible  Church  :  and  I  have  shown,  under  various 
aspects,  that  this  conclusively  settles  and  was  designed  to  settle 
their  relation  to  it  now.  But,  Christ,  whose  mission  closed  the 
Jewish  dispensation,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  mission  opened 
the  Christian  dispensation  with  power  on  Pentecost,  and  after¬ 
wards  to  the  Gentiles  ;  have  both  taught  us  with  great  distinct¬ 
ness,  except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot 
enter  the  Kingdom  of  God.1  And  Jesus  called  a  little  child  unto 
him,  and  set  him  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  said,  Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  except  ye  be  converted,  and  become  as  little  children, 
ye  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.2  Suffer  little  chil¬ 
dren  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not :  for  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  God.3  And  he  took  them  up  in  his  arms,  put  his 
hands  on  them,  and  blessed  them.4  Take  heed  that  ye  despise 
not  one  of  these  little  ones  :  for  I  say  unto  you,  that  in  heaven 
their  angels  do  alway  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  which  is  in 
heaven.5  All  these  are  the  words  of  Jesus.  Can  it  possibly  be 
imagined,  that  the  first  passage  meant  precisely  what  it  asserts 
concerning  the  relation  of  man  to  the  Kingdom  of  God  ;  and 
that  the  other  passages  did  not  mean  what  they  assert,  concern¬ 
ing  the  relation  of  the  child  of  that  man,  to  the  Kingdom  of 
God  ?  Again,  Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  demonstrated  to  the  immense  congregation  of  Jews  who 

1  John,  iil  5.  2  Matt.,  xviii.  2,  3.  3  Luke,  xviii.  16. 

4  Mark,  xvi  16.  5  Matt.,  xviii  10. 


554  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

were  gathered  from  every  quarter  of  the  earth — and  of  whom 
about  three  thousand  were  baptized  the  same  day — that  the  cru¬ 
cified  and  risen  Saviour  whom  he  had  preached  to  them,  was  the 
sum  of  all  the  promises — and  that  the  promise  of  him,  was  unto 
them,  and  unto  their  children  :*  a  hereditary  promise — apper¬ 
taining  to  endless  generations  of  the  seed  of  believers — precisely 
as  God  covenanted  with  thousands  of  generations  of  them  that 
love  him,  in  the  second  commandment.1  Again,  Paul,  writing  to 
a  Gentile  Church — in  a  Gentile  city,  where  he  had  laboured 
amongst  the  Gentiles  for  a  year  and  six  months,  by  express  com¬ 
mand  of  God  ;  not  only  tells  them  that  the  child  of  a  believing 
parent,  so  far  from  being  unclean,  is  holy  ;  but  makes  this  in¬ 
contestable  truth,  the  ground  of  his  proof  that  the  unbelieving 
wife  is  sanctified  to  the  believing  husband — and  of  his  decision 
that  the  believing  wife  is  not  religiously  bound  to  separate  from 
her  unbelieving  husband.2  Therefore,  Christ,  in  closing  the  Jew¬ 
ish  dispensation  and  laying  down  those  truths  which  were  com¬ 
mon  to  all  Dispensations,  as  well  as  those  which  are  peculiar  to 
the  Dispensation  of  the  Gospel ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost  in  setting 
up  the  Gospel  Dispensation,  especially  by  Peter  amongst  the 
Jews,  and  by  Paul  amongst  the  Gentiles,  and  in  recording  for 
everlasting  instruction,  the  way  of  eternal  life  for  all  mankind  ; 
have  alike  confirmed  the  unalterable  relation  of  the  seed  of  be¬ 
lievers  to  God,  to  his  Kingdom,  to  his  Covenant,  and,  by  inevi¬ 
table  consequence,  to  the  seal  thereof, — which  in  the  Christian 
Church,  is  baptism. 

(g)  Practice  of  the  Apostles.  In  the  small  and  then  recently 
gathered  Church  at  Philippi,  where  the  Gospel  seems  to  have 
been  first  preached  in  Europe,  two  households,  at  least,  are  men¬ 
tioned  as  having  been  baptized — namely  that  of  Lydia,  and  that 
of  the  jailor.3  In  the  Church  of  Corinth,  besides  others  alluded 
to,  two  households  are  named,  to  wit,  that  of  Crispus  the  chief 
ruler  of  the  Synagogue,  and  that  of  Stephanus  whose  family 
were  the  first  fruits  of  Achaia;  these  households  being,  except 
Gains  the  host  of  Paul,  the  only  persons  he  baptized  in  Corinth,  j* 
In  Cesarea,  Cornelius  the  centurion,  together  with  his  kinsmen 
and  near  friends,  were  baptized  by  the  Apostle  Peter  under  im¬ 
mediate  supernatural  guidance,  being  the  first  fruits  of  the  Gen- 

*  Acts,  ii.  39;  iii.  25  1  Exod.,  xx.  6.  2  1  Cor.,  vii.  14. 

3  Acts,  xvL  15,  33.  f  Acts,  xviii.  8;  1  Cor.,  i.  16;  xvi.  16. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 


555 


tiles.1  These  cases  are  but  conspicuous  examples  of  a  uniform 
practice  ;  the  case  of  Cornelius  and  his  household,  being  singu¬ 
larly  important,  and  as  such,  considered  and  approved  by  the  As¬ 
sembly  of  the  Apostles  and  Elders  at  Jerusalem.2  But,  besides 
the  certainty  arising  out  of  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  in  mul¬ 
titudes  of  households  habitually  baptized  everywhere  by  the  Apos¬ 
tles,  there  must  have  been  many  children  ;  the  form  of  the  divine 
expressions, and  the  force  of  the  terms  divinely  chosen  in  making 
the  repeated  statement  of  these  cases,  oblige  us  to  understand, 
that  in  speaking  of  these  households  it  is  expressly  intended  to 
include  children.*  Therefore,  upon  the  face  of  the  inspired  Acts 
of  the  Apostles  and  Apostolic  Epistles,  where  we  must  look  for 
guidance  as  to  Apostolic  practice  ;  it  seems  impossible  to  avoid 
the  conclusion  that  they  did  what  had  been  uniformly  done  from 
the  foundation  of  the  visible  Church  ;  namely,  admit  the  seed  of 
believers  into  sacramental  union  with  the  people  of  God,  which 
they  did  by  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  to  which,  therefore,  such 
persons  are  still  entitled. 

(h)  Testimony  of  the  Church  of  God.  From  the  moment 
in  which  the  Church  became  visible  and  separate  from  the  world, 
to  the  present  moment,  her  testimony  has  been  uniform  through 
four  thousand  years.  The  command  of  God  was  express  that 
every  man  child  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  in  all  their  generations, 
should  be  circumcised.3  And  so  it  continued  unquestioned  for 
two  thousand  years,  through  the  Abrahamic  and  Mosaic  dispen¬ 
sations,  and  during  the  personal  ministry  of  Christ.  The  man¬ 
ner  in  which  the  form  of  the  Sacrament  was  changed, —  passing 
through  John's  baptism,  and  through  that  administered  by  the 
disciples  of  Christ  during  his  ministry, — and  in  which  it  acquired 

1  Acts,  x.  passim;  xi.  1-18.  2  Acts,  xv.  6-29. 

*  Thus,  a  Bishop  must  be  *  *  *  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house — uhov  oikov — 
having  his  childn'en — tekvo — in  subjection.  (1  Tim.,  iii.  2,  4.)  For  if  a  man  know  not 
how  to  rule  his  own  house ,  tov  uhov  oikov,  &c.  Again,  the  deacons  *  *  *  ruling 
children — tekvuv,  (vor.  12.)  Again;  the  younger  women  marry,  bear  children ,  guide 
the  house — reKvoyovuv — ouiotieoTroTuv,  &c.  The  editor  of  Calmet  has  cited  fifty 
examples,  and  examined  three  hundred,  in  which  the  word  house — olkoc — (Cns- 
pus  *  *  *  with  his  house ,  &c.) — denotes  a  family  embracing  children.  The  use  in 
the  Hebrew  was  even  more  extensive — Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour’s  house ; 
and  then  the  chief  particulars  are  added — closing  with — nor  anything,  &c.  Not  an 
Israelite  in  the  world,  probably,  had  a  house  then,  rrrp  rvo  an(l  rr.rp  ‘■yi  were 
both  used  to  express  the  family  of  God — the  whole  Israelitish  people. 

3  Gen.,  xvii.  9-11. 


556  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

its  present  form  with  water  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity,  by  the 
express  institution  of  Christ  after  his  resurrection,  and  was  fully 
initiated  under  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  by  the 
baptism  of  three  thousand  persons,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  :  all 
this,  the  Scriptures  clearly  state.  In  this  final  and  perfect  form  it 
was  constantly  administered  to  the  seed  of  believers,  by  the  Apos¬ 
tles  during  their  whole  ministry  after  Pentecost.  This  immense 
testimony,  all  to  the  same  effect,  is  all  derived  from  the  oracles 
of  God,  and  covers  the  entire  existence  of  the  visible  Church 
during  all  the  dispensations  under  which  she  received  all  her 
sacraments,  and  all  the  written  word  of  God,  and  was  gradually 
developed  from  a  totally  inorganized  state,  into  a  perfect  Gospel 
state.  The  subsequent  testimony,  during  nearly  eighteen  cen¬ 
turies  to  the  present  time,  as  compared  with  that  already  stated ; 
is  more  important  as  showing  her  own  conformity  to  the  revealed 
will  of  God,  than  as  adding  anything  to  the  testimony  of  the  sa¬ 
cred  Scriptures.  Still  her  testimony  has  been  steadfast  in  all 
ages,  and  in  all  countries,  and  under  all  vicissitudes.  The  right 
of  the  seed  of  believers  to  participate  of  the  sacrament  of  bap¬ 
tism,  has  always  been,  not  only  allowed,  but  vindicated,  by  an 
immense  majority  of  the  true  followers  of  Christ,  out  of  all  com¬ 
parison  with  those  who  have  denied  that  right ;  and  during  the 
greater  part  of  those  eighteen  centuries,  that  right  was  hardly  so 
much  as  questioned  by  any  one  professing  to  be  a  Christian.  But, 
if  the  truth  of  a  fact  can  be  supposed  capable  of  being  estab¬ 
lished,  by  any  testimony  human  or  divine  ;  then  it  is  proved,  that, 
in  point  of  fact,  the  seed  of  believers  have  always  received  in  the 
visible  Church  of  God,  the  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith. 
And  if  the  existence  of  a  right  can  be  supposed  capable  of  being 
incontrovertible,  and  its  use  capable  of  being  put  beyond  ques¬ 
tion  ;  then  the  right  of  the  seed  of  believers  to  the  use  of  that 
sacrament,  which,  under  both  its  forms  has  been  uninterruptedly 
enjoyed  by  them,  during  the  entire  existence  of  the  visible  Church, 
is  wholly  beyond  doubt.  Therefore,  if  God  has  had,  and  now 
has,  a  Church  visible  on  earth,  and  that  Church  has  had  and  now 
has,  his  Spirit  and  his  word  ;  and  if  so  existing  and  so  endowed, 
she  is  worthy  of  belief  as  to  any  matter  of  fact,  or  worthy  of 
trust  as  to  any  matter  of  right ;  then  the  certainty  is  complete, 
that  the  seed  of  believers  must  receive  Christian  Baptism. 

(i)  The  Nature  of  the  Case.  The  evidence  upon  which  re- 


557 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

vealed  religion  rests  is,  no  doubt,  different  in  important  respects, 
from  that  on  which  natural  religion  rests  ;  and  the  truths  and 
duties  of  the  two  are,  in  many  respects,  very  clearly  distin¬ 
guishable.  Yet  the  God  of  nature  is  also  the  God  of  Grace  ; 
and  the  God  of  providence  is  the  God,  both  of  nature  and  of 
Grace  ;  and  the  course  of  providence  is  the  manifestation  of  his 
secret  will,  as  contrasted  with  his  revealed  will,  considered  as  the 
God  both  of  nature  and  of  Grace.  The  fundamental  principles 
of  all  his  acts  can  no  more  conflict  with  each  other,  than  his 
Attributes  can  be  inconsistent  with  each  other,  or  than  he  can 
deny  himself.  But,  while  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife 
founded  in  nature,  is  not  only  sanctified  by  grace,  but  is  made 
an  image  of  the  mystical  union  between  Christ  and  his  Church  ; 
the  corresponding  relation  between  parent  and  child,  through 
which  nature  itself  continues  to  exist,  is  so  thoroughly  in¬ 
grafted  into  grace  that  it  is  the  uniform  type  of  God's  relation 
to  his  elect,  and  of  the  inbeing  of  the  Father  and  the  eternal 
Word.  Grace  sanctifies  this  relation,  providence  proceeds  upon 
it,  nature  perishes  without  it,  every  dispensation  of  God  respects, 
assumes,  uses  it,  while  every  thing  in  man  revolts  at  the  violation 
of  it,  and  the  nexus  of  the  universe  is  broken  by  infringing  it. 
Therefore,  to  demand  that  this  principle  shall  be  eliminated  from 
the  religion  of  Jesus,  which  is  the  perfect  form  of  true  religion, 
and  the  chief  means  of  blessedness  to  the  universe  and  of  glory 
to  God  ;  and  that  a  principle  the  reverse  of  it — wholly  unknown 
to  and  incompatible  with  nature,  providence,  and  grace,  shall  be 
substituted  for  it  ;  is  to  demand  of  the  Church,  who  is  the  com¬ 
mon  mother  of  us  all,  a  sacramental  renunciation,  not  only  of  her 
fruitfulness,  but  of  her  own  filiation  to  God,  and  her  own  espou¬ 
sals  to  Christ. 

(j)  The  Nature  of  the  Sacrament  itself.  As  the  undeniable 
effect  of  the  fall  of  the  first  Adam,  who  was  only  a  living  soul, 
is  the  production  of  a  depraved  nature  in  every  one  of  his  ordi¬ 
nary  descendants,  and  this  anterior  to  the  personal  consciousness 
of  the  person,  and  independent  of  it  ;  it  is  far  from  being  com¬ 
petent  to  us  to  say,  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  incarnation,  obe¬ 
dience,  and  sacrifice  of  the  second  Adam,  who  was  a  quickening 
Spirit,  and  the  Lord  from  heaven,  to  heal  that  depraved  nature, 
anterior  to  and  independent  of  our  personal  consciousness.  The 
tie  created  by  the  covenant  of  grace,  cannot  be  weaker  than  that 


558  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

created  b}r  the  covenant  of  works, — and  spiritual  regeneration 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  is  as  real  and  as  explicable  as  natural  genera¬ 
tion.  To  assert,  under  such  circumstances  the  natural  pollution 
of  infants,  and  at  the  same  time  deny  the  possibility  of  the 
spiritual  purification  of  infants,  is  self-contradictious.  But,  bap¬ 
tism  is  the  sacramental  expression  of  both  the  sets  of  facts  just 
stated.  It  is  the  shed  blood  and  perfect  righteousness  of  Christ 
that  save  us  :  faith,  even  in  an  adult  person,  who  besides  his 
natural  pollution,  is  stained  with  innumerable  practical  sins,  only 
receives  that  blood  and  righteousness  applied  to  us.  The  dis¬ 
tinction  between  the  working  of  the  divine  Spirit,  and  the  effects 
of  that  working,  one  of  which  is  faith,  is  complete.  So  that  even 
if  it  were  possible  to  prove — which  it  is  not — that  faith  is  impos¬ 
sible  in  infants, — it  would  be  necessary,  in  addition,  to  prove  that 
no  spiritual  benefit  is  possible  without  faith  is  already  in  exercise. 
But  this  is  two  ways  absurd  :  because  faith  is  itself  the  gift  of 
God — and  if  it  be  the  first  gift,  then  a  spiritual  gift,  even  faith, 
may  be  given  where  no  faith  was  before  :  and  because,  in  fact, 
faith  is  itself  the  very  proof  that  the  greatest  of  all  spiritual 
benefits — namely  the  new  birth,  of  which  faith  is  a  manifesta¬ 
tion — had  been  bestowed  before  faith  could  exist.  In  a  psycho¬ 
logical  sense, justifying  faith  expresses  that  state  of  a  soul  already 
renewed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  which  its  acceptance  of  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  it  by  God,  is  manifested. 
Therefore,  it  far  exceeds  the  warrant  of  the  Church  to  deny  to 
the  resources  of  God’s  infinite  power  and  his  abounding  grace, 
the  possibility  of  the  production  of  such  states  of  soul  in  the 
children  of  believers  ; — far  exceeds  her  authority,  on  the  ground 
of  that  alleged  impossibility,  to  deny  to  them  rights  which  God 
has  bestowed  on  them  ever  since  the  Church  herself  had  a  visible 
existence.  She  dare  not  deny  the  reality  of  original  sin,  and  the 
need  of  a  Saviour,  in  the  infant  seed  of  believers  :  on  the  other 
hand  she  dare  not  deny  the  possibility  of  their  salvation  through 
Christ,  and  assert  the  universal  perdition  of  all  that  die  in  child¬ 
hood.  To  do  either  is  to  deny  the  faith.  She  is  obliged,  there¬ 
fore,  to  baptize  her  children. 

(Jc)  The  Nature  of  the  very  Cavils  against  it.  No  one,  I  be¬ 
lieve,  has  ever  pretended  that  there  is  any  distinct  command  of 
God  forbidding  the  infant  seed  of  believers  to  be  baptized.  The 
ground  of  refusal  to  baptize  them  is  only  inferential.  At  first, 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  559 

the  existence  of  sin  in  infants  was  denied — and  their  baptism 
refused  on  that  ground.  Then  it  was  taught  that  sins  commit¬ 
ted  after  baptism  are  peculiarly  unlikely  to  be  pardoned  ;  and  the 
inference  followed  that  baptism  should  be  deferred  to  a  late 
period  of  life.  Afterwards,  in  the  lapse  of  centuries,  it  was 
taught  that  none  dying  in  infancy  can  be  saved  at  all ;  whereupon, 
as  such  teachers  judged,  none  should  receive  in  infancy  the  sign 
and  seal  of  salvation.  After  further  centuries,  the  Anabaptists, 
about  the  period  of  the  Keformation,  taught  that  faith  in  the 
person  baptized  is  an  indispensable  condition  in  the  valid  admin¬ 
istration  of  baptism — that  infant  children  can  neither  exercise 
nor  manifest  faith — and  therefore  they  cannot  be  baptized.  These 
are  the  chief  forms  of  this  error  ;  in  each  case  grounded,  as  I 
have  said,  not  on  any  command  of  God, — but  always  on  an  infer¬ 
ence  from  some  other  dogma,  itself  in  each  case  either  wholly 
erroneous,  or  only  partially  correct ;  thus  flagrantly  violating 
the  divine  rule,  that  our  faith  ought  to  stand  in  the  power  of 
God,  and  not  in  the  wisdom  of  men.  But  as  to  the  great  funda¬ 
mental  point,  if  there  is  no  precise  warrant  from  God  to  deny 
membership  in  his  Church  to  such  as  he  has,  by  an  exact  com¬ 
mand  made  members  of  it,  then  the  question  is  settled  :  for  no 
authority  but  that  of  God,  least  of  all  an  erroneous  human  in¬ 
ference — is  competent  to  annul  the  plain  and  repeated  command¬ 
ments  of  God.  As  to  the  notion  that  infants  have  no  sin,  and 
the  other  that  sins  after  baptism  are  well-nigh  unpardonable  ; 
the  former  is  a  heresy  held  by  no  orthodox  Christian,  and  the 
latter  a  superstition  long  ago  extinct  as  a  form  of  human  opinion. 
The  same  remark  is  true  of  the  atrocious  heresy  which  taught  the 
universal  perdition  of  all  who  die  in  infancy;  a  fearful  madness  long 
ago  extinct.  Nevertheless,  they  who  hold  the  two  propositions 
that  salvation  is  impossible  without  personal  faith  in  Christ,  nnd 
that  no  infant  can  exercise  such  faith  ;  can  escape  the  inexorable 
conclusion  that  all  dead  infants  are  damned,  only  by  some  incon¬ 
sequence  of  logic — or  by  some  heresy.  The  doctrine  now  held 
by  all  Christian  people  who  reject  infant  baptism,  I  suppose,  is 
substantially  that  taught  by  the  Anabaptists  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Concerning  which  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  admitting  the 
general  principle  that  faith  in  Christ  is  indispensable  to  baptism, 
the  inference  from  this  which  leads  to  the  denial  of  infant  bap¬ 
tism,  proceeds  upon  a  threefold  fallacy.  It  is  a  fallacy  to  suppose 


560  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

that  the  faith  required  in  the  baptism  of  infants,  must  he  their 
own  personal  faith.  The  Scriptures  distinctly  teach  the  con¬ 
trary  ;  and  give  them  the  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith,  ex¬ 
pressly  because  they  are  the  seed  of  believers — as  I  have  abun¬ 
dantly  proved.  If  the  doctrine  of  imputed  righteousness  is  de¬ 
nied — then  faith  itself  is  forever  impossible  ;  for  in  that  case  no 
sinner  was  ever  regenerated.  If  the  doctrine  of  the  righteousness  of 
faith  is  denied,  then  the  salvation  of  sinners  is  forever  impossible; 
for  in  that  case  we  are  still  under  the  law  and  Christ  can  profit  us 
nothing.  Moreover,  it  is  a  fallacy  to  suppose,  that  this  personal 
faith,  even  if  it  were  invariably  presumed  in  every  baptism — 
must  exist  at  the  time  of  baptism,  in  order  to  make  the  act  law¬ 
ful.  On  the  contrary,  the  efficacy  of  baptism,  and  the  great 
blessings  it  signifies  and  seals,  chiefly  our  ingrafting  into  Christ 
and  our  inward  purification  through  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  so  far  from 
being  bound  to  the  moment  of  administration — extend — for  their 
manifestation — over  the  whole  of  our  life  on  earth.  And  it  is 
from  considerations  connected  with  this  great  truth,  that  the  great 
peculiarity  of  the  administration  of  this  sacrament  but  a  single 
time,  arises.  This  is  inevitable  if  the  efficacy  of  baptism  depends 
on  the  blessing  of  God,  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit.  If  that 
efficacy  depends  on  its  own  force,  or  the  will  of  him  who  adminis¬ 
ters,  or  of  him  who  receives  it  ;  it  ceases  to  be  a  sacrament  and 
becomes  an  incantation.  Finally,  it  is  a  fallacy  to  suppose  that 
we  can  know  with  certainty,  at  what  age,  if  at  any,  the  soul  is 
incapable  of  faith  ;  or  to  suppose  that  we  can  know  with  cer¬ 
tainty,  what  is  the  state  of  another  person’s  soul  at  the  period 
of  his  baptism,  or  at  any  other  period.  Such  knowledge,  unto 
certainty,  is  not  attainable  by  man  on  either  point,  in  any  single 
instance  :  and  to  demand  it  is  to  put  an  end  to  the  administra¬ 
tion  of  this  sacrament.  A  credible  profession  of  faith  and  re¬ 
pentance,  is  the  scriptural  condition  of  adult  baptism  :  being 
the  seed  of  believing  parents,  is  the  scriptural  condition  of  infant 
baptism.  Therefore,  the  Church  of  Christ,  so  far  from  being 
authorized  to  make  a  breach  so  immense,  upon  the  order  of  God’s 
house,  and  the  method  of  his  grace,  and  the  rights  of  his  chil¬ 
dren,  and  the  principles  which  illustrate  his  divine  Attributes 
and  his  sublime  relations  to  the  universe;  has  nothing  even  in  the 
shape  of  human  reasons,  and  motives,  and  wisdom,  suggested  to 
her  as  the  ground  of  so  great  an  outrage,  that  rises  higher 


561 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

than  an  appeal  to  her  ignorance,  to  her  caprice,  or  to  her 
fanaticism. 

4.  There  is  reason  to  doubt  whether  there  are  now  on  earth 
as  many  persons  who  even  profess  to  follow  Christ,  as  there  are 
persons  living  who  are  the  offspring,  immediate  or  remote,  of 
true  believers  :  and  probably  the  whole  number  of  those  saved, 
as  yet,  out  of  the  human  race,  may  not  exceed  the  whole  num¬ 
ber  of  those  who  were  naturally,  so  to  speak,  the  children  of  the 
Church.  In  what  position  does  it  present  the  visible  Church, 
through  all  generations,  that  even  a  doubt  can  arise,  whether, 
speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  God  has  lost  more  of  the 
lambs  of  his  flock  through  her  negligence,  or  gained  more  from 
the  lost  fold  of  the  world  by  her  diligence  ?  The  neglect  of  the 
proper  nurture  of  the  seed  of  God’s  people,  is  to  be  ranked 
amongst  the  most  deplorable  evils — nay  amongst  heinous  sins. 
It  need  not  be  urged  how  great  is  the  certainty  of  increasing 
this  evil  and  encouraging  this  sin,  by  diminishing  the  sense  of 
responsibility  both  on  the  part  of  the  Church  and  of  Christian 
parents  ;  after  we  have  apparently  cast  out  their  seed  from  all 
covenanted  mercies,  and  allowed  them  to  suppose  that  God 
holds  them  to  no  special  accountability  concerning  their  sal¬ 
vation.  Moreover,  it  is  a  fatality  attending  all  errors  that  they 
never  come  singly  ;  the  rejection  of  one  truth  involving  the  per¬ 
version  of  others,  and  the  neglect  of  one  duty  drawing  after  it 
the  denial  of  others.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  greatness 
of  the  desolation  which  would  be  produced,  by  the  universal  ex¬ 
clusion  of  the  children  of  God’s  people  from  all  participation  in 
that  Sacrament,  whereby  they  are  sealed  as  in  covenant  with 
God.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  the  good  which  has  resulted  from  the  recognition,  by  the 
visible  Church,  of  the  covenant  relation  of  the  seed  of  believers 
to  God  through  Jesus  Christ ;  notwithstanding  the  unfaithful¬ 
ness,  both  of  parents  and  of  the  Church,  may  have  been  as  great 
in  this  as  in  all  other  respects.  As  an  illustration  of  the  im¬ 
mense  subject,  it  may  be  asserted  with  confidence,  that  common 
mendicity  and  total  illiteracy  are  banished  from  every  Christian 
communion  in  which  parents,  at  the  baptism  of  their  children, 
are  required,  by  a  sacramental  engagement,  to  rear  their  off¬ 
spring  in  the  fear  and  nurture  of  God,  and  to  teach  them  to  read 
his  holy  word  ;  while  it  is  from  the  bosom  of  such  communions. 

VOL.  II.  36 


562 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


that  the  most  steadfast  resistance  to  heresy,  to  superstition,  and 
to  fanaticism,  invariably  arises.  So  true  is  it  that  godliness 
hath  promise  both  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is 
to  come. 

III. — 1.  It  is  true  of  all  things — pre-eminently  true  of  spir¬ 
itual  things — that  it  is  the  Spirit  which  giveth  life,  while  the 
mere  letter  killeth.1  To  determine  concerning  a  series  of  acts 
professing  to  be  identical,  that  one  is  perfect,  that  one  is  valid, 
that  one  is  irregular,  and  that  one  is  void  ;  involves  the  recogni¬ 
tion  of  the  universal  principle  I  have  stated — and  involves  at 
every  decision  an  attempt  to  apply  it.  It  is,  therefore,  with  good 
reason,  that  the  Reformed  Church  in  particular,  and,  to  a  certain 
extent  most  other  Churches,  have  held,  that  baptism  though  ir¬ 
regular  may  be  valid  ;  that  it  is  not  necessarily  void  because  i+ 
is  irregular.  It  may  be  wholly  void,  it  may  be  perfect,  it  maj 
be  very  nearly  perfect,  or  may  be  very  irregular  ;  and  yet,  in  the 
last  two  cases,  the  substance  of  the  Sacrament  may  be  preserved, 
and  the  act  be  good.  If  a  certain  Church  thinks  itself  author¬ 
ized  to  add  to  the  Scriptural  form  of  baptism,  the  exorcism  of 
the  Devil — and  another  to  add  the  sign  of  the  cross — and  an¬ 
other  to  add  sponsors, — or  if  some,  going  still  further,  change  in 
some  degree,  more  or  less  serious,  the  particulars  divinely  pre¬ 
scribed — as  for  example  to  immerse  the  subject  in  water,  instead 
of  applying  the  element  to  him  ;  it  may  nevertheless  be  true, 
that  such  additions  and  changes  may  not  so  vitiate  the  ordi¬ 
nance  as  to  oblige  those  who  condemn  them,  to  reject  the  ad¬ 
ministration  of  the  Sacrament  in  that  manner,  as  merely  void. 
The  administration  may  be  so  vitiated,  no  doubt,  as  to  make  it 
necessary  to  reject  it  wholly,  as  void  ;  and  this  may  become  neces¬ 
sary  on  various  other  grounds — as  for  example,  the  total  apos- 
tacv,  or  even  the  gross  heresy  of  the  communion  whose  mem¬ 
bers  administer  the  ordinance.  But  the  errors  of  a  true  Chris¬ 
tian  Church  which  do  not  destroy  the  substance  and  nature  of 
the  Sacrament,  cannot  justify  other  Christian  Churches  in  re¬ 
jecting  its  ordinances,  and  thus  making  schism  in  the  body  of 
Christ,  on  the  ground  of  mere  irregularity,  even  though  it  be  se¬ 
rious.  This  is  the  common  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  God,  in 
all  ages,  and  with  relation  to  every  ordinance  which  he  ever  gave 
to  that  Church.  Nor  has  the  departure  from  it  by  those  who  act 

1  2  Cor.,  iii.  6. 


563 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

as  if  immersion  was  the  only  valid  form  of  Christian  baptism, 
saved  them  from  the  fate  of  all  who  commit  similar  breaches 
upon  the  faith  of  the  Church,  and  the  unity  of  the  Spirit.  For 
by  making  immersion  the  great  test  of  Christian  communion,  so 
far  are  they  from  establishing  any  unity  even  amongst  them¬ 
selves,  that  some  have  insisted  on  immersion  only,  whilst  some 
have  added  sprinkling  or  pouring  to  it  :  some  have  allowed  only 
a  single,  while  others  have  adopted  a  trine  immersion  :  some 
have  immersed  the  subject  backwards,  some  forwards  :  some 
have  allowed  the  subject  to  be  immersed  in  ordinary  apparel  : 
some  have  allowed  or  required  a  peculiar  apparel  :  and  for  sev¬ 
eral  successive  ages  in  the  early  Church,  their  practice  was  to 
strip  the  subject  naked  before  immersing  him.  Revolting  as 
this  last  perversion  of  a  divine  ordinance  may  now  appear  to  be  ; 
it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  analogies  on  which  it  was  de¬ 
fended  had,  apparently,  as  much  force  as  any  upon  which  the 
exclusive  validity  of  immersion  is  now  almost  universally  vindi¬ 
cated  by  Baptists  as  a  type  of  the  burial  of  Christ.  For  the  an¬ 
cient  immersionists  insisted  truly,  that  Christians  were  required 
to  put  off  the  old  man,  that  rich  men  can  hardly  enter  the  King¬ 
dom  of  God,  that  all  men  had  forfeited  everything  by  the  fall  of 
Adam,  that  Christ  had  laid  aside  even  his  glory  for  us,  and  to 
crown  all,  that  we  entered  this  world  naked  ;  and  as  the  com¬ 
mon  conclusion  from  many  such  truths — baptism  in  total  na¬ 
kedness  was  the  superstition  to  which  the  fanaticism  led,  that 
made  an  erroneous  form  in  the  use  of  an  element,  the  badge  of 
Christianity  itself.  Nor  has  this  ancient  and  wide-spread  schism 
upon  a  point  so  narrow,  secured  unity  in  the  most  important 
parts  of  truth  and  godliness,  better  than  in  the  mere  form  which, 
first  misunderstanding,  they  so  unduly  exalted.  For  amongst 
such  immersionists  as  are  recognized  as  true  disciples  of  Christ, 
some  have  followed  Augustine  and  Calvin,  some  have  inclined 
to  Arminius,  some  are  almost  Antinomians — and  many  profess 
doctrines  curiously  taken  from  several  systems  ;  while  Arians, 
Sabellians,  Socinians,  Pelagians,  Universalists,  and  even  Mor¬ 
mons  have  been,  to  a  great  extent,  believers  in  the  exclusive 
validity  of  baptism  by  immersion.  If  it  be  replied,  that  as  touch¬ 
ing  these  last-named  divisions,  their  misfortunes  are  no  way  dif¬ 
ferent  from  those  of  Churches  which  baptize  by  affusion,  while 
they  admit  baptism  by  immersion  to  be  valid,  though  it  be  lr- 


564 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  Y. 


regular  ;  the  obvious  answer  is,  that  such  Churches  never  sup¬ 
posed  or  asserted  that  their  mode  of  baptism  was  the  great  test 
of  fidelity  to  truth  and  to  Christ  ;  never  made  schism  on  ac¬ 
count  of  it  ;  never  limited  the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  and  the 
fellowship  of  the  Gospel,  by  their  method  of  using  water  in 
the  Sacrament  of  baptism.  We  are,  therefore,  not  at  all 
disappointed  that  it  has  failed  to  keep  us  pure  and  united,  well 
knowing  that  a  mere  form  even  if  right  and  divine,  has  no  such 
efficacy  ;  and  deeply  regretting  that  our  brethren  amongst  im- 
mersionists  cannot  see  in  the  same  light,  the  total  failure  of  that 
irregular  and  erroneous  form  of  whose  importance  they  have 
such  exaggerated  ideas. 

2.  I  have  proved  there  were  but  two  permanent  Sacraments  in 
the  visible  Church,  from  Abraham  to  Christ  ;  that  there  are  but 
two  in  the  Gospel  Church,  namely,  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper.  The  relation  of  each  of  these  sacraments  to  the  God¬ 
head,  to  us,  and  to  salvation,  is  extremely  clear.  In  particular 
they  signify  and  seal  to  us  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  our  Saviour, 
and  all  the  benefits  we  receive  from  him  ;  and  are,  therefore,  out¬ 
ward  signs  of  all  inward  graces  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  By  one 
of  them,  the  benefits  of  Christ,  considered  as  purchased  for  us 
by  his  sacrifice,— by  the  other  those  benefits  considered  as  ap- 
jfiied  to  us  by  his  Spirit,  become  ours  sacramentally.  One  of 
them  seals  our  ingrafting  into  him,  as  lost  sinners  regenerated 
and  purified  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  sent  by  him  from  the  Father  ; 
the  other  seals  our  nourishment  and  growth  by  his  body  and 
blood,  received  through  faith,  as  penitent  and  believing  sinners, 
for  whom  he  died  and  rose  again.  All  this,  it  seems  to  me,  is 
clear  even  to  a  very  weak  spiritual  discernment.  How  the  aton¬ 
ing  sacrifice  of  Christ  in  our  room  and  stead  should  be  the  foun¬ 
dation  of  everything  ;  and  how  the  work  of  the  divine  Spirit 
within  us  should  be  the  consummation  of  all,  I  think  I  see 
clearly.  And  how  both  the  former  and  the  latter  should  secure 
for,  and  produce  in  every  child  of  God,  grace  responsive  to  both, 
in  his  spiritual  union  and  communion  with  Christ,  and  in  his 
spiritual  purification  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  seems  to  me  very  plain. 
And  then,  how  the  two  Sacraments  should  relate,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  these  inward  and  spiritual  graces,  in  us,  and  on  the 
other,  to  the  divine  Saviour  and  the  divine  Spirit  who  redeem 
and  purify  us  ;  as  well  as  implicitly,  to  the  eternal  Father,  and 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  565 

the  eternal  covenant  which  provides  all,  appears  to  be  obvious. 
And  all  this,  as  I  have  shown,  is  plainly  taught  by  the  word  of 
God.  But  in  what  manner  the  burial  of  the  dead  human  bodv 
of  Jesus  temporarily  in  a  sepulchre  hewn  in  stone — can  be  made 
the  ground  of  a  Sacrament,  which,  by  means  of  water  baptism, 
shall  be  a  sign  of  any  inward  grace  in  the  soul,  and  shall  seal 
any  promise  made  by  God  to  penitent  sinners  ;  this,  I  confess,  I 
do  not  understand,  and  cannot  conceive.  And  I  am  thoroughly 
convinced  that  no  doctrine,  no  fact,  taught  in  the  word  of  God, 
justifies  us  in  saying  that  the  burial  of  Jesus  is  the  subject  of 
any  sacrament  ;  much  less,  that  the  sacrament  of  baptism  has, 
for  any  part  of  its  object,  the  representation  of  that  burial. 
There  is  a  twofold  perversion  of  the  sacred  mysteries,  resulting 
primarily  from  a  perversion  of  the  mode  of  administering  bap¬ 
tism.  The  Sacrament  of  the  Supper  signifies  and  seals  the 
broken  body  and  shed  blood  of  Christ,  according  to  his  own  ex¬ 
press  declaration.  If  baptism,  the  only  remaining  Sacrament,  is 
converted  into  a  commemoration  of  the  burial  of  Christ,  then 
no  sacrament  remains  to  the  Church,  which  teaches,  signifies  or 
seals  any  part  of  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God — none  which 
teaches,  signifies,  or  seals,  our  ingrafting  into  Christ — without  all 
of  which  no  sinner  can  be  saved,  and  all  of  which  is  taught,  sig¬ 
nified,  and  sealed  in  Christian  baptism.  And  a  new  sacrament, 
unknown  to  the  Scriptures,  and  destitute  of  every  scriptural 
mark  of  a  sacrament,  is  created  for  God,  by  man,  based  upon 
the  temporary  placing  of  the  dead  body  of  Jesus  in  a  stone 
sepulchre,  and  held  forth  in  a  supposed  representation  thereof  by 
immersing  a  person  in  water.  Those  who  thus  act  might  have 
some  reason  for  what  they  do,  if  their  design  was  to  discredit  the 
entire  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  the  life  of  God  in  the 
soul  of  man  ;  which  assuredly  is  not  the  purpose  of  any  Chris¬ 
tian  immersionists.  In  effect,  the  aspect  given  to  the  whole 
subject,  by  the  modern  state  of  opinion  amongst  Baptists  gener¬ 
ally,  so  far  from  affording  any  support  to  the  idea  that  they  who 
immerse,  are  exclusively  possessed  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism  ; 
creates  a  serious  and  increasing  difficulty  on  the  part  of  other 
Christians,  in  recognizing  the  validity  of  the  ordinance,  even 
when  administered  by  evangelical  Baptists.  Not,  as  I  have 
already  shown,  because  of  the  inherent  irregularity  of  immersion 
itself ;  but  because  of  the  fundamental  perversion  of  the  true 


566  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

Sacrament,  and  the  sacramental  nullity  of  what  is  substituted 
for  it. 

3.  I  am  aware  that  such  Scriptures  as  Rom.,  vi.  4,  and  Col., 
ii.  12,  are  habitually  relied  on  to  prove,  that  baptism  is  a  special 
commemoration  of  the  burial  of  Jesus,  and  that,  therefore,  im¬ 
mersion  is  the  exclusive  mode  of  its  administration.  I  repeat 
what  I  have  already  intimated,  that  even  if  the  former  part  of  the 
statement  were  true,  it  affords  no  support  to  the  latter  part  of 
it.  For  the  immersion  of  a  living  person  in  water,  whether  for¬ 
ward  or  backward,  whether  once  or  three  times,  whether  clothed 
or  naked  ;  does  not  represent  the  fact  of  burial,  nor  any  mode 
of  burial  ever  used  among  men,  nor  the  particular  burial  of 
Jesus  in  the  sepulchre  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea.  So  that  even 
if  those  Scriptures  alluded  to,  or  any  others,  prove  that  the  sacra¬ 
ment  of  baptism  was  a  special  commemoration  of  the  burial  of 
Jesus  ;  it  would  be  as  far  as  ever  from  being  proved  that  immer¬ 
sion  in  water  was  a  proper,  much  less  the  exclusive  way  of  ad¬ 
ministering  that  sacrament.  But  the  true  sense  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  relied  on  to  prove  that  baptism  is  a  commemoration  of  the 
burial  of  Jesus,  is  far  different  from  that  which  they  attempt  to 
torture  from  them.  Know  ye  not,  says  the  Apostle  Paul,  that 
so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were  baptized 
into  his  death  P  Therefore,  we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism 
unto  death  :  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by 
the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness 
of  life.  For  if  we  have  been  planted  together  in  the  likeness 
of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrec¬ 
tion.1  It  is  three  times  stated  in  the  passage,  that  it  is  the 
death — not  the  burial  of  Christ — which  is  to  be  commemo¬ 
rated  by  us  ;  we  are  baptized  into  his  death — it  is  baptism 
into  death — we  are  baptized  into  the  likeness  of  his  death. 
This  is  the  fundamental  point  :  our  baptism  signifies  our  ingraft¬ 
ing  into  our  crucified  Saviour.  It  is  not  into  water,  nor  into  the 
grave  that  baptism  is  declared  to  point,  or  that  we  are  declared 
to  come  through  it ;  but  is  into  Christ,  and  into  his  death  ;  and  so 
baptism  is  called  baptism  into  death.  And  the  assurance  that  we 
shall  live  with  Christ,  is  derived,  as  this  Apostle  declares  in  the  text, 
from  the  certainty  that  we  are  dead  with  him  who  died  for  us 
while  we  were  yet  sinners  ;  and  by  whose  death  we  are  reconciled 

1  Rom.,  vi.  3-5. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  567 

to  God.1  As  to  immersion  being  a  representation  of  our  resur¬ 
rection,  and  therefore  the  exclusive  mode  of  celebrating  baptism: 
that  is  as  futile  as  the  other.  Because  it  is  expressly  said  in  this 
Scripture,  that  such  as  are,  by  baptism  into  Christ  and  into  death, 
buried  with  Christ,  ought  to  walk  in  newness  of  life  :  not  that 
they  ought  to  come  up  out  of  the  water — nor  that  coming  up  out 
of  the  water,  is  a  representation  either  of  Christ’s  resurrection, 
or  of  our  own.  Being  buried  with  Christ  by  means  of  baptism 
into  death,  neither  signifies  our  natural  death,  nor  our  natural 
burial,  nor  the  mode  of  baptism,  nor  that  baptism  represents  the 
burial  and  resurrection  of  Christ.  But  what  it  means  is,  that 
by  baptism  into  Christ,  and  into  his  death — we  signify  our  death 
unto  sin.  and  our  subsequent  newness  of  life,  our  ingrafting  into 
Christ,  our  being  planted  into  the  likeness  of  his  death  and  so 
buried  with  him,  and  by  consequence  our  being  planted  in  the 
likeness  of  his  resurrection.  The  benefits  of  his  death  and  re¬ 
surrection — are  thus  signified  and  sealed  to  us.  And  the  passage 
runs  thus  :  They  who  are  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,  are  bap¬ 
tized  into  his  death  ;  their  burial  with  him,  through  that  bap¬ 
tismal  death,  is  to  the  end  that  even  as  Christ  was  raised  from 
the  dead,  so  they  should  live  a  new  life  :  because  they  are  planted 
in  the  likeness  both  of  his  death  and  resurrection.  Which  is  the 
common  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  God  :  and  in  the  very  words. 
To  the  same  purport  is  the  only  remaining  passage  of  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  in  which  the  burial  of  Christ  is  so  men¬ 
tioned  as  to  be  liable  to  the  perversion  I  am  considering.  For 
in  him,  says  the  same  Apostle  who  wrote  the  other  passage, 
dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.  And  ye  are 
complete  in  him,  which  is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power  : 
in  whom  ye  are  circumcised  with  the  circumcision  made  without 
hands,  in  putting  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  cir¬ 
cumcision  of  Christ  :  buried  into  him  in  baptism,*  wherein  also 
ye  are  risen  with  him  through  the  faith  of  the  operation  of  God, 
w'ho  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead.3  That  is,  we  must  have  fel¬ 
lowship  with  the  death  of  Christ,  if  we  would  have  fellowship 

1  Rom.,  v.  8-10  ;  vi.  8. 

*  ~ZvvTa(j)EVT£ f  avrcj  ev  ru  (3cnrTic/mTL  kv  <!),  &c.  In  the  passage  in  Romans  it  is 
avv£Ta(f>rjfi£v  ovv  avrcj  6ia  tov  fSaTruGfxaTog,  &c.;  the  Greek,  as  well  as  the  sense,  m 
both  passages,  making  the  Baptism — not  a  burial  nor  a  similitude  of  one — but  a  means 
unto  our  mystical  joint  burial  with  Christ. 

2  Col.,  il  9-12. 


568  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

with  his  resurrection  ;  since  we  must  be  ingrafted  into  him,  if  we 
would  live  with  him  ;  and  it  is  shown  how  that  ingrafting  and 
that  fellowship  are  signified  and  sealed  in  our  baptism.  For  by 
it  our  death  to  sin  and  our  resurrection  to  righteousness,  are 
sealed  in  Christ  ;  and  the  burial  which  attends  one,  and  the 
newness  of  life  which  attends  the  other,  are  both  not  only  in  but 
with  Christ :  and  therefore  both  are  through  baptism.  Which 
is  precisely  equivalent  to  saying,  that  baptism  seals  our  ingraft¬ 
ing  into  Christ,  and  our  purification  by  the  Spirit.  The  Apostle 
does  not  say  that  our  baptism  is  our  burial,  or  that  it  is  the 
similitude  of  a  burial,  or  a  resurrection.  But  he  says  it  is  a 
means  whereby  our  burial  and  that  of  Christ  become  a  joint 
burial,  and  whereby  our  resurrection  and  that  of  Christ  also  became 
joint.  It  is  such  a  means,  he  says,  through  faith, — which  is  the 
work  of  God  who  raised  Christ  from  the  dead ;  and  our  complete¬ 
ness  in  him,  thus  signified  in  baptism — was  equally  signified  in  cir¬ 
cumcision.  Now  our  baptism  being,  indubitably,  neither  Christ's 
burial  nor  our  own,  it  can  be  truly  said  that  by  means  of  it  we 
have  a  joint  burial  with  Christ,  only  in  a  mystical  sense  :  which  is 
exactly  what  is  said.  In  a  real,  but  in  a  spiritual  sense — that  is 
mystically — sacramentally — the  people  of  God  have  a  joint  death, 
burial,  and  resurrection  with  the  Saviour  :  and  baptism  signifies, 
and  seals  all  three.  But  it  seals  neither  of  them  by  immersing 
a  person  in  water,  as  a  representation  of  the  fact  and  manner  of 
Christ’s  burial  and  resurrection  :  but  it  seals  them  all  by  the  ap¬ 
plication  of  water  to  the  person,  as  a  sign  of  the  purification 
wrought  in  us  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  was  purchased  by  the 
death  of  the  Saviour  who  redeemed  us  with  his  blood,  and  sent 
from  heaven  as  the  Comforter  of  his  people — the  crowning  proof 
of  his  glorification. 

4.  I  have,  said  the  blessed  Lord,  a  baptism  to  be  baptized 
with  ;  and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished  l1  Had 
that  baptism  a  solitary  point,  identical  with  any  one  in  ordinary 
Christian  baptism  P  And  yet  how  many  have  incurred,  and  do 
still  incur,  that  baptism  of  anguish,  with  Christ,  and  for  Christ  ?3 
Again,  we  have  the  word  used  in  a  comparatively  low  spiritual 
sense,  to  signify  so  much  of  the  things  of  the  Lord  as  was  taught 
by  John  the  Baptist  :  and  that  even  after  Christian  baptism  had 

1  Luke,  xii.  50  ;  Matt.,  xx.  22,  23 ;  Mark,  x.  38,  39. 

a  Rom.,  viii.  IV,  18,  37 ;  2  Cor,i.  3-7. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  569 

spread  over  the  Roman  empire.1  Again,  we  have  the  word  applied 
in  an  exclusive  and  strict  sense  by  the  Apostle  Peter,  who  of  all 
men  ought  to  have  known  what  Christian  baptism  was  ;  to  sig¬ 
nify  the  outward  ordinance,  calling  it  a  figure,  an  antitype  of  the 
Ark  in  which  Noah  was  saved.2  And  again,  it  goes  so  high  as  to 
become  a  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire.3  Four 
senses  of  the  word  baptism,  each  of  them  scriptural,  and  most 
distinct;  and  yet  neither  of  them  the  sense  intended  by  Christ 
when  he  instituted  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  and  commanded 
his  Apostles  to  teach  all  nations,  and  to  baptize  his  followers  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.4 
And  if  there  were  a  thousand  scriptural  senses,  and  a  thousand 
more  heathen  senses,  in  which  the  word  had  been  used,  should 
that  prevent  the  Lord  Jesus  from  using  it  in  a  specific  sense,  for 
a  special  purpose  ?  What  if  some  hundreds  of  its  other  senses 
did  better  accord,  in  the  judgment  of  many  thousands  of  men, 
learned  and  unlearned,  with  the  original  meaning  which  they 
suppose  the  word  had,  or  should  have  had,  than  the  sense  the 
Lord  gave  to  it  did  ;  should  that  oblige  the  Lord  to  mean  what 
he  did  not  mean  ?  Nay  if  countless  men,  who  judge  themselves 
to  be  learned,  are  sure  that  one  special  sense  is  the  true,  original 
sense  of  a  term  afterwards  used  in  many  senses  ;  should  that 
oblige  us  to  torture  language,  human  and  divine,  until  we  extort, 
no  matter  at  what  cost  of  reason  and  faith,  the  meaning  which 
satisfies  this  multitude  ?  For  my  own  part,  I  admit  the  right 
of  the  divine  Redeemer  to  establish  what  ordinances  he  pleased  ; 
to  give  them  what  names  he  thought  proper  ;  and  to  attach  to 
the  terms  he  used,  the  sense  he  considered  most  appropriate. 
Thus  accepted,  the  Scriptures  do  unquestionably  teach,  as  I 
think  I  have  proved,  and  as  the  true  followers  of  Christ  have 
commonly  and  always  believed,  that  what  the  Lord  meant  by 
baptism  was  a  divine  mystery,  administered  by  his  Apostles, ^and 
to  be  administered’ to  all  his  disciples  to  the  end  of  the  world, 
by  duly  authorized  stewards  of  his  mysteries  ;  that  the  element 
used  in  this  divine  ordinance,  was  water  ;  that  the  administration 
of  it  was  directed  by  the  Saviour  to  be  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  and  that  it  was  designed 
to  be,  and  has  continued  according  to  the  promise  of  Christ  to 

i  Acts,  xviii.  24-26;  xix.  1-7.  2  1  Peter,  iii.  20,  21. 

3  Matt.,  iii.  11 ;  Luke,  iii.  16  4  Matt.,  xxviii.  18,  19. 


570  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

the  present  time,  one  of  the  two  sacraments  of  the  Gospel  Church. 
So  far,  there  is  probably  no  dispute  amongst  evangelical  Christians. 
I  add,  that  this  sacrament  was  designed  and  understood  by  his 
Apostles,  to  be  administered  to  the  infant  seed  of  believers,  as  I 
have  endeavoured  to  prove  :  that  it  was  designed  by  Christ  and 
understood  by  his  Apostles,  to  be  administered  by  the  application 
of  water  to  the  subject,  that  is  by  affusion,  or  the  pouring  or 
sprinkling  of  the  water  upon  the  subject,  and  not  by  immersing 
him  in  the  water  ;  as  I  will  attempt  to  prove. 

5.  In  considering  the  intention  of  the  Lord,  as  to  the  mode 
in  which  water  should  be  used  in  the  administration  of  this  sacra¬ 
ment,  which  intention  if  it  can  be  ascertained  is  conclusive  on  all 
who  believe  in  him  ;  some  of  the  grounds  upon  which  we  are  now 
able  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  conclusion,  may  be  very  briefly 
stated,  somewhat  after  the  following  manner. 

(a)  Nature  of  the  Grace ,  of  the  Seal ,  of  their  Relation  to 
each  other ,  and  all  to  Christ .  It  is,  as  I  have  proved,  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  word  of  God  and  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  that  the 
fundamental  idea  of  a  sacrament  is,  that  it  is  an  outward  and 
visible  sign  of  inward  and  invisable  grace  ;  and  that  the 
great  inward  grace  signified  in  baptism,  by  the  sacramental  use 
of  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  is  the  purification  of  the  soul  by  the  blood  of  Christ, 
through  the  work  of  the  Spirit.  Now  the  whole  of  this  is  from 
God  to  us  :  done  to  us  from  above,  not  done  by  us.  It  is  the 
grace  of  God,  the  blood  of  Christ,  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  applied 
to  us.  The  water  which  signifies  it  all,  and  signifies  by  its  puri¬ 
fying  virtue  the  effect  of  all,  and  that  by  the  institution  of  Christ, 
should  also  be  applied  to  us.  Which  is  confirmed  by  the  decla¬ 
ration  that  we  are  elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God 
the  Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience 
and%  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  further 
declaration  that  the  pouring  out  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  is  the 
characteristic  work  of  the  only  dispensation  in  which  water  is  a 
sacramental  element.2  It  is  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus, 
it  is  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God  on  us,  it  is  the  efficacy 
of  these  which  produces  the  inward  grace,  which  the  water  sig¬ 
nifies.  Unless  we  are  expressly  told  the  contrary,  how  are  we  to 

i  1  Peter,  i.  2  ;  Ileb.,  xii.  24. 

3  Joel,  ii.  28,  29 ;  Acts,  ii  17,  18. 


CHAP.  XXIX.] 


SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 


571 


avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  water,  also,  must  he  poured  or 
sprinkled  on  us  ? 

(b)  Relation  of  Sprinkling  Blood  and  Water ,  always ,  to  pu¬ 
rification  and  to  Christ.  The  use  of  both  water  and  of  blood  in 
the  sacred  mysteries  of  the  Church  of  God,  was  habitual  and 
constant  under  the  institutions  of  Moses  from  their  origin.  But 
that  ancient  form  of  the  Church,  was  simply  a  dispensation  of 
the  Messianic  Kingdom,  of  which  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was 
the  head  and  Lord  :  and  everything  in  it  was  his,  and  pointed 
continually  to  him.  Moreover  he  was  a  Jew,  and  his  ministry 
was  passed  as  a  minister  of  the  circumcision  ;  and  his  Apostles 
were  all  Jews  ;  and  his  whole  life  was  passed  in  scrupulous  and 
perfect  observance  of  the  entire  righteousness  that  was  by  the 
law.  Now  when  the  covenant  between  God  and  his  people  was 
ratified  after  the  giving  of  the  law  at  Sinai;  Moses  by  the  command 
of  God,  sprinkled  half  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices  offered  to  God 
upon  the  altar,  and  the  rest  of  the  blood  he  sprinkled  upon  the 
people,  saying,  Behold  the  blood  of  the  covenant  which  the  Lord 
hath  made  with  you.1  The  Apostle  Paul  in  allusion  to  this,  and 
in  the  transcendent  exaltation  of  the  Christian  above  the  Jewish 
dispensation,  says,  We  are  come  to  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the 
new  covenant,  and  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  that  speaketh  bet¬ 
ter  things  than  that  of  Abel.2  It  was  a  perpetual  statute,  that 
all  who  were  ceremonially  unclean  by  any  contact  with  the  dead, 
should  have  the  water  of  separation  applied  to  them,  as  a  puri¬ 
fication  from  sin  :  which  was  done  by  sprinkling  the  water  upon 
the  person  :3  and  upon  the  great  day  of  Atonement,  once  every 
year,  the  high  priest  sprinkled  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  even 

upon  the  mercy  seat,  which  covered  the  ark  :4  both  of  which  with 

other  ordinances,  the  Apostle  Paul  recounts  in  illustrating  what 
the  Lord  Jesus  had  done,  and  adds,  How  much  more  shall  the 
blood  of  Christ,  who  through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself 
without  spot  unto  God,  purge  your  consciences  from  dead  works 
to  serve  the  living  God?5  Let  me  add  the  remarkable  declaration 
of  Paul,  that  all  Israel  that  went  up  out  of  Egypt  were  baptized 
into  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea  :6  and  that  of  Isaiah,  in 
one  of  his  most  illustrious  prophecies  of  Christ,  So  shall  he 
sprinkle  many  nations  :7  and  that  of  Ezekiel,  when  expressly 

1  Ex.,  xxiv.  6-8.  2  Heb.,  xii.  24  3  Numb.,  xix.  passim.  4  Lev.,  xvi.  14 

5  Heb.,  ix.  passim.  6  1  Cor.,  x.  2.  ?  Isa.,  lii.  15. 


572  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

.  foretelling  that  blessed  time,  when  God  would  give  his  people  a 
new  heart,  and  put  a  new  spirit  within  them,  Then  I  will  sprinkle 
clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean.1  Let  these  exam¬ 
ples  suffice,  to  illustrate  the  mode  in  which  blood  and  water  were 
used  by  the  authority  of  Christ  himself,  in  the  sacred  mysteries 
of  the  ancient  Church  ;  the  form  in  which  these  ideas  lay  in  the 
mind  of  every  child  of  God  on  earth,  when  Christ  instituted  the 
sacrament  of  baptism  with  water,  as  the  sign  of  the  sprinkling 
of  his  purifying  blood — the  form  in  which  they  could  not  but  lay 
in  the  mind  of  the  Jewish  people  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  when 
the  first  Christian  baptism  was  administered  to  three  thousand 
Jews.  In  the  absence  of  any  explicit  statement  that  he  meant 
something  else,  how  can  we  doubt  that  he  intended  the  water  in 
baptism  to  signify  a  purification,  and  to  be  sprinkled  or  poured 
on  the  subject  ? 

(c)  Sense ,  original  and  actual,  of  the  Words  personally  used 
by  Christ .  The  language  of  the  New  Testament  is  a  somewhat 
peculiar  dialect  of  the  Greek  :  though  that  is  not  the  language 
which  Christ  spoke,  and  in  which  he  taught.  We  have  those 
sacred  writings  in  that  tongue,  by  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost: 
and  accept  them  as  they  are,  as  infallible  truth  concerning  what 
our  Saviour  said,  and  did,  and  meant.  It  is  extremely  easy  for 
those  whose  minde  are  already  made  up  that  a  particular  mode 
of  baptism  is  exclusively  valid  ;  to  make  positive  assertions 
concerning  the  original  meaning  and  only  proper  use  and  signifi- 
cancy  of  words  in  this  peculiar  language  and  in  classic  Greek  ; 
neither  of  which  the  bulk  of  mankind  know  anything  of,  and 
which  very  few  persons  understand  thoroughly.  I  cannot,  of 
course,  enter  at  large  into  discussions  bearing  on  that  aspect  of 
the  subject,  in  such  a  Treatise  as  this.  What  is  proper  here,  on 
such  a  point,  with  reference  to  such  a  subject,  is  to  state  my 
own  convictions,  and  support  them  as  briefly  as  possible. 
The  wonder  is  that  it  should  ever  have  been  supposed,  that  wre 
are  competent  to  determine  either  the  laws  of  thought  or  of 
speech  in  such  a  manner  ;  as  by  them  to  fix  an  absolute  and 
invariable  sense  beforehand,  to  which  the  utterance  of  the  Cre¬ 
ator,  both  of  thought  and  speech,  shall  be  limited.  The  utmost 
to  which  we  are  competent,  is  some  just  knowledge  of  the  sub¬ 
ject  and  the  language,  and  then  the  careful  consideration  of 

1  Ezekiel,  xxxvi.  25. 


573 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

what  God  has  actually  said  and  done.  The  sacred  use  of  water 
in  connection  with  their  religious  rites,  which  I  have  alluded  to 
in  the  case  of  the  Hebrews,  is  known  to  have  been  common  to 
all  ancient  nations — the  Egyptians,  the  inhabitants  of  Judea, 
the  Persians,  the  early  Romans,  as  well  as  the  Greeks.  If  it 
were  positively  certain  that  the  mode  of  this  sacred  use,  espe¬ 
cially  among  the  Greeks,  was  exclusively  by  immersing  the 
person  in  water  ;  it  would  prove  nothing  with  regard  to  the  in¬ 
tention  of  Christ  as  to  the  sacred  use  of  water  by  him  in  the 
Christian  Church  :  not  even  if  he  should  adopt  the  very  words 
they  had  previously  used  in  their  mysteries.  This  obvious  truth 
is  illustrated  in  the  frequency  with  which  words  in  common  use 
by  Greek  authors,  are  employed  in  the  New  Testament  in  a 
sense  materially,  sometimes  wholly  different  from  the  classical 
sense,  in  order  to  express  ideas  peculiar  to  the  Church,  and  to 
salvation.  And  surely,  in  the  whole  system  of  Jesus,  nothing 
is  more  peculiar  than  the  idea  of  the  union  of  the  soul  with 
him,  through  the  virtue  of  his  shed  blood,  applied  to  us  in  the 
work  of  a  divine  agent.  I  deny,  however,  that  there  was  anything 
in  the  original  signification,  or  the  previous  use  whether  common 
or  sacred,  of  the  word  employed  to  express  the  intention  of  Jesus 
in  the  institution  of  this  sacrament,*  to  authorize  the  inference 
that  he  meant  the  subject  of  it  to  be  immersed  in  water.  On  the 
contrary  the  original  sense  of  the  term  (i danro))  from  which  all 
the  rest  are  derived,  was,  when  applied  to  things  common,  that 
their  state  was  changed  by  changing  the  surface — and  when  ap¬ 
plied  to  things  sacred,  that  their  state  was  changed  by  purifying 
them  ;  which,  in  effect,  accords  with  the  idea  of  baptism,  by 
which  the  state  of  man,  both  external  and  internal,  is  signified 
as  being  changed  ;  changed  outwardly  by  his  becoming  a  cove¬ 
nanted  follower  of  Christ,  and  inwardly  by  his  being  born  of  the 
Spirit.  In  the  common  use  of  the  terms,  they  signify  any 
change  of  colour  by  dyeing  garments,  or  anything  else,  even  the 
hair  ;  the  glazing  of  pottery  ;  the  painting,  varnishing  and  gild¬ 
ing  of  pillars,  statues,  or  anything  else  ;  the  cleansing  of  house¬ 
hold  vessels  and  furniture  by  the  use  of  water,  and  the  like  ; 
some  of  which  uses  can  be  easily  proved  by  citations  from  the 
New  Testament,  and  all  of  them,  and  many  more  to  the  same 
purport,  are  common  in  the  Greek  classics.  The  use  of  the 


*  Ben rTi&vTeg — flan — panru. 


574  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

words  attributed  to  Christ  by  the  sacred  writers,  is  remarkable. 
He  told  Nicodemus,  early  in  his  ministry,  that  in  order  to  enter 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  a  man  must  be  born  of  water  and  of 
the  Spirit  j1  but  it  was  not  until  after  his  resurrection  that  he 
explained  this  use  of  water  to  be  baptism  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;2  nor  till  then 
that  he  explained  the  great  difference  between  John's  baptism, 
and  his  own.3  In  one  of  his  parables  he  put  the  word  f3axp7]  into 
the  mouth  of  a  man  in  hell ;  Send  Lazarus  that  he  may  dip  the 
tip  of  his  finger  in  water  ;4  and  as  he  celebrated  the  last  Supper, 
he  used  it  again  in  the  same  sense.*  He  that  dippeth  his  hand 
with  me  in  the  dish  :  one  of  the  twelve  that  dippeth  with  me  in 
the  dish  :  he  it  is,  to  whom  I  shall  give  a  sop,  when  I  have  dipped 
it  ;  it  is  thus  our  translators  have  rendered  the  places.5  He 
used  the  word  again,  when  he  spake  of  his  own  cup  and  bap¬ 
tism  alluding  doubtless  to  his  agony  in  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane  and  on  the  Cross  ;  to  the  whole,  it  may  be,  that  befell 
him,  from  the  last  Supper  till  his  resurrection.6  Once  he  applied 
the  word  (iauTiopia  to  the  baptism  of  John,  demanding  of  those 
who  questioned  his  own  authority,  whence  that  baptism  was.7 
These  are  the  chief  instances,  if  not  the  whole,  in  which  it  is 
known  that  Jesus  personally  used  these  words,  either  before  or 
after  his  resurrection.  He  applied  them  once  to  the  baptism  of 
John,  once  to  the  wetting  of  the  tip  of  the  finger,  once  to  a 
piece  of  food  put  in  a  dish,  and  to  the  putting  of  a  man's  hand 
in  a  dish  for  food,  twice  to  his  own  approaching  agony  ;  and  after 
his  resurrection,  he  used  them  once  in  instituting  the  sacrament, 
once  in  exhibiting  its  relation  to  salvation,  and  once  in  pointing 
out  the  difference  between  John's  baptism  with  water,  and  the 
immediately  approaching  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
John  had  so  distinctly  taught  was  peculiar  to  Christ,  and  out  of 
all  comparison  superior  to  his  own.  Upon  this  state  of  case, 
presented  in  this  paragraph,  and  remembering  what  was  shown 
before,  what  pretext  is  there  for  asserting  that  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  establishes  immersion  as  a  way,  much  less  the  exclusive 
way  of  Christian  baptism  P 

1  John,  iii.  5.  2  Mat.,  xxviii.  19 ;  Mark,  xvk  16.  3  Acts,  i.  5  ;  xi.  16.  4  Luke,  xvi.  24. 

*  EfifSaxfiar — e/upairTOfj.£vog — Jarpac.  6  Mat.,  xxvl  23 ;  Mark,  xiv.  20;  John,  xiiu  26. 

\  BrnTTiG/ua — ftairTioOrivai — panT^o/iai — ficnrTKjfhjGeoOe. 

6  Mat.,  xx.  21,  22  ;  Mark,  x.  38,  39 ;  Luke,  xii.  49,  50 ;  xxi.  25 

7  Mark,  xi.  30 ;  Luke,  xx.  4. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 


575 


(d)  Sense  of  Christ’s  special  Explanation.  In  connection 
with  his  command  to  await  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  Christ 
said  to  his  Apostles,  For  John  truly  baptized  with  water  ; 
hut  ye  shall  he  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  not  many  days 
hence.1  Peter  says  that  when  the  Holy  Grhost  fell  on  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  in  the  house  of  Cornelius,  he  remembered  the  words  of  the 
Lord,  which  he  repeats  ;  and  they  led  him  to  baptize  those  first 
Gentile  Christians.2  Thus  remarkably  did  Christ  fulfil  the  prom¬ 
ise  he  had  made,  that  the  Comforter  should  teach  them  all  things, 
and  bring  all  things  to  their  remembrance.3  Thus  remarkably 
did  he  make  Peter  the  honoured  instrument  of  opening  the  Church 
of  God,  once  more,  to  the  nations  so  long  rejected  ;  according 
to  his  promise  to  him,  when  Peter  made  that  great  confession  of 
him.4  And  thus  completely  did  this  explanation  by  Christ,  of 
the  baptism  he  had  instituted,  control  its  administration,  as  we 
shall  afterwards  see,,  both  to  the  Jews  and  Gentiles.  What  I 
insist  on  here  is,  that  those  decisive  words  of  Christ,  oblige  us  to 
understand  that  his  baptism  was  to  be  administered  with  water, 
and  not  in — much  less  into  water  ;  that  the  water  was  to  be  ap¬ 
plied  to  the  person — not  that  the  person  was  to  be  immersed  in 
the  water.  The  Greek  words  are  the  same,  in  both  the  passages 
already  cited  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.'"'  The  language  in 
the  English  is  also  very  nearly  the  same  in  both  passages,  and 
exactly  expresses  the  sense  ;  baptized  with  water — baptized  with 
the  Holy  Ghost :  a  form  of  expression,  and  of  contrast,  common 
in  the  Hew  Testament.  But  the  Greek  form  of  expression  in 
the  words  used  by  Christ,  is  not  the  same  in  both  branches  of 
the  statement.  When  he  says  John  baptized  with  water,  he 
puts  the  noun  ( vdan )  in  the  dative  case,  after  the  verb,  and  omits 
the  preposition  (ev)  :  and  when  he  says  they  should  be  baptized 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  uses  the  preposition  before  the  dative 
case  ( [ev  nveyfiaTi  ayu ,)).  In  the  former  case  it  is  John,  and  the 
person  baptized,  and  the  means,  the  element,  with  which  as  the 
case  used  shows  :  in  the  latter  case  it  is  Christ,  and  the  person 
baptized  and  the  divine  Agent  with  whose  concurrence,  as  the 
case  used  shows.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  writer  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  when  repeating  the  words  of  John  the  Baptist, 

i  Acts,  i.  5 .  2  Acts,  xi.  1 6. 

8  John,  xiv.  26.  4  Matt.,  xvi.  16-19. 

*  "On  I uavvrjg  uev  cfiannev  vtian,  v/ucig  tie  (ianTLadrioeaOe  kv  KvevfiaTt  uyUf). 


576  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

expresses  the  same  sense  as  to  the  water,  by  changing  the  p»hrase 
a  little  ;  putting  the  noun  ( vdan )  before  the  verb,  in  the  dative, 
and  without  the  preposition  ;  at  the  same  time  preserving  the 
exact  form  in  what  related  to  Christ.  Matthew  and  Mark  re¬ 
peating  the  words  of  John  the  Baptist,  use  the  preposition 
before  both  nouns,  in  the  dative  case,  after  the  verb  :l  while 
John  once  conforms  to  that  usage,  and  once  uses  the  noun 
before  the  verb,  prefixing  both  the  preposition  and  the  arti¬ 
cle.2  These  are  the  various  forms  in  which  the  statements 
concerning  the  relation  of  J olm's  baptism  and  that  of  Christ  to 
each  other,  are  given  in  the  words  of  both  of  them,  by  Matthew, 
Mark,  Luke  and  John.  The  unquestionable  sense  of  all  the 
statements  seems  to  me  to  be,  first,  that  we  must  be  baptized 
ivith  water,  and  not  into  water  ;  and,  secondly,  even  if  with  water 
were  proved  to  mean  in  water  in  the  sense  of  completely  wetting 
the  person,  it  would  be  as  remote  as  ever  from  immersion,  that 
is,  into  the  water.  Such  modes  of  expression  as  I  have  pointed 
out,  oblige  us  to  understand  that  the  water,  and  the  blood,  and 
the  Spirit  are  applied  to  us  :  and  I  suppose  it  to  be  impossible 
to  find,  or  to  construct,  a  Greek  sentence  analogous  to  these  re¬ 
markable  passages,  which  could,  without  violence,  be  understood 
otherwise.  If  this  be  so,  the  very  words  used  by  Christ,  after  his 
resurrection,  to  his  Apostles,  in  exposition  both  of  John's  bap¬ 
tism  and  of  that  which  he  had  instituted,  oblige  us  to  see  that 
Christian  baptism  is  to  be  administered,  not  by  immersion,  but 
by  sprinkling  or  pouring  water  on  the  subject. 

(e)  Sense  attributed  to  these  Words  by  the  Apostles  of  ths 
Lord.  The  sense  intended  by  Christ  to  be  affixed  to  the  terms 
he  used  in  instituting  the  Sacrament  of  baptism  ;  is  precisely 
determined  by  the  use  made  of  them  by  his  Apostles,  who  re¬ 
ceived  the  command  from  him,  and  executed  it  with  plenary  au¬ 
thority  and  inspiration.  Their  account  of  the  matter  is  to  the 
following  purport :  Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  gave  himself 
for  it :  that  he  might  sanctify  and  cleanse  it  with  the  washing  of 
water  by  the  word,  that  he  might  present  it  to  himself  a  glori¬ 
ous  Church,  not  having  spot,  nor  wrinkle,  nor  any  such  thing  ; 
but  that  it  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish.8  Here  is  the  love 
and  the  sacrifice  of  Christ — the  power  of  the  divine  word — the 
power  and  effects  of  the  divine  Spirit — the  product  of  all,  the  glo- 

1  Matt.,  iii.  11 ;  Mark,  i.  8.  3  John,  i.  26-33.  3  Eph.,  v.  25-27. 


SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 


577 


CHAP.  XXIX.] 

rious  Church  ;  but  in  the  midst  of  these,  is  the  cleansing  of  the 
Church  with  the  washing  of  water.*  Baptism,  therefore,  rep¬ 
resents  the  powerful  washing  of  the  blood  and  Spirit  of  Christ, 
by  which  we  have  access,  by  a  new  and  living  way  to  the  holiest 
of  all  ;  to  which,  says  the  Apostle,  Let  us  draw  near  with  a  true 
heart  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from 
an  evil  conscience  and  our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water.1  How 
then  is  it  possible  for  the  heart  to  be  purified,  by  having  it 
sprinkled  ?  Paul  tells  us  it  is  by  sprinkling  it  with  the  blood 
of  Christ,  that  the  conscience  is  purged  from  dead  works.2  And 
as  to  sprinkling  the  blood  of  Christ  on  the  heart,  Peter  tells  us 
that  this  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  through 
sanctification  of  the  Spirit  :3  and  to  clear  the  matter  still  fur¬ 
ther,  he  adds  that  by  the  washing  of  our  bodies  with  pure  water 
in  baptism,  he  does  not  understand  the  putting  away  of  the  filth 
of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God.4 
For  it  is  not  by  works  of  righteousness  that  we  have  done,  but 
according  to  the  mercy  of  God  our  Saviour,  that  he  saved  us,  by 
the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost : 
which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Sa¬ 
viour.5  But  what  Paul  had  called  the  washing  of  water  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  he  calls  here  the  washing  of  regenera- 
tion.f  Baptism,  therefore,  is  the  seal  of  our  ingrafting  into  Christ, 
and  into  his  body  which  is  the  Church  ;  a  seal,  also,  of  our  puri¬ 
fication  by  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  the  washing  with 
water  in  it,  is  not  to  cleanse  the  filthiness  of  the  flesh,  but  signi¬ 
fies  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the  conscience, — and  is  after  the 
manner  of  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  upon  our 
hearts.  Christ  said  to  Nicodemus,  Except  a  man  be  born  of 
water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God  ;6  and  the  declaration  of  Paul  is  precise,  that  God  saves  us, 
according  to  his  mercy,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.7  According  to  the  word  of  God, 
the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God  cleanseth  us  from  all 
sin  ;8  even  that  Jesus  who  came  not  by  water  only,  but  by  water 
and  blood,  as  the  spirit  of  truth  beareth  witness.9  And  so  it  is 

*  KaOapicac  rep  "kovTpti  tov  vdaroc.  1  Heb.,  x.  22.  2  Heb.,  ix.  13,  14. 

3  1  Peter,  i.  2.  41  Peter,  iii.  21.  5  Titus,  iii.  4-6. 

\  Aca  Tiovrpov  na^ryyevecnag.  6  John,  iii.  5.  7  Titus,  iii.  4,  5^ 

8  1  John,  i.  7.  9  1  John,  v.  6. 


VOL.  II. 


37 


578  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

declared,  Ye  are  washed,  ye  are  sanctified,  ye  are  justified,  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God.1  Now, 
that  this  sacred  mystery,  this  baptism,  this  washing,  this  sprink¬ 
ling,0  was  the  sacramental  application  of  water  to  the  person  of 
him  who  received  the  ordinance  ;  thereby  signifying  and  sealing 
his  ingrafting  into  Christ,  and  his  purification  by  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
is  as  undeniably  certain,  as  it  is  that  the  Greek  tongue  is  capable 
of  expressing  these  ideas.  As  to  any  teaching  of  the  divine  Scrip¬ 
tures,  that  this  sacrament  is  a  burial,  or  an  immersion  ;  that  it  is 
an  exorcism,  or  a  charm,  or  that  it  has  any  inherent  efficacy,  or 
that  it  is  to  be  accompanied  with  any  ceremonies  beyond  those 
necessary  in  the  solemn  application  of  the  water  to  the  person  : 
nothing  of  that  sort  is  to  be  found  in  the  word  of  God  ;  but  a 
great  deal  irreconcilable  with  it  all.  As  to  any  pretended  incon¬ 
sistency  between  the  obvious  sense  conveyed  by  the  language  of 
the  sacred  writers,  and  the  alleged  original,  and  only  proper  sense 
of  the  terms  they  used  ;  it  appears  to  me  that  those  men,  speak¬ 
ing  Greek  by  immediate  inspiration  of  God,  instructed  in  what 
they  taught  immediately  by  Christ,  and  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
very  probably  knew  what  they  professed  to  teach.  And  that 
they  were  both  honest  and  in  earnest,  is  rather  clearly  proved  by 
their  having  sealed  their  testimony  with  their  blood. 

IY. — 1.  It  remains  to  examine,  as  carefully  as  my  limits  will 
allow,  the  Apostolic  practice  with  regard  to  the  administration  of 
this  sacrament.  The  first  instance  of  it  that  occurred,  was  alto¬ 
gether  the  most  wonderful  and  pregnant  ;  and  the  divine  state¬ 
ment  of  the  actual  event  corresponds,  in  simplicity  and  brevity, 
with  those  concerning  the  institution  and  the  exposition  of  the 
sacrament  by  Christ.  Then  they  that  gladly  received  the  word 
were  baptized  ;  and  the  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them 
about  three  thousand  souls.2  This  record  was  made  many  years 
after  the  event,  and  by  a  man  who  may  not  have  been  present  on 
t  he  occasion  :  but  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  an  inspired  book 
is  invested  with  such  proofs  of  its  divine  origin,  as  to  justify  the 
title  by  which  it  was  once  known,  namely,  the  Gospel  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Those  long  intervening  years  had  been  full  of  the  most 
wonderful  events.  Luke,  the  writer  of  the  book,  in  which  the 
history  of  the  planting  of  the  Gospel  Church,  and  of  the  first 

1  1  Cor.,  vii.  7,  11.  *  M vcTrjpiov — fSanTity/ua — ?.ovrpov — ^avnc/iog. 

2  Acts,  11. 


579 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

period  of  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  with  power,  has  been 
preserved  ;  had  already  written  his  Gospel,  in  which  the  life  and 
acts  of  Christ,  from  his  birth  to  his  taking  up  into  heaven,  are 
narrated  ;  and  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  that  baptism,  the 
first  and  grandest  example  of  which  is  stated  in  the  words  I 
have  quoted,  had  penetrated  all  civilized  nations.  Considering 
the  solemn  occasion  on  Pentecost  from  this  point  of  view,  and  in 
this  light;  it  would  have  been  strange  if  the  Evangelist  had 
paused  in  his  great  narrative,  to  give  a  particular  explanation  of 
the  mode  of  administering  baptism.  He  recounts  the  miraculous 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  that  promise  of  the  Father  so  much  in¬ 
sisted  on  by  Christ  ;  the  miraculous  effects  of  this  on  the  Apos¬ 
tles,  and  their  immediate  exercise  of  the  gift  of  tongues  ;  the 
amazement  of  the  vast,  heterogeneous  multitude  gathered  out  of 
all  nations  at  Jerusalem,  and  their  hurrying  together  in  confused 
wonder  and  trouble  ;  the  mighty  discourse  of  Peter,  and  its 
mighty  effects  ;  three  thousand  souls  accepting  the  words  of  eter¬ 
nal  life — added  to  the  company  of  the  redeemed — baptized.  If 
there  is  anything  connected  with  such  a  scene  as  this,  which 
throws  incidental  but  ‘clear  light  upon  things  less  important 
than  the  main  events  ;  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  this  light  be¬ 
longs  to  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  is  to  be  confidently  ac¬ 
cepted  by  us.  I  think  there  is  much,  and  will  endeavour  to 
disclose  it. 

2.  (a)  The  nature  of  the  Events  and  the  shortness  of  the 
time.  It  was  the  third  hour  of  the  day  ;  about  nine  o'clock  in 
the  forenoon.  The  three  thousand  persons  were  baptized  and 
were  added  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  that  same  day.1  The  ninth 
hour  of  the  day,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  was  the 
habitual  hour  of  public  prayer,  at  which  the  Apostles  attended  ; 
and  this  was  a  season  of  great  solemnity.3  The  entire  period 
occupied  by  these  great  occurrences,  could  not,  therefore,  have 
occupied  more  than  six  hours.  Within  that  space  must  be 
crowded,  all  that  was  uttered  by  Peter — those  other  words,  (as 
well  as  what  is  recorded)  in  which  he  testified  and  exhorted  the 
multitude  to  save  themselves  from  that  untoward  generation  ; 
and  all  that  was  said  by  all  the  Apostles,  before  Peter  commenced 
his  discourse,  to  crowds  of  people  from  every  nation  under  heaven, 
of  whom  fifteen  nations  are  mentioned  by  name,  to  every  man  in 

1  Acts,  ii.  15,  41.  2  Act?,  iii.  1 ;  ii.  48. 


580  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

his  own  tongue  wherein  he  was  horn,  concerning  the  things  whereof 
the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance.1  Moreover  it  was  to  be  ascer¬ 
tained  who  they  were  who  gladly  received  the  word,  and  they 
were  to  be  separated  from  the  great  impenitent  multitude,  and 
were  to  give  such  proofs  of  their  faith  as  satisfied  the  Apostles, 
before  they  received  them  into  their  fellowship.  And  further 
still,  whether  we  suppose  these  stupendous  scenes  to  have  oc¬ 
curred  in  the  very  temple  itself,  or  in  the  general  enclosure  more 
largely  called  the  temple, *  or  perhaps  in  one  of  the  courts  or 
porches  of  it  ;  in  either  case,  whatever  delay  may  have  arisen 
from  the  special  difficulties  appertaining  to  the  particular  place, 
must  be  considered.  To  say  nothing  further,  let  the  six  hours 
allowed  by  the  inspired  narrative,  suffer  the  deduction  required 
by  the  foregoing  circumstances  ;  and  how  are  we  to  conceive  it 
to  be  possible,  that  the  portion  of  time  remaining  was  sufficient 
to  allow  of  the  immersion  of  three  thousand  persons,  even  if,  on 
the  instant,  and  at  the  place,  everything  had  been  in  readiness  P 
There  are  but  three  allowable  solutions.  They  were  immersed 
by  the  Apostles — which  seems  to  be  impossible.  Or  they  were 
sprinkled  in  mass,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Jews,  who  on 
certain  occasions  appear  to  have  purified  in  this  manner,  by  the 
sprinkling  of  blood  or  water  with  a  hyssop  ;3  which  would  not 
have  been  the  baptism  instituted  by  Christ,  and  is  wholly  unsup¬ 
ported  hy  evidence.  Or  they  were  baptized  by  pouring  or  sprink¬ 
ling  water  upon  each  one  of  them,  sacramentally  ;  just  as  they 
would  be  now,  according  to  the  method  still  practised  in  the 
Church  of  Christ  ;  which  was  possible,  under  the  circumstances. 
The  conclusion  then,  supposing  the  mode  of  baptism  to  be  dis¬ 
puted  and  doubtful,  is  apparently  very  strong  against  the  immer¬ 
sion  of  these  three  thousand  persons — and  in  favour  of  their 
baptism  by  the  application  of  water  to  them. 

( b )  The  Nature  of  the  Place ,  and  the  Circumstances.  Let  it 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  circumstances  of  this  enquiry  are 
inexorable.  It  is  expressly  stated  that  these  people  were  con¬ 
verted  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  that  they  were  baptized  the 
same  day  :  they  were  baptized  with  water  :  and  there  are  but 
three  modes  by  which  this  is  possible,  namely,  putting  them  into 
water,  or  applying  the  water  to  them,  or  combining  both  in  one 

1  Acts,  ii.  5-13,  40.  *  Nnof — the  temple  itself;  lepov — everything  in  the  walled  area. 

2  Ex.,  xii.  22  ;  Lev.,  xiv.  51 ;  Num.,  xix.  18  ;  Heb.,  ix.  19. 


581 


OHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

ordinance.  As  to  tlie  third  of  these  possible  methods — it  is  not 
imaginary.  It  probably  prevailed  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the 
early  Church  ;  and  in  it,  and  in  some  of  the  oriental  Churches, 
so  far  as  trine  immersion  has  ever  prevailed,  the  water  poured  on 
the  subject  after  the  threefold  immersion,  was,  in  effect,  the  real 
baptism  ;  the  immersions  being  purifications  in  the  name  of  the 
Trinity,  added  without  divine  warrant,  gradually  accepted  as  part, 
and  by  some  finally  as  the  whole  of  the  sacrament.  In  the 
Churches  of  the  Latin  Empire,  in  the  Papal  Church,  and  the 
Protestant  Churches,  this  superstition,  which  only  increases  all 
the  difficulties  of  the  immersionists,  never  prevailed  ;  and  need 
not  be  discussed  here.  Upon  the  circumstances  stated,  therefore, 
it  follows,  that  whatever  tends  to  establish  either  of  the  re¬ 
maining  two  modes,  tends  in  an  equal  degree  to  confute  the 
other  :  and  whatever  subverts  one  establishes  the  other.  This 
inexorable  antagonism  is  the  basis  of  all  the  practical  difficulty 
created  by  the  immersionists,  and  is  the  logical  foundation  of ' 
their  argument,  their  conclusion,  and  their  practice.  It  is  better 
to  accept  the  issue,  and  put  an  end  to  the  question,  if  that  be 
possible,  than  to  content  ourselves,  as  was  formerly  the  case,  with 
affirming  the  lawfulness  of  affusion  as  a  mode  of  scriptural  bap¬ 
tism.  Admitting  then  that  a  mode  is  the  mode,  I  urge  that  in 
addition  to  the  physical  impossibility  arising  out  of  the  nature 
of  the  transaction,  which  I  have  explained  in  the  preceding 
paragraph  ;  there  is  an  additional  and  more  obvious  impossi¬ 
bility,  arising  out  of  the  nature  of  the  place  where,  and  the  cir¬ 
cumstances  under  which,  the  transaction  occurred.  It  is  not 
possible  that  these  three  thousand  persons  could  have  been  bap¬ 
tized  by  the  Apostles,  and  the  record  is  positive  that  they  alone 
had  anything  to  do  with  the  matter  ;x  because  there  was  no  place 
about  the  temple  where  it  could  be  done  at  all,  in  the  sudden  and 
hurried  manner  required  ;  and  because  if  there  had  been  such  a 
place,  they  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  put  it  to  any  such  use. 
If  the  events  occurred  in  the  temple  itself,  or  within  its  general 
area,  in  one  of  its  courts  or  porches  ;  then  it  is  certain  there  was 
no  possible  way  of  immersing  three  thousand  persons  off  hand, 
about  the  temple  ;  certain,  also,  that  those  having  the  control 
of  the  temple  and  its  sacred  pools,  would  not  have  allowed  them 
to  be  used  for  any  such  purpose,  even  if  they  had  existed,  and 

1  Acts,  ii.  passim. 


532 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD 


[BOOK  V. 


been  sufficient,  and  in  complete  readiness  ;  certain,  also,  that 
the  temper  of  the  Jewish  priests  towards  Christ  whom  they  had 
caused  to  be  crucified  a  little  before,  and  towards  Peter  whom 
they  caused  to  be  arrested  a  little  after,  was  the  furthest  possi¬ 
ble  from  allowing  to  the  Apostles,  of  all  men  in  the  world,  indul¬ 
gences  forbidden  by  their  law  and  their  traditions,  and  which 
those  priests  could  consider  as  nothing  but  a  profane  and  osten¬ 
tatious  desecration  of  the  temple.  The  narrative  contains  no  in¬ 
timation  that  any  change  of  plan  occurred,  preparatory  to  the 
baptism  ;  but  it  proceeds  exactly  as  if  the  three  thousand  per¬ 
sons  were  baptized  forthwith,  and  where  they  were;  and  it  is 
manifest  that  all  the  proprieties  of  the  case,  indicate  the  temple 
of  Jerusalem  as  the  very  spot,  where  the  Holy  Ghost  should  de¬ 
scend  upon  the  infant  Church  of  Christ,  and  where  his  Apostles 
should  inaugurate  that  Church  amidst  just  such  proofs  of  the 
mighty  power  of  God,  as  attended  that  first  Christian  baptism. 
But  the  exigencies  of  the  place  and  circumstances,  as  well  as  the 
narrowness  of  the  time  before  pointed  out,  rendering  one  of  two 
disputed  modes  of  baptism  impossible,  the  presumption  is  irre¬ 
sistible  that  the  other  mode,  which  was  perfectly  practicable  at 
the  place  and  under  the  circumstances,  was  the  one  adopted.  I 
suppose  it  cannot  be  controverted  that  these  events  took  place 
in  the  temple  :  for  in  immediate  connection  with  the  statement 
of  them,  it  is  said  they  continued  daily  with  one  accord  in  the 
temple,1  and  it  is  afterwards  added  that  the  Apostles  ceased  not 
to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ  daily  in  the  temple.2  And 
moreover,  it  is  expressly  stated  that  the  second  great  discourse 
of  Peter,  which  he  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  for  preaching, 
and  under  which  many  believed,  and  the  number  of  the  men  was 
increased  to  about  five  thousand  ;3  was  delivered  in  the  temple, 
in  the  porch  that  is  called  Solomon's.4  It  is  significant  that  while 
it  was  said  many  of  them  that  heard  the  word  believed,  there  is 
no  indication  that  any  were  then  baptized  ;  it  being  eventide, 
and  Peter  and  John  who  had  gone  there  together,  being  put  in 
hold  unto  the  next  day.6  But  even  if  it  were  conceded  that  the 
great  scene  on  Pentecost  did  not  take  place  in  the  temple  ;  or 
if  it  were  conceded  that  although  it  did  take  place  there,  up  to 
the  actual  administration  of  the  Sacrament,  and  then  the  three 

1  Acts,  ii.  46.  2  Acts,  v.  42.  3  Acts,  iv.  4. 

4  Acts,  iii.  1-11.  5  Acts,  iv.  1-4. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  583 

thousand  persons  were  led  away  and  immediately  immersed  some¬ 
where  else  ;  neither  admission  can  beget  a  doubt  as  to  the  mode 
of  their  baptism.  We  have  the  means  of  knowing  more  about 
the  city  of  Jerusalem,  in  all  that  hears  upon  the  present  enquiry, 
than  about  any  decayed  city  that  ever  existed.  And  it  may  be 
pronounced  to  be  certain,  that  nowhere  in  that  city,  on  the  even¬ 
ing  of  that  day,  was  it  possible  for  those  three  thousand  persons 
to  have  been  immersed  off  hand  by  the  Apostles,  without  any 
previous  expectation  or  preparation  for  the  unparalleled  occasion, 
in  the  space  of  time  left  to  them.  It  could  not  have  been  done 
at  the  pool  of  Bethesda,  which  was  near  the  temple  ;  for  besides 
being  in  the  possession  of  the  priests,  and  being  the  common  re¬ 
ceptacle  of  the  filth  from  the  temple  and  of  the  blood  and  offals 
of  the  sacrifices,  it  was  habitually  without  an  adequate  supply 
of  water  for  immersion,  at  the  season  of  Pentecost.  It  could 
not  have  been  done  at  the  brook  Kidron,  a  turbid  rivulet  whose 
channel  passed  along  the  east  side  of  Jerusalem,  and  was  dry 
except  in  winter.  It  could  not  have  been  at  Siloam,  a  small 
fountain  depressed  in  the  rock,  some  distance  from  the  temple, 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Moriah  and  Mount  Zion,  and  from  which 
at  some  distance,  a  small  rill  emerged  with  an  inconstant  flow. 
No,  it  was  not  possible.  It  was  by  no  such  spectacle — by  no 
such  wild  and  confused  attempt  to  display  a  burial  in  water  as 
the  sacramental  commemoration  of  the  mighty  power  of  God, 
that  day  experienced  by  thousands  and  witnessed  by  all  Jerusa¬ 
lem  ;  that  the  Kingdom  of  Messiah  assumed  its  last  and  perfect 
form,  as  a  dispensation  of  the  grace  of  God  unto  salvation. 

(c)  Nature  of  the  Case  itself ,  as  divinely  explained.  There 
is  another  aspect  of  the  subject,  which  seems  to  me  to  have  a 
controlling  influence.  The  relation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  sa¬ 
craments  of  the  New  Testament  Church,  is  as  fundamental  a 
part  of  the  doctrine  of  these  sacraments,  as  the  relation  of  Christ 
himself  to  them.  This  relation  of  the  Spirit  is  more  obvious 
with  regard  to  baptism  than  to  the  Lord’s  Supper.  For  the 
Lord’s  Supper  being  a  special  sacramental  commemoration  of 
Christ’s  propitiatory  sacrifice,  the  relation  of  the  Spirit  to  it  is, 
that  he  uses  it  as  one  of  the  methods  of  applying  to  believers  the 
benefits  of  that  sacrifice.  But  he  does  this  also  with  regard  to 
the  sacrament  of  baptism,  and  the  benefits  signified  and  sealed 
in  it ;  but  does  it  in  such  a  way  as,  in  addition,  to  signify  and 


584  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

seal  bis  own  special  work  in  our  salvation  ;  this  sacrament  being 
a  special  sign  and  seal  of  tbe  purification  wbicb  tbe  Spirit  him¬ 
self  works  in  us.  When  tbe  matter  is  considered  in  this  light,  it 
is  easy  to  see  why  an  immersionist  represents  baptism  as  a  burial, 
and  not  a  purification.  For  if  we  allow  water,  tbe  visible  sign 
in  baptism  and  tbe  visible  purifier  of  all  things  sensible,  to  rep¬ 
resent  tbe  work  of  the  only  purifier  of  all  things  spiritual, 
namely  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  it  is  but  a  short  step  afterwards  to  tbe 
conclusion,  that  tbe  manner  of  applying  the  water  should  sym¬ 
bolize,  and  not  outrage,  tbe  manner  of  tbe  application  of  the 
Spirit.  Tbe  Lord  Jesus  took  bread,  and  broke  it,  and  said,  take, 
eat,  this  is  my  body  wbicb  is  broken  for  you.1  In  like  manner, 
this  is  God’s  Spirit  poured  out  on  us  ;  and  why  should  we  refuse 
to  pour  water,  in  token  thereof,  on  him  that  is  baptized  ? 
Throughout  thirty  years  embraced  in  tbe  Acts  of  tbe  Apostles — 
throughout  all  their  immense  labours — I  believe  it  will  be  impos¬ 
sible  to  find  a  single  expression  or  act,  suggestive  of  any  concep¬ 
tion  of  tbe  work  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  justly  represented  by  the 
immersion  of  the  believer  in  water  ;  while  the  application  of 
water  to  the  believer  justly  represents  the  conception  of  the  work 
of  the  Spirit,  which  the  uniform  language  of  Scripture  suggests. 
No  more  decisive  example  of  this  need  be  sought,  than  is  found 
in  the  narrative  of  the  events  of  Pentecost  ;  in  which  numerous 
expressions  occur  illustrating  what  I  insist  on.  Thus  :  Suddenly 
there  came  a  sound  from  heaven — cloven  tongues  as  of  fire  ap- 
pearcd  unto  them  and  sat  upon  them — they  wer q  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost — they  spake  with  other  tongues  as  the  Spirit  gave 
them  utterance — the  whole  was  the  result  of  God’s  Spirit  poured 
out  upon  them — which,  by  special  promise  of  the  Father  was 
poured  out  that  day — the  Lord  Jesus  having  received ,  that  pro¬ 
mise  had  shed  forth  that  Spirit  which  was  to  be  poured  out  on 
all  flesh — they  were  pricked  in  their  heart — Peter  told  them  they 
might  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost — they  gladly  received 
the  word — and  were  baptized.2  All  this  appertains  to  the  narra¬ 
tive  of  the  first  baptism,  after  the  advent  of  the  Spirit.  Is  it 
capable  of  belief  that  the  sacrament  which,  on  the  spot  responded 
to  it  all,  was  so  administered  as  to  conceal,  confuse,  and  contra¬ 
dict  the  conception  constantly  suggested  by  the  narrative  ;  when 
it  might  be  so  administered  as  to  conform  to  it,  illustrate  it,  and 

1  1  Cor.,  xi.  23,  24.  8  Acts,  ii.  passim. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  585 

enforce  it  !  That  a  sacrament  with  water,  after  all  this,  did  not 
mean  purification,  but  did  mean  burial  ?  That  it  did  neither 
signify  nor  seal  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  then  operating  gra¬ 
ciously  in  the  hearts  of  thousands,  and  miraculously  before  the 
eyes  of  thousands  besides,  and  therefore  water  must  not  be  ap¬ 
plied  to  men  ;  but  did  signify  and  seal  the  burial  of  the  body  of 
Jesus,  and  therefore  men  must  be  immersed  in  water  ?  Upon  a 
careful  consideration  of  this  immense  and  decisive  example,  I  do 
not  see  a  single  circumstance  compatible  with  the  notion  that 
these  three  thousand  persons  were  immersed  by  the  Apostles ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  it  does  appear  to  me  to  be  certain  that  they 
were  baptized  by  affusion — that  is  by  sprinkling  or  pouring  water 
upon  them.  Still  however,  I  repeat,  that  I  consider  the  perver¬ 
sion  of  the  sacrament  from  its  true  nature  and  end,  and  the 
schism  wrought  in  the  Church  of  Christ  in  support  of  that  per¬ 
version,  far  graver  evils  than  a  simple  error  as  to  the  mode  of 
using  the  sacramental  element.  For  an  error  as  to  the  mode  does 
not  necessarily  annul  the  sacrament  itself,  nor  necessarily  produce 
schism.  But  schism  is  sinful  of  itself ;  and  the  perversion  of  the 
sacraments  in  their  absolute  nature,  attacks  the  essence  of  faith, 
and  the  life  of  the  Church. 

3.  Next  in  importance  to  the  great  example  which  I  have 
considered,  is  the  baptism  of  the  company  of  G-entiles  in  the  city 
of  Ceesarea  ;  concerning  which  the  Scriptures  give  so  full  an  ac¬ 
count.  By  it,  the  right  of  the  Gentile  world  to  share  in  the  life 
and  immortality  brought  to  light  by  the  Gospel,  was  miracu¬ 
lously  established,  and  openly  sealed.  By  the  events  of  Pente¬ 
cost  the  Gospel  Church  is  fully  endowed  with  the  Holy  Ghost — 
and  commences  her  sublime  course.  By  the  events  at  Cmsarea, 
eight  years  afterwards,  she  enters  upon  the  greatness  of  her 
work,  and  is  forced  to  understand  that  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  is 
to  be  preached  unto  the  Gentiles,  and  believed  on  throughout  the 
world.1  Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me,  said  the  Saviour  to  the 
Apostles,  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria, 
and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.2  And  now  they  had 
borne  their  testimony  to  Jerusalem,  and  Judea,  and  Samaria  ;s 
and  the  time  had  come  to  commence  the  world  work.  We 
have  seen  the  majestic  figure  of  Peter  in  the  very  front  of  the 
great  scene  when  the  kingdom  of  heaven  Avas  opened  to  the 

1  1  Tim.,  iii.  16.  2  A.cts,  i.  8.  3  Acte,  ix.  31. 


586  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

Jews  ;  and  now  we  see  him  chosen  of  Christ,  according  to  his 
wonderful  promise  to  him,1  to  open  the  Kingdom  to  the  Gentile 
world.  So  Peter  understood  it ;  and  none  could  gainsay  it.  For 
when  he  recounted  what  he  had  done,  they  of  the  circumcision 
held  their  peace,  and  glorified  God,  saying,  Then  hath  God  also 
to  the  Gentiles  granted  repentance  unto  life.2  In  the  arduous 
years  which  had  intervened,  and  during  which  such  wonderful 
results  had  followed  the  labours  of  the  early  Christians  ;  so  far 
was  this  great  Apostle  from  losing  the  impression  of  the  events 
of  Pentecost,  that  the  very  declaration  of  the  Saviour  which 
filled  his  mind  that  day,  and  which  he  expounded  to  the  Jews 
who  crowded  the  temple,  filled  his  mind  again  as  he  stood  in  the 
palace  of  the  Roman  soldier  at  Caesarea,  and  expounded  to  the 
Gentile  multitude  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  I  remem¬ 
bered,  said  he,  the  word  of  the  Lord  how  he  said,  John  indeed 
baptized  with  water,  but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy 
Ghost.3  God  had  shown  both  to  him  and  Cornelius,  that  the 
whole  matter  was  of  his  own  divine  ordination  ;  and  as  Peter 
uttered  the  words  of  eternal  life,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  as  he  had  fallen  on  the  Jews,  and  the  same  miraculous  gifts 
were  bestowed  upon  them.  Well  might  Peter  demand  of  those 
brethren  of  the  circumcision,  who  afterwards  contended  with  him, 
Forasmuch  then  as  God  gave  them  the  like  gifts  as  he  did  unto 
us,  who  believed  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  what  was  I,  that  I 
could  withstand  God  ?4  He  commanded  them  to  be  baptized  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord.5  And  now  I  will  gather  from  this  great 
example,  the  matter  and  manner  of  the  baptism. 

4.  ( a )  Matters  common  to  the  Baptism  on  Pentecost ,  and  that 
at  Caesarea.  There  is  so  much  that  is  common  to  the  two  ear¬ 
liest  Apostolic  administrations  of  Jewish  and  Gentile  bap¬ 
tism  in  the  Christian  Church,  that  much  of  what  I  have  said 
concerning  that,  applies  with  equal  force  to  this.  There  are  two 
inspired  accounts  of  this  baptism  in  Caesarea  :  one  written  by 
Luke,  the  other  given  in  the  words  of  Peter  himself;0  and  a 
third,  but  brief  statement  of  the  case  by  that  Apostle,  when  the 
memorable  decision  concerning  Gentile  circumcision  was  ren¬ 
dered.7  Not  only  are  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the 

1  Matt.,  xvi.  19.  8  Acts,  xi.  18.  3  Acts,  xi.  16  ;  ii.  33;  i.  5. 

4  Acts,  xi.  17.  5  Acts,  x.  48.  6  Acts,  x. passim;  xi.  1-18. 

7  Acts,  xv.  7-11. 


587 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 

reality  and  nature  of  his  gifts  continually  insisted  on  ;  but  the 
manner  also — his  being  given  to  us,  poured  out  on  us,  his  de¬ 
scending  on  us,  filling  us — is  constantly  stated.  And  throughout 
this  transaction,  the  connection  between  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
and  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  and  between  the  nature  of  the 
application  of  the  one  inwardly  and  the  other  outwardly  to  us  ; 
is  as  clearly  stated  and  sustained,  as  I  have  shown  it  is  in  the  ac¬ 
count  of  the  events  of  Pentecost.  In  this  case  as  in  the  previ¬ 
ous  one,  the  idea  that  baptism  is  a  sacramental  representation  of 
the  burial  of  Jesus,  and  must  be  administered  by  burying  us  in 
water,  is  wholly  destitute  of  any  support.  This  case,  therefore, 
like  the  other,  presents  two  conclusive  lines  of  proof;  one  nega¬ 
tive,  showing  the  total  absence  of  everything  suggestive  of,  or 
consistent  with,  that  conception  of  this  sacrament  and  its  nature 
and  end,  which  immersion  exacts  ;  the  other  positive,  showing 
the  existence  of  everything  suggestive  of,  and  consistent  with,  that 
conception  of  it  which  requires  it  to  be  administered  with  water 
and  not  into  water.  That  is,  upon  any  principle  of  symbolism 
immersion  is  necessarily  confuted  ;  because  it  is  neither  a  symbol 
of  any  known  sacrament,  nor  of  any  known  act  of  God,  or  grace 
in  man.  But  the  correspondence  between  the  symbol  and  the 
thing  sacramentally  symbolized,  is  assumed  as  indispensable, 
when  our  immersion  is  declared  to  be  symbolical  of  the  burial 
of  Jesus.  Therefore,  baptism  being  symbolical,  it  is  impossible 
that  immersion  can  be  the  mode.  On  the  other  hand,  to  purify 
men  is  the  work  of  God,  and  to  be  pure  is  a  grace  in  man  ;  and 
the  purifying  Spirit  is  poured  out — and  the  application  of  puri¬ 
fying  water  to  us,  is  a  sacramental  symbol.  And  this  is  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  first  Gentile,  as  well  as  of  the  first  Jewish  baptism 
by  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord. 

( h )  Circumstances  peculiar  to  this  Example.  As  in  the  pre¬ 
ceding  case  there  were  many  circumstances,  some  of  which  have 
been  considered,  which  were  decisive  of  the  nature  of  the  sacra¬ 
ment  and  of  the  nature  of  its  administration  ;  so  in  this  case, 
besides  those  circumstances  common  to  it  and  the  previous  ex¬ 
ample,  there  are  others  peculiar  to  it,  which  throw  much  light 
on  the  principles  and  acts  involved  in  it.  Of  all  the  baptisms 
administered  by  the  Apostles,  this  one  alone  seems  to  have  been 
attended  with  great  previous  deliberation,  to  have  been  adminis¬ 
tered  under  controlling  divine  guidance  against  the  previous  scru- 


588 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  Y. 


pies  and  strong  personal  convictions  of  the  Apostle,  to  have  been 
seriously  called  in  question  after  it  was  celebrated,  and  to  have 
been  ratified  after  deliberate  consideration.  Indeed  the  princi¬ 
ple  on  which  it  rested  according  to  the  decision  of  the  Apostles  and 
Elders,  by  its  working  finally  subverted  all  that  was  temporary 
and  special  in  the  religions  institutions  of  Moses.1  Cornelius,  a 
Roman  centurion  doing  military  duty  at  Cassarea,  at  that  time 
the  civil  metropolis  of  Palestine,  a  devout  man  and  one  that 
feared  God  with  all  his  house,  generous  in  alms  and  constant  in 
prayer  ;  having  been  instructed  in  a  vision  by  an  Angel  of  God, 
sent  a  devout  soldier  and  two  household  servants  to  Joppa,  with 
a  message  to  Simon  Peter,  that  God  required  him  to  come  and 
tell  him  words  whereby  he  and  all  his  house  should  be  saved.3 
The  day  following  the  vision  of  Cornelius  at  Caesarea,  Peter  had 
a  vision  still  more  remarkable  at  Joppa,  the  import  of  which  he 
did  not  then  understand  ;  but  the  great  and  general  sense  of 
which  God  himself  explained  to  be,  that  what  he  has  cleansed 
is  no  longer  common  or  unclean.  While  he  still  meditated  on 
the  vision,  the  messengers  of  Cornelius  had  arrived,  and  found  the 
house  of  Simon  the  Tanner,  and  asked  for  Peter  ;  and  the  Spirit 
had  told  Peter  that  the  men  were  there  and  that  he  had  sent 
them,  and  bade  him  go  with  them,  nothing  doubting.  Instructed 
by  the  messengers  from  Cornelius  concerning  him,  and  concern¬ 
ing  the  vision  he  had,  pondering  the  vision  he  himself  had,  acting 
under  the  immediate  command  of  the  Spirit ;  he  went  to  Joppa 
expressly  to  teach  the  Gentiles  the  way  of  salvation  through  Jesus 
Christ.  Accompanied  by  six  brethren  of  the  circumcision  from 
Joppa,  and  the  three  messengers  of  Cornelius,  Peter  journeyed  to 
Caesarea  during  the  two  following  days  ;  ample  time  and  oppor¬ 
tunity  being  thus  afforded  him,  for  conference  with  God,  with  his 
own  soul,  with  his  brethren  of  the  circumcision,  and  with  the  de¬ 
vout  Gentiles  of  their  company,  touching  the  wonders  of  divine 
love  and  mercy,  which  none  of  them  could  doubt,  were  to  be  dis¬ 
closed.  Entering  Caesarea  on  the  second  day,  he  found  at  the 
house  of  Cornelius,  beside  his  ov'n  household,  his  kinsmen  and 
bis  near  friends  ;  a  multitude  of  Gentiles  gathered  by  the  Gen¬ 
tile  soldier  to  meet  Peter,  and  now  awaiting  him  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  fourth  day  after  the  vision  of  Cornelius,  and  of  the 

1  Acts,  xi.  1-18;  x.  passim;  xv.  passim. 

9  Acts,  x.  1-8,  30-33;  xi.  13,  14. 


CHAP.  XXIX.] 


SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM. 


589 


third  clay  after  the  vision  of  Peter.1  Whatever,  therefore, 
Peter  may  have  said  and  done  in  the  matter  of  this  baptism, 
was  in  a  very  peculiar  manner,  with  the  divine  approbation. 
Moreover,  there  was  no  possibility  of  his  doing  anything  by  sur¬ 
prise  ;  for  he  had  ample  and  repeated  warnings  both  of  God  and 
man,  of  the  nature  of  the  service  that  lay  before  him.  Nor  yet 
of  his  doing  anything,  the  manner  of  which  would  be  unusual  or 
amiss  ;  for  it  was  eight  years  since  Pentecost — years  to  him  full 
of  labour  and  full  of  fruit  in  the  whole  work  of  an  Apostle.  In 
whatever  way,  therefore,  he  baptized  all  them  who  heard  the  word 
in  the  palace  of  Cornelius,  that  undoubtedly  is  the  way  in  which 
he  and  his  brethren  had  baptized  the  converted  Jews  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost — and  had  baptized  every  penitent  believer  in  Jesus, 
in  Jerusalem,  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria ;  and  that  beyond 
question,  is  the  way  in  which  every  Gentile  convert  in  all  nations, 
and  through  all  ages,  ought  to  be  baptized. 

(c)  Its  actual  Administration.  Peter  said,  at  once,  to  the 
Gen  til  es  who  awaited  him,  Ye  know  that  what  I  have  done  is 
unlawful  to  me — for  I  am  a  Jew  and  ye  are  Gentiles.  But  I 
have  done  it  because  God  hath  showed  me  that  I  should  not  call 
any  man  common  or  unclean.  For  what  intent,  therefore,  have 
ye  sent  for  me  ?  Cornelius  recounted  his  vision,  and  what  he 
had  done  in  consequence  of  it  ;  and  telling  Peter  he  had  done 
well  in  obeying  God,  added  solemnly,  Now  therefore  are  we  all 
here  present  before  God,  to  hear  all  things  that 'are  commanded 
thee  of  God.  As  Peter  began  to  speak,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on 
all  them  that  heard  the  word.  He  saw,  and  confessed,  that  God 
is  no  respecter  of  persons  ;  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  of  all.  He 
preached  Jesus  to  them — his  word— his  sacrifice— his  resurrec¬ 
tion — remission  of  sins  through  him — eternal  judgment  by  him. 
In  two  respects  the  work  was  more  remarkable  than  even  that 
at  Pentecost  ;  lor  here  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  who  heard  the 
word,  and  his  miraculous  gifts  were  manifest  in  them  before  they 
were  baptized.  All  the  glory,  all  the  power  of  Pentecost,  nay 
the  very  emotions  and  the  very  Scriptures  came  back  to  the 
illustrious  man.  Then  remembered  I,  says  he,  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  how  he  said,  John  indeed  baptized  with  water  ;  but  ye  shall 
be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  his  humble  and  be¬ 
lieving  conclusion  was,  What  was  I,  that  I  should  withstand 

i  Acts,  x.  19-27  ;  xi.  11-14. 


590  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

God  ?  And  bis  open  demand  was,  Can  any  man  forbid  water, 
that  these  should  be  baptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  well  as  we  ?  No  man  dared  to  forbid  water.  And  he 
commanded  them  to  he  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.1  Such 
is  the  narrative.  This  company  of  Gentiles,  these  friends,  kin¬ 
dred,  and  household  of  a  Roman  military  officer,  gathered  in  his 
palace  to  hear  the  Gospel,  are  converted  to  God  and  ought  to  he 
baptized.  Has  any  one  authority  to  forbid  it  ?  What  says  the 
centurion  ?  What  say  the  high  Roman  dignitaries,  his  friends 
and  kinsmen  there  present  ?  What  say  the  astonished  Jewish 
brethren  from  Joppa  ?  No  one — a  single  word  !  Then  let  them 
be  baptized — is  the  command  of  the  Apostle.  Is  there  any  sug¬ 
gestion  to  leave  the  room  they  occupied  ?  Is  there  any  sugges¬ 
tion  about  a  pool,  bath,  pond,  river,  or  anything  of  the  sort  ? 
There  must  be  water,  for  without  it  there  can  be  no  baptism  : 
but  is  there  the  slightest  hint  that  there  must  be  water  enough 
to  immerse  them,  else  they  cannot  be  baptized  ?  Is  there  any 
hesitation,  any  delay,  any  confusion,  by  reason  of  a  sudden  and 
unforeseen  demand  on  Cornelius  for  a  large  and#  deep  body  of 
water  ; — or  does  not  the  irresistible  impression  of  the  scene  in¬ 
dicate  a  demand  for  a  small  portion  of  water,  for  instant  use  ? 
Is  there  any  intimation  of  any  spectacle,  any  procession  through 
the  streets  of  Csesarea,  the  Roman  centurion  with  his  near 
friends,  his  kindred,  his  devout  soldiers,  and  his  domestic  ser¬ 
vants,  led  by  Pet'er  and  six  Jews  from  Joppa  to  a  public  immer¬ 
sion — all  speaking  strange  tongues,  and  all  Cassarea  filled  with 
wonder  P  Nothing  of  the  sort :  nothing  that  can  be  tortured 
into  correspondence  with  any  such  ideas.  They  are  the  growth 
of  other  ages — the  product  of  a  state  of  mind  far  different  from 
that  of  the  Apostles  of  the  Lord.  However  great,  perhaps  unex¬ 
pected,  may  be  the  issue  of  this  Gentile  baptism,  it  is  plainly  the 
will  of  God  that  it  should  be  celebrated  ;  and  it  is  done.  Done 
there — then  ;  ivith  water,  not  into  it ;  not  as  a  sacramental  burial, 
but  as  a  sacramental  purification,  commemorating  the  blood  of 
Jesus  sprinkled  upon  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Done  as  it 
was  in  the  recorded  case  of  an  Apostle,  even  the  great  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles,  when  Ananias  went  to  him  at  the  house  of  Ju¬ 
das,  in  Damascus,  and  put  his  hands  on  him  and  said,  Brothei 
Saul,  the  Lord,  even  J esus,  that  appeared  to  thee  in  the  way  as 

1  Acts,  x.  28-48;  xi.  12-17;  xv.  7-11. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  591 

thou  earnest,  hath  sent  me,  that  thou  miglitest  receive  thy  sight, 
and  be  tilled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  immediately  there  fell 
from  his  eyes  as  it  had  been  scales  ;  and  he  received  his  sight 
forthwith  and  arose  and  was  baptized.*1  Done  as  it  was  in  the  case 
of  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch,  with  whom  Philip  riding  through  the 
desert  between  J erusalem  and  Gaza,  came  to  some  water  ( em  n 
vdup)  •  and  when  both  of  them  had  gone,  down  from  the  chariot 
to  the  water,  Philip  baptized  him  on  the  wayside  ;  and  the 
Eunuch,  no  notice  being  taken  of  his  condition  after  his  supposed 
immersion,  went  on  his  way  rejoicing.3  Done  as  it  was  at  Phil¬ 
ippi,  when  Paul  and  Silas  were  beaten  and  imprisoned  for  casting 
out  a  devil  ;  and  at  midnight  they  prayed  and  sang  praises  unto 
God,  and  a  great  earthquake  shook  the  foundations  of  the  prison, 
and  its  doors  were  burst  open,  and  every  one's  bands  were  loosed, 
and  the  keeper  of  the  prison  seeing  how  things  were,  would  have 
killed  himself ;  but  Paul  saved  his  life  and  then  sought  to  save 
his  soul  and  the  souls  of  all  his  house,  through  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  preached  unto  them.  In  whom  believing,  he  and  all  his 
were  baptized  straightway ;  baptized,  that  is,  in  the  prison,  after 
midnight  and  before  it  was  day.3  Surely  a  wondrous  night  scene 
in  a  Roman  prison,  attending  the  first  planting  of  the  Gospel 
Church  in  the  land  of  Japhet,  eighteen  centuries  ago.4 

5.  We  have,  then,  examples  of  various  kinds  ;  and  I  have 
considered,  more  or  less  carefully,  the  conspicuous  examples 
under  each  kind.  The  period  embraced  is,  probably,  more  than 
twenty  years  ;  those  eventful  years  which  followed  the  complete 
unction  of  the  Apostles,  the  sublime  proof  of  the  glorification 
of  Jesus,  and  of  the  commencement  of  the  Dispensation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  great  example  of  Pentecost,  and  the  great  ex¬ 
ample  of  Csesarea,  one  inaugurating  the  Gospel  Church,  the 
other  making  it  palpable  that  God  had  granted  unto  the  Gentiles 
rejientance  unto  life,  have  been  gone  over  with  much  particu¬ 
larity  ;  for  when  these  two  examples  are  thoroughly  considered, 
all  that  belongs  to  baptism  must  respect  what  they  determine. 
I  have  added,  very  briefly,  the  remarkable  case  of  household 

*  Avt/3?ieil>eTe  ^apaxpr]fj.a  Kat  avaarag  e^aiznode.  This  Greek  is  even  more  deci¬ 
sive  than  our  English  version  of  it,  that  Paul  was  baptized  in  the  place  where  he  rose 
up,  and  that  he  rose  up  to  be  baptized.  Standing  up  to  be  baptized,  like  Paul,  is  the 
common  mode  of  baptism. 

1  Acts,  ix.  17,  18. 

s  Acts,  xvi.  25-35. 


2  Acts,  viii.  26-38. 
*  Acts,  xvi.  9-12. 


592  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

baptism  by  Paul  and  Silas  at  Philippi  ;  and,  also  briefly,  two 
conspicuous ’cases  of  strictly  private  baptism,  that,  namely,  of 
Paul  by  Ananias,  and  that  of  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch  by  Philip. 
Peter  most  conspicuously,  after  him  Paul,  but  in  the  wide  sweep 
of  the  period  and  events,  all  the  Apostles  and  the  whole  Church 
of  Christ  in  its  origin  and  during  its  first  -age,  stand  before  us. 
After  so  many  centuries  and  amidst  so  great  conflict  of  human 
opinion,  these  all  recall  us  to  the  simple  and  indisputable  facts 
of  the  inspired  record.  They  all  demand  of  us  the  exercise  of 
our  best  judgment  and  our  spiritual  insight,  and  afterwards  our 
honest  and  enlightened  verdict,  according  to  the  law  and  the 
testimony  ;  for  if  we  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  God  has 
told  us,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  us.1  For  my  part,  I 
never  gave  a  verdict  of  this  kind,  after  more  careful  examination, 
or  with  deeper  conviction  of  its  truth.  It  seems  beyond  doubt 
that  the  Scriptures  do  teach  that  Baptism  with  water,  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is 
a  permanent  sacrament  of  the  Christian  Church,  wherein  the 
ingrafting  of  the  believer  into  Christ,  his  purification  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  pardon  of  his  sins,  are  signified  and  sealed 
to  all  who  worthily  receive  it  ;  that  it  is  the  undeniable  right  of 
the  infant  seed  of  believers  to  have  this  sacrament  administered 
to  them,  and  the  sacred  duty  of  believing  parents  to  have  it 
done  ;  that  while  any  endurable  mistake  in  the  mode  of  admin¬ 
istering  this  sacrament  does  not  nullify  the  ordinance,  the  only 
true  mode  of  administration  is  that  intended  by  Christ,  practised 
by  his  Apostles,  and  recorded  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  which  is 
by  a  minister  of  the  word,  applying  the  water  to  the  subject,  by 
pouring  or  sprinkling  it  on  him  :  and,  finally,  that  true  baptism 
being  once  administered,  must  not  be  repeated  under  any  cir¬ 
cumstances  whatever.  On  the  other  hand,  I  find  nothing  in  the 
Scriptures  to  warrant  the  assertion  that  there  is  any  sacramental 
commemoration  by  the  mode  of  baptism  of  the  burial  of  the 
body  of  Jesus,  nothing  to  warrant  the  practice  of  immersion  in 
the  administration  of  baptism,  nothing  to  warrant  the  refusal  of 
baptism  to  the  infant  seed  of  believers,  nothing  to  warrant  the 
addition  of  any  ceremonies,  any  adjuncts,  any  powers,  any  prin¬ 
ciples,  by  any  authority  under  heaven,  to  this  sacrament.  As 
held  forth  in  the  Scriptures,  and  as  practised  by  the  Apostles, 

1  Isaiah,  viii.  20. 


CHAP.  XXIX.]  SACRAMENT  OF  BAPTISM.  593 

the  sacrament  of  Baptism  is  a  most  simple,  complete,  spiritual, 
and  glorious  ordinance  of  God  ;  and  whenever  the  followers  of 
Christ  content  themselves  with  it  as  he  instituted  it,  and  his 
Apostles  understood  and  practised  it,  they  find  that  it  is  still, 
both  a  divine  sign  of  God’s  eternal  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  a 
divine  seal  of  its  great  and  precious  promises. 
vol.  n.  38 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


THE  SACRAMENT  OF  THE  LORD’S  SUPPER:  CONSIDERED  IN  ITS 
INSTITUTION,  NATURE,  USE,  AND  END. 

I.  1.  Relation  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  to  the  more  ancient 
Sacrament  of  the  Passover. — 2.  Divine  account  of  its  Institution  by  Christ. — 
3.  Its  General  Nature  and  ordinary  Use,  as  taught  in  the  Scriptures. — 4.  Matter 
and  Elements  of  this  Sacrament ;  what  it  signifies,  and  of  what  it  is  a  Seal. — 
II.  1.  The  blood  of  the  New  Testament. — 2.  The  Broken  Body  of  Christ. — 3.  The 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  given  for  us  on  the  Cross,  and  sacramentally  given  to 
us. — 4.  The  Cup  the  Communion  of  the  Blood,  and  the  Bread  the  Communion  of 
the  Body  of  Christ. — 5.  The  sense  in  which  the  Bread  is  the  Body  of  Christ,  and 
the  Cup  is  the  blood  of  Christ. — 6.  Efficacy  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  in 
our  Sacramental  Nourishment. — I.  Relation  of  this  Sacrament  to  the  Worship, 
the  Word,  and  the  Spirit  of  God. — 8.  Relation  of  this  continual  showing  of  the 
Li  rd’s  Death,  to  his  Second  Coming. — III.  1.  Strict  Relation  of  Christ’s  sacra¬ 
mental  action  and  Word,  to  the  Nature  and  Definition  of  this  Ordinance. — 2.  Re¬ 
lation  of  this  Sacrament  to  the  whole  Question  of  the  Church. 

I. — 1.  How  great  was  the  honour  put  on  the  Jewish  dispensa¬ 
tion,  that  the  Son  of  God  scrupulously  observed  every  ordinance 
of  it  !  Not  only  did  he  obey  the  whole  law  of  commandments 
contained  in  ordinances  peculiar  to  it ;  hut  he  respected  the  man¬ 
ner  of  use  required  by  it,  of  those  institutions  more  ancient  and 
permanent  than  itself,  upon  which  it  had  been  ingrafted,  and 
which  it  had  in  some  degree  modified.  He  did  not  come  to  destroy 
but  to  fulfil,  the  law  and  the  prophets.  And  his  sermon  on  the 
mount  is,  to  a  great  extent,  a  development  of  this  great  and  per¬ 
vading  truth  in  its  application  not  only  to  the  Mosaic  Institutions, 
but  to  the  whole  compass  of  prophecy,  to  the  true  nature  of  the 
moral  law.  to  all  the  duties  of  life,  and  to  the  way  of  salvation  and 
the  pursuit  thereof  by  men.  Thus  it  was  in  connection  with  his  last 
celebration  of  the  great  annual  sacrament  of  the  Passover,  that  he 
instituted  the  Gospel  Sacrament  of  his  own  broken  body  and  shed 
blood.  By  means  of  that  seal  of  God’s  special  covenant  with  them — • 
the  heirs  of  promise,  during  the  Mosaic  dispensation  of  the  Cov¬ 
enant  of  Grace,  and  back  into  the  closing  years  of  the  Patriarchal 


CHAP.  XXX.] 


THE  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


595 


dispensation  of  it,  had  kept  alive  the  remembrance  of  their  bond¬ 
age  in  Egypt  and  their  miraculous  deliverance  from  it  ;  and  had 
kept  alive  also  the  sense  of  their  bondage  under  sin,  of  which  their 
bondage  in  Egypt  was  so  sharp  a  type,  and  of  their  everlasting 
deliverance  through  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world,  to  whom  every  paschal  lamb  slain  during  so  many 
centuries  had  continually  directed  their  faith.1  It  is  Christ  our 
passover  sacrificed  for  us, — the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  by  whose  blood  not  only  all  the  first  born  who  were 
saved  alive  in  Egypt,  but  every  one  of  the  first  born  whose  names 
are  written  in  heaven,  have  been  redeemed.2  And  so  from  year 
to  year  through  all  generations,  they  kept  their  feast  of  unleavened 
breed,  and  ate  by  households  with  bitter  herbs,  the  lamb  slain 
by  the  whole  assembly  of  the  congregation  of  Israel.  And  so 
Christ  with  his  Apostles,  his  immediate  attendants,  ate  the  pass- 
over  the  night  before  his  crucifixion.  And  when  the  supper  was 
ended,  and  Judas  had  been  exposed  and  had  departed  to  betray 
him,  he  instituted  that  sacrament  in  bread  and  wine  which  super¬ 
seded  the  ancient  sacrament ;  commencing  where  it  closed,  by 
the  same  authority  which  had  created  and  sustained  it  for  so 
many  centuries.  Thus  it  has  continued  to  the  present  hour — 
according  to  his  command.  The  Gospel  Church  by  its  congre¬ 
gations,  by  that  organic  manifestation  which  is  elemental  to  its 
form  of  the  Church  visible  on  earth — does  and  has  always  done, 
essentially  what  the  ancient  Church  bv  its  families  had  done  year 
by  year  from  the  night  before  its  departure  out  of  Egypt.  And 
so  it  will  do — attesting  on  one  side  the.  sacrifice,  the  faithfulness, 
and  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord — and  on  the  other  the  ruin 
and  the  redemption  of  fallen  man,  till  the  Son  of  man  shall 
come.*  The  difference  lies  in  this,  that  the  ancient  sacrament 
preceded  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  while  the  present 
sacrament  is  immediately  connected  with  his  crucifixion.  The 
substance,  namely  Christ  and  redemption  through  his  sacrifice,  is 
the  same  ;  the  form  is  changed  to  make  its  correspondence  com¬ 
plete  with  the  stale  of  grace  and  truth  under  the  Gospel  Dispen¬ 
sation. 

2.  There  are  three  detailed  accounts  preserved  of  what  oc- 

1  John,  i.  29;  Rev.,  v.  6-9;  Exod..  xii.  passim. 

2  1  Cor.,  v.  7  ;  Heb.,  xii.  23;  Exod.,  xii.  12,  13;  Rev.,  xiii.  8. 

*  John,  xiv.  3  ;  xxi.  22;  Acts,  i  11;  iii.  19-21;  1  Cor.,  iv.  5;  xv.  25,  26. 


596 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  Y. 


curred  at  the  institution  of  this  sacrament,  and  of  the  circum¬ 
stances  immediately  connected  with  it  :  one  by  the  Apostle 
Matthew,  the  other  two  by  the  Evangelists  Mark  and  Luke.1  To 
these  the  Apostle  Paul  has  added  a  distinct  but  condensed  state¬ 
ment  of  what  Christ  said  and  did  concerning  the  sacrament  when 
he  instituted  it,  with  which  he  has  connected  the  commands  of 
the  Lord  to  him  concerning  the  proper  celebration  of  it.2  The 
Apostle  John,  whose  Gospel  was  written  long  afterwards,  devotes 
Ids  narrative  of  what  occurred  at  the  Last  Supper,  chiefly  to 
circumstances  which  had  been  omitted  or  only  partially  stated  in 
the  previous  accounts.  He  occupies  five  chapters  of  the  twenty- 
one  which  compose  his  Gospel,  with  the  acts  and  the  teachings  of 
Jesus,  during  the  few  hours  which  elapsed  from  the  ending  of  the 
paschal  supper,  to  his  going  forth  with  his  disciples  over  the 
brook  Cedron  to  the  garden  of  Gethsemane3 — where  he  endured 
his  agony — was  arrested  during  the  night — crucified  the  day  fol¬ 
lowing,  and  already  dead  by  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  In  a 
very  peculiar  manner  John  has  preserved  the  mind  of  the  Lord 
concerning  this  wonderful  ordinance ;  for  besides  what  has  just 
been  intimated,  the  full  and  clear  account  of  the  relation  be¬ 
tween  our  inward  spiritual  life,  and  our  participation  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,  is  preserved  by  him  in  the  words  of  Christ 
in  an  earlier  chapter  of  his  Gospel.4  Besides  these  numerous 
and  explicit  statements,  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  teach 
nothing  more  clearly  than  the  whole  nature,  and  use  of  the  Pass- 
over  ;  and  the  allusions  of  the  Hew  Testament  Scriptures  to  the 
nature  and  use  of  the  Lord’s  Supper  are  constant.  It  may  be 
justly  asserted,  therefore,  that  nothing  but  voluntary  ignorance, 
the  seductions  of  false  teachers,  and  the  delusions  of  the  Devil, 
can  prevent  any  one  who  has  the  word  of  God  in  his  hands,  from 
knowing  all  that  is  needful  for  us  to  know  concerning  this  solemn, 
affecting,  and  powerful  ordinance  of  God.  Of  this  let  all  judge 
from  the  following  divine  statement  of  the  institution  of  this  sa¬ 
crament,  which  is  one  of  the  four  to  which  I  have  alluded  :  For 
I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that  which  I  have  delivered  unto 
you.  That  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  he  was  be¬ 
trayed,  took  bread  :  and  when  he  had  given  thanks  he  brake  it, 
and  said,  Take,  eat :  this  is  my  body,  which  is  broken  for  you  : 

1  Matt.,  xxvi.  1-35  ;  Mark,  xiv.  1-25 ;  Luke,  xxii.  1-38.  2  1  Cor.,  xi.  20-34. 

3  John,  xiii. — xviii.  4  John,  vi.  2C-71. 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


597 


CHAP.  XXX.] 

this  do  in  remembrance  of  me.  After  the  same  manner  also  he 
took  the  cup,  when  he  had  supped,  saying,  This  cup  is  the  New 
Testament  in  my  blood  :  this  do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  re¬ 
membrance  of  me.  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink 
this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death,  till  he  come.1 

3.  From  the  great  and  precious  mass  of  divine  instruction 
distributed  throughout  the  word  of  God,  and  most  especially 
throughout  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  I  will  endeavour  to 
collect  into  a  connected  statement,  as  brief  as  possible,  the  mat¬ 
ters  which  are  taught  us  by  the  Lord  and  which  appertain  to  his 
people,  concerning  the  nature  and  use  of  this  sacrament.  As  I 
have  already  shown,  it  was  instituted  by  Christ  himself,  in  imme¬ 
diate  connection  with  the  last  passover  he  celebrated,  and  in  place 
of  it,  as  one  of  the  two  sacraments  of  his  Church  ;  the  other,  as 
I  have  shown,  being  instituted  by  him  after  his  resurrection,  in 
the  place  of  circumcision.  This,  instituted  the  night  before  his 
crucifixion,  had  immediate  relation  to  it,  and  to  the  benefits 
which  would  result  from  it  to  his  disciples  :  just  as  the  other, 
instituted  immediately  before  his  ascent  finally  into  heaven,  had 
immediate  relation  to  the  benefits  which  his  glorification  would 
secure  to  his  disciples — chiefly  the  Holy  Ghost  purchased  by  his 
blood,  and  to  be  sent  with  power,  as  his  great  witness,  and  the 
sole  efficient  agent  in  our  salvation.  This  sacrament,  therefore, 
like  the  other  is  perpetual  :  for  as  long  as  sinners  are  saved  by 
grace,  the  work  of  Christ  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  will  be  the 
form  in  which  that  grace  is  manifested — and  these  sacraments 
will  be  signs  and  seals  of  the  covenant  through  which  it  flows  to 
us.  This  do,  said  Christ  concerning  this  sacrament,  in  remem¬ 
brance  of  me.  Baptize  all  nations — was  his  command  concerning 
the  other.  All  power  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth  :  Lo 
I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  :  was  his 
declaration,  and  his  promise  concerning  the  whole  work  commit¬ 
ted  to  his  Apostles.  Unlike  the  other  sacrament  which  cannot 
be  lawfully  repeated,  as  I  have  shown — this  must  be  often  re¬ 
peated  :  must  be,  not  only  from  its  nature  and  the  nature  of  the 
blessings  it  confers,  as  will  be  shown,  but  from  the  intention 
expressed  by  Christ  at  its  institution.  How  often,  he  did  not 
state — but  often  in  comparison  with  the  annual  celebration  of 
the  passover  which  it  superseded  ;  and  in  accordance  with  the 

1  1  Cor.,  xi.  23-2G. 


598  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

practice  of  the  Apostles,  whose  habitual  celebration  of  it  is 
recorded  ;  though  I  do  not  think  the  Scriptures  warrant  any 
statement,  on  this  point,  more  definite  than  this.  It  is  in  its 
nature  a  social,  not  a  private  ordinance  ;  it  is  a  communion  ap- 
pertaining  to  the  family  of  Christ  and  therefore  not  general ;  but 
as  to  them  it  is  public — and  belongs  to  them  as  a  Church,  and 
not  as  individuals.  And  while  the  intimations  of  Scripture  are 
that  it  was  celebrated  by  the  Church  at  the  stated  places  of  its 
worship,1  I  believe  there  is  neither  Scripture  example  nor  precept 
affording  the  least  countenance  to  any  private,  much  less  any 
individual  celebration  of  it.  The  contrary  practice,  to  a  remarka¬ 
ble  degree,  obtained  with  regard  to  the  other  sacrament  ;  which 
seems  to  have  been  administered  privately,  by  households,  and 
by  thousands  ;  in  the  temple,  in  the  palace  of  Cornelius,  in  the 
houses  of  private  persons,  in  prisons  and  by  the  wayside  as  cir¬ 
cumstances  required.  The  celebration  of  both  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  ministers  of  Christ,  as  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God3 
— the  nature  of  the  duties  to  be  performed  therein,  not  only 
being  proper  to  them  and  to  none  else — but  the  command  of 
Christ  concerning  the  celebration  of  both  this  and  the  other  sa¬ 
crament  being,  personally  given  to  the  Apostles,  as  teachers  and 
rulers  in  his  Church.  It  follows  necessarily  from  what  I  have 
said,  and  moreover  is  distinctly  taught,  that  every  true  follower 
of  the  Saviour  is  entitled,  is  in  the  highest  degree  interested,  and 
is  bound  and  obliged  to  partake  of  this  sacrament  ;  and  that  no 
one  else  has  any  right  to  partake  of  it,  or  can  do  so  without  im¬ 
piety/  Every  one  should  partake  of  both  elements  ;  the  denial 
of  the  cup  to  private  Christians,  being  a  mere  act  of  tyranny  and 
impiety  on  the  part  of  the  Church  of  Rome.4  But  the  infant 
seed  of  believers  may  not  partake  of  it  until  they  come  to  years 
of  discretion,  and  have  knowledge  to  discern  the  Lord's  body  ; 
of  which  they  must  give  satisfaction  to  those  whose  duty  God 
has  made  it  to  decide  in  all  cases,  concerning  that  inward  work 
of  which  baptism  is  the  sign.  For  all  who  approach  the  table 
of  the  Lord  are  commanded  to  examine  themselves,  in  order  to 
the  eating  of  that  bread  and  the  drinking  of  that  cup,  concerning 
many  things  that  exceed  the  state  of  infancy.5  And  in  like  man- 

1  1  Cor.,  xi.  18-22 ;  Acts,  xx.  7 ;  James,  ii.  6. 

a  1  Cor.,  iv.  1 ;  Titus,  i.  7  ;  Luke,  xii.  42.  3  1  Cor.,  xi.  27-34;  2  Cor.,  vi.  14-17. 

4  1  Cor.,  x.  15.  16,  21 ;  xi.  26-28.  5  i  Cor.,  xi.  28. 


CHAP.  XXX.] 


THE  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


599 


ner  no  outward  profession  justifies  any  who  are  ignorant  and  un¬ 
godly,  in  partaking  of  these  solemnities  ;  any  more  than  conni¬ 
vance  at  such  impiety  can  be  justified  on  the  part  of  the  Church.’ 
It  is  both  from  its  author,  its  nature,  the  occasion  on  which  it 
was  instituted,  and  the  authority  of  Scripture  use,  that  this 
sacrament  has  derived  its  name.  The  passover  was  celebrated  at 
night  by  divine  command,  and  the  sacrament  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  ingrafted  on  it  by  him,  was  in  its  nature  a  com¬ 
munion  both  of  the  disciples  with  each  other,  and  in  a  still  higher 
sense,  of  them  all  with  Christ.  The  Scripture  calls  it  The  Lord's 
Supper .3  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  this  sacrament  should  there¬ 
fore  be  celebrated  at  night  :  for  none  of  what  may  be  called  the 
fortuitous  circumstances  connected  with  the  institution  of  the 
Supper,  which  have  no  connection  with  the  design  or  nature  of 
the  ordinance,  can  be  considered  of  any  importance  :  though  we 
should  be  extremely  careful  not  to  class  amongst  such  circum¬ 
stances,  anything  whose  change  or  disuse  may  destroy  or  even 
weaken  anything  that  does  appertain  to  its  nature  or  design. 

4.  It  is  no  more  possible  to  doubt  that  bread  and  wine  are 
the  elements  with  which  this  sacrament  is  to  be  celebrated,  than 
that  water  is  the  element  with  which  baptism  is  to  be  celebrated. 
The  Lord  Jesus  took  bread  and  blessed  it,  and  brake  it  and  gave 
it  to  the  disciples,  and  said,  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my  body  which  is 
broken  for  you.  And  he  took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave 
it  to  them,  saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  it ;  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the 
New  Testament  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins.3 
This  is  my  covenant,  said  God  unto  Abraham,  which  ye  shall 
keep  between  me  and  you  and  thy  seed  after  thee  :  Every  man- 
child  among  you  shall  be  circumcised.4  And  so  the  passover,  and 
the  blood  of  it,  and  the  observance  of  it,  are  continually  called  a 
token,  a  memorial,  an  ordinance,  a  sign,  between  God  and  his 
people.  And  thus  Christ  says,  This  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins  : — a  state¬ 
ment  repeated  in  every  account  of  the  institution  of  this  sacra¬ 
ment.  Bread  and  wine,  therefore,  and  they  alone,  are  the  outward 
and  visible  signs — elements — in  this  sacrament.  What  the  bread 

1  1  Cor.,  xi.  27-29 ;  v.  6-13 ;  2  Cor.,  ii.  14-16;  2  Thess.,  iii.  6,  14,  15. 

3  1  Cor.,  xi.  20. 

3  Matt.,  xxvi.  26-28;  Mark,  xiv.  22-24;  Luke.  xxii.  1J-20;  1  Cor.,  xi.  23-26. 

•*  Gen.,  xvii.  9-14. 


600 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


is, — or  is  put  in  the  place  of,  is  declared  by  Christ  to  be  his  body 
broken  for  us  ;  and  what  the  wine  is — or  is  put  in  the  place  of, 
is  declared  by  him  to  be  his  blood  shed  for  us  *  Christ  and  him 
crucified,  is,  therefore,  the  matter  of  this  sacrament.  And  the 
inward  and  invisible  grace  signified  and  sealed  to  us,  by  this  sa¬ 
crament,  are  the  blessings  and  benefits  secured  to  us,  by  the  sac¬ 
rifice  of  Christ,  considered  in  themselves,  and  considered  in  the 
fruits  and  effects  thereof,  wrought  in  us.  It  is  the  relation  which 
God  establishes  between  the  thing  done  and  the  thing  it  repre¬ 
sents,  that  makes  one  the  sign  of  the  other,  and  makes  the  sa¬ 
crament,  which  embraces  both,  a  sign  of  the  covenant  of  grace. 
Moreover  and  in  like  manner,  as  the  correspondence  between  the 
elements  and  the  matter  of  the  sacrament,  makes  one  the  sign 
of  the  other,  and  makes  the  sacrament  the  sign  of  the  Covenant 
of  Grace  :  so  the  relation  established  by  God  between  the  sacra¬ 
ment,  and  the  inward  and  invisible  grace  which  it  signifies — 
makes  the  sacrament  a  seal,  as  well  as  a  sign,  of  the  Covenant  of 
Grace.  The  matter  of  this  sacrament,  as  has  been  shown,  is 
Christ  and  him  crucified  :  the  sign  is  bread  and  wine,  represent¬ 
ing  his  broken  body  and  shed  blood  :  the  things  signified  by  the 
sacrament,  are  all  the  blessings  and  benefits  of  his  vicarious  sac¬ 
rifice.  But  merely  to  signify  these  things  to  us,  merely  to  repre¬ 
sent  them  and  recall  them — never  could  save  our  souls.  There 
must  be,  beyond  that,  a  fitness  in  the  sacrament  to  produce  or  to 
nourish  in  us  the  graces  which  must  exist  in  order  to  our  salva¬ 
tion  :  a  divine  correspondence,  that  is,  between  the  sacrament 
and  the  inward  and  invisible  grace  of  which  it  is  the  sign.  But 
this  correspondence  is  exact,  complete,  perfect.  For  Christ  cru¬ 
cified,  and  he  alone,  can  save  us.  The  blessings  and  benefits  he 
has  secured  for  us,  in  his  redemption  of  us,  are  the  very,  and  the 
only  things  fitted  to  save  us,  or  whereby  we  can  be  saved.  And 
these  wrought  in  us  by  the  Holy  Ghost  produce  in  us  all  the  fitness 
we  have  or  could  have,  to  be  saved.  This  sacrament  is,  there¬ 
fore,  not  only  a  sign,  but  also  a  seal  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace. 

II. — 1.  Christ  not  only  said  the  wine  was  his  blood  but  that 
it  was  his  blood  of  the  New  Testament ;  an  expression  of  great 
import,  and  repeated  by  all  the  sacred  writers  who  give  account 
of  the  institution  of  this  sacrament.  I  have  constantly  explained, 
that  our  salvation  is  the  product  of  the  eternal  covenant  between 
the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  which  I  have 


CHAP.  XXX.]  THE  LORD’S  SUPPER.  601 

called  indiscriminately  the  Covenant  of  Grace  because  all  grace 
is  manifested  through  it,  and  the  Covenant  of  Kedemption  be¬ 
cause  it  is  the  Mediator  of  that  covenant  who  has  redeemed  us 
with  his  most  precious  blood.  I  have  also  constantly  explained 
that  every  one  of  God’s  elect  is  a  party  in  interest  to  that  eternal 
covenant,  by  reason  of  his  covenanted  Saviour  the  Son  of  God 
having  represented  him  in  it ;  and  that  every  one  becomes  a 
party  in  fact,  as  soon  as  he  is  personally  united  to  that  Saviour 
in  liis  effectual  calling.  Under  this  eternal  covenant,  and  by 
way  of  giving  special  designation  and  emphasis  to  each  successive 
dispensation  of  it,  those  dispensations  as  they  arose  were  called 
covenants  by  God  ;  and  the  special  mercies  they  conveyed  were 
made  stipulations,  and  were  solemnly  ratified.  Thus  the  visible 
Church  had  its  origin  in  God’s  covenant  with  Abraham,  called 
the  covenant  of  circumcision  from  the  seal  of  it,  and  the  cove¬ 
nant  of  promise  from  its  glorious  stipulations.1  Thus  the  Mosaic 
dispensation  was  formally  initiated,  by  a  solemn  covenant  be¬ 
tween  God  and  the  children  of  Israel,  who  had  already  received 
in  Egypt  the  propitiatory  sacrament  of  the  passover  :  a  covenant 
under  which  everything  was  purified  by  blood — and  everything 
first  ministered  to  condemnation  and  then  pointed  to  Christ.” 
That  there  was  a  better  dispensation,  a  better  covenant  to  come, 
Abraham  and  Moses  and  every  true  believer  under  both  the  dis¬ 
pensations  which  they  respectively  introduced,  knew  perfectly  ; 
nay  the  very  covenants  themselves  had  no  efficacy,  no  import 
touching  grace  and  salvation,  except  as  they  were  founded  on 
and  stipulated  the  Mediator  of  the  new  and  better  covenant.3 
The  Apostle  Paul  puts  the  matter  past  doubt  ;  for  he  quotes  at 
large  the  declarations  of  Jeremiah  concerning  the  new  covenant 
which  God  would  make  with  his  people,  and  declares  that  they 
mean  Christ,  and  were  uttered  by  the  Holy  Ghost.4  When  the 
Saviour  said,  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  bloood*we  are 
to  understand  that  they  who  receive  it  have  God’s  covenant  in  its 
supremest  form — ratified  as  his  own  testament  by  Jesus,  and.sealed, 
by  his  death  upon  the  cross  for  us.  His  death  gives,  at.  the  same 
moment,  an  endless  validity  to  his  testament,  and  an  infinite 
ratification  to  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  as  the  Gospel  covenant ; 

1  Gen.,  xvii.  1-16;  Acts,  vii.  8;  Epb.,  ii.  12, 

a  Exod.,  xxiv.  passim;  Heb.,  ix.  18-23. 

3  Jer.,  xxxi.  21-40.  4  Heb.,.  viii .jpassimj^  10-22, 


602  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

and  this  blood  of  our  great  High  Priest  seals  it  all.1  The  Gospel 
dispensation  is  the  covenant  in  the  incarnate  Redeemer,  just  as 
the  dispensation  of  promise  was  the  first  covenant  in  Abraham, 
and  the  dispensation  of  the  law  was  the  old  covenant  in  Moses." 
And  it  is  by  the  oath  of  God  that  Jesus  was  constituted  the 
surety  of  this  better  covenant,  being  consecrated  by  that  oath  a 
priest  forevermore,  and  by  one  offering  of  himself  perfecting  for¬ 
ever  them  that  are  sanctified.8  The  blood  of  Jesus  is  the  blood 
of  this  covenant.  Thus  sealed  by  his  death,  this  covenant  be¬ 
comes  his  testament.  Sacramentally  bestowed  on  us,  it  is  the 
blood  which  the  cup  in  the  Eucharist  signifies  and  seals.  In  it 
God  stipulates  remission  of  sins,  and  eternal  life  ;  and  Christ 
stipulates  for  us  Faith  and  Repentance  ;  and  through  his  blood, 
and  word,  and  Spirit  he  works  both  of  them  in  us.  Penitent  and 
believing  sinners  are,  therefore,  entitled  to  all  the  benefits  of  this 
covenant  and  testament — and  sacramentally  participate  of  the 
blood  of  Christ,  which  signifies  and  seals  these  benefits  unto  them. 

2.  In  like  manner,  Christ  not  only  said  the  bread  was  his 
body,  but  he  broke  it  and  said,  This  is  my  body  which  is  broken 
for  you  :  and  these,  also,  are  pregnant  words.  I  have  taught 
continually  that  union  and  communion  with  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  was  the  only  way  given  under  heaven  among  men,  where¬ 
by  we  must  be  saved  ;  and  that  this  union  and  communion  are 
possible  only  by  means  of  his  participation  of  our  nature  through 
his  incarnation,  and  our  participation  of  his  nature  through  our 
regeneration.  But  the  possibility  of  our  regeneration,  depends 
in  every  way  upon  the  efficacy  of  his  atoning  sacrifice  ;  and 
that  sacrifice  was  impossible  but  for  his  incarnation,  and  was 
without  nil  efficacy  but  for  his  supreme  Godhead,  and  had  rela¬ 
tion  to  us  only  through  that  eternal  covenant  of  which  he — God- 
man — was  the  Mediator.  This  broken  bread  is  the  symbol  of 
the  crucified  God-man  ;  and  he  has  established  between  the  sym¬ 
bol  and  the  inward  and  invisible  grace,  such  a  relation  as  makes 
the  one  a  sign  of  the  other  ;  and  then  such  a  relation  between 
the  matter  and  the  sign  united  into  a  sacrament,  and  the  effects 
of  Christ  crucified,  as  to  make  the  sacrament  itself  a  seal  of  the 
covenant  under  which  the  crucifixion  occurred  ;  that  is  of  the 
eternal  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  also  of  the  special  covenant  of 

1  Heb.,  ix.  passim.  2  Gal,  iv.  24-31. 

3  Heb.,  vii.  20-25;  x.  10-15. 


CHAP.  XXX.] 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


603 


the  Gospel  dispensation  under  it.  But  Christ  crucified  is  to 
every  one  that  is  called,  both  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom 
of  God.1  We  are  planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  the  death 
of  Christ;  our  old  man  is  crucified  with  him  that  the  body  of  sin 
might  be  destroyed,  that  henceforth  we  should  not  serve  sin  ;  and 
being  dead  with  him,  we  believe  we  shall  also  live  with  him.2 
In  knowing  him  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  we  must  have 
fellowship  with  his  sufferings,  and  be  made  conformable  unto  his 
death.3  Suffering  with  Christ,  is  the  prelude  of  being  glorified 
together  with  him.4  Whether,  therefore,  we  consider  the  cru¬ 
cifixion  of  Christ  in  itself  and  in  the  divine  motives  for  it,  or  in 
the  relation  of  it  to  the  whole  oeconomy  of  the  grace  of  God  and 
of  the  salvation  of  man,  or  in  the  inward  participation  of  it  by 
every  one  of  his  followers  through  union  and  communion  with 
him  :  we  equally  perceive  the  glorious  pregnancy  of  these  words 
of  Christ,  and  the  unspeakable  fitness  of  the  symbol  to  represent 
that  for  which  it  was  put,  and  of  the  sacrament  thus  consti¬ 
tuted  to  be  a  seal  of  the  covenant  under  which  he  made  satisfac¬ 
tion  to  God  for  us,  and  so  a  seal  to  us  of  all  that  he  purchased 
for  us  by  his  death. 

3.  This  sacrament  is  very  far  from  being  a  mere  exhibition 
of  the  death  of  Christ — a  mere  representation  of  the  passion 
and  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God.  If  the  whole  of  our  relation 
to  what  Christ  did  and  suffered,  is  satisfied  by  merely  represent¬ 
ing  and  exhibiting  his  agony  and  death  ;  we  have  much  to  learn 
about  the  burden,  the  curse,  and  the  pollution  of  sin  ;  much 
about  the  love,  the  peace,  the  joy  of  a  soul  that  has  communion 
with  him  that  died  and  rose  again.  If  the  whole  of  God's  love 
for  us  which  led  him  not  even  to  spare  his  own  Son,  but  on  the 
contrary  to  deliver  him  up  for  us  all,  is  expressed  when  his  Son 
has  done  that  which  lost  sinners  need  only  represent  and  recall ; 
then  his  poor  children  in  this  world  have  pungent  conceptions 
alike  of  their  Father's  love,  and  of  their  need  of*  it,  which  he 
never  excited  in  their  souls,  and  will  never  fulfil.  This  is  my 
body  which  is  given  for  you  :  This  is  my  blood  which  is  shed  for 
you.  It  is  thus  that  Jesus  speaks.  His  death  is  no  representa¬ 
tion  :  it  is  a  vicarious  sacrifice.  The  sacrament  of  his  broken 
body  and  shed  blood  is  not  a  mere  exhibition:  it  is  a  sacrament  in 


!  1  Cor.,  i.  23,  24. 
3  Phil.,  hi.  10. 


3  Rom.,  vi.  5-8. 

*  Rom.,  viil  17  ;  2  Tim.  il  11,  12. 


604  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

which  the  purchase  of  that  body  broken  for  us  is  sealed  to  us,  and 
the  purchase  of  that  blood  shed  for  us  is  sealed  to  us.  He  gives 
to  us  tokens  of  inestimable  blessings,  already  secured  for  us  at  an 
inestimable  price  :  he  gives  to  us  seals  of  that  covenant  ordered  in 
all  things  and  sure,  in  which  these  blessings  are  promised  to  us. 
We  accept,  with  loving,  confiding  hearts  the  token  and  the  seal. 
But  this  is  not  all.  Is  no  inheritance  secured  ?  Is  no  earnest  of 
it  bestowed?  No  sure  participation,  here  and  now,  not  merely  of 
signs  and  seals,  but  of  Jesus,  of  his  death  and  of  his  resurrection  ? 
I  am — said  Jesus — the  bread  of  life  :  he  that  cometh  to  me  shall 
never  hunger  ;  and  he  that  believeth  on  me  shall  never  thirst. 
He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelletli  in  me, 
and  I  in  him.1  Beyond  all  doubt  they  who  are  redeemed  by  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ,  have  along  with  their  redemption,  unspeak¬ 
able  blessing  and  benefits,  which  are  explained  throughout  the 
Scriptures  with  great  fulness  and  great  minuteness,  the  whole  of 
which  are  gifts  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ.2  All  these  and 
every  covenanted  mercy  and  every  grace  of  the  Spirit,  are  pur¬ 
chased  for  us  by  the  body  and  blood  which  was  broken  for  us  and 
shed  for  us  on  the  cross  ;  and  all  of  them  with  that  body  and 
blood,  are  sacramentally  sealed  to  us, — and  are  ours.  To  sup¬ 
pose  the  sacrament  has  any  efficacy  of  itself,  is  to  destroy  its  na¬ 
ture  as  a  sign  and  seal  of  the  Covenent  of  Grace — that  is — to 
destroy  it  as  a  sacrament  ;  and  is,  moreover,  to  set  aside  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  upon  whom  the  efficacy  of  all  things  spirit¬ 
ual  depends,  as  really  as  their  authority  depends  on  Christ ;  thus 
subverting,  on  the  one  hand,  the  way  of  life,  and  on  the  other 
life  itself.  To  deny  to  the  sacrament  any  reality  beyond  a  mere 
exhibition  and  representation  of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  is  either 
to  annul  it  altogether,  by  destroying  its  divine  fitness  through 
the  work  of  the  Spirit  to  accomplish  its  proper  end  in  us  ;  or  it 
is  to  go  deeper  still,  and  annul  the  efficacy  of  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ  who  is  the  matter  of  the  sacrament,  by  converting  it  from 
a  satisfaction  into  a  representation,  thus  rendering  it  incompe¬ 
tent  for  anything  but  another  representation. 

4.  In  addition  to  what  has  been  particularly  noticed,  the 
Lord  Jesus  said,  Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body  :  and  in  like  manner, 
giving  them  the  cup,  Drink  ye  all  of  it,  for  this  is  my  blood  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of 

2  Col.,  i.  passim  •  Eoli.  i.  passim. 


1  John,  vi.  35,  56. 


CHAP.  XXX.]  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  605 

sins.  The  Apostle  Paul,  illustrating  the  fellowship  of  Christians 
with  each  other,  and  of  all  with  Christ,  demands,  The  cup  of 
blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of 
Christ  ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion 
of  the  body  of  Christ  P1  And  the  Apostle  John,  appealing  to 
his  own  knowledge  of  the  word  of  life,  which  was  manifested  and 
was  capable  of  being  shown  to  others  as  eternal  life,  declares, 
That  which  we  have  seen  and  heard,  declare  we  unto  you,  that 
ye  may  have  fellowship  with  us  ;  and  truly  our  fellowship  is  with 
the  Father  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.2  Salvation  consists, 
summarily,  in  our  union  and  communion  with  Christ  through 
faith  ;  and  the  visible  Church  of  Christ  rests  upon  his  headship 
over  all  thus  united  to  him  by  faith, — and  their  communion  with 
each  other  by  love  ;  the  efficacious  bond  in  both  instances,  being 
that  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  the  Body  of  Christ,  considered  as  his 
Church,  nourished  by  his  body  and  blood  sacramentally  given  to 
them  by  him  and  received  by  them.  It  is  a  communion  of  saints 
with  each  other  by  means  of  a  joint  communion  in  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  ;  and  a  communion  of  the  whole  with  Christ,  at 
the  same  time,  and  by  the  same  means.  And  so  completely  is 
this  realized  in  this  sacrament,  that  it  is  called  the  communion 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  simply  The  Communion.  Nor  is  there 
any  other  way  known,  nor  as  far  as  we  can  comprehend,  possible, 
by  which  these  sublime  spiritual  realities  can  be  made  at  once 
perfectly  simple  and  efficacious,  comparable  to  the  way  thus  pro¬ 
vided  by  the  Lord.  Our  love  for  each  other  is  both  manifested 
and  nourished,  and  our  common  increase  in  all  that  is  sealed  to 
us  is  itself  a  precious  communion  ;  while  the  communion  of  all 
with  our  common  Lord,  opens  in  him  the  fountain  of  inexhausti¬ 
ble  grace,  which  all  receive  from  him.  But  who  does  not  see 
that  if  all  this  be  true,  it  establishes  with  divine  certainty  the 
nature  of  the  sacrament  through  which  it  all  occurs  ?  How 
could  the  cup  we  bless  be  a  cup  of  blessings  such  as  these,  it  it 
were  not  the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  How  cou1 1 
the  bread  we  break,  produce  such  spiritual  nourishment  as  this, 
if  it  were  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ  ? 

5.  It  seems  to  me  that  any  serious  consideration  of  the  words 
of  Christ  when  he  intituted  this  sacrament,  and  which  conveyed 
to  his  disciples  ideas,  which  under  so  many  forms  of  expression 

1 1  Cor.,  x.  16.  2  1  John,  i.  passim. 


606 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


throughout  the  New  Testament,  present  the  very  same  truths  ; 
ought  to  satisfy  every  one  who  has  the  least  spiritual  insight,  at 
least  of  the  general  sense  in  which  he  wished  to  be  understood. 
I  need  not  deny  that  there  is  much  involved  in  this  great  mys¬ 
tery  of  communion  with  Christ,  no  matter  in  what  aspect  the 
sublime  topic  is  presented,  which  far  exceeds  our  finite  compre¬ 
hension  ;  since  he  who  was  not  inferior  to  the  chiefest  of  the 
Apostles,  habitually  speaks  nearly  to  the  same  effect.  Speaking 
of  Christ  as  the  head  of  the  Church  and  the  Saviour  of  it  as  his 
body,  of  his  love  for  it,  of  his  giving  himself  for  it,  of  his  sanctify¬ 
ing  and  cleansing  it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word,  and 
then  presenting  it  to  himself  a  glorious  Church  ;  he  goes  so  far  as 
to  say,  For  we  are  members  of  his  body,  and  of  his  flesh,  and  of  his 
bones.  And  then  adds — This  is  a  great  mystery  :  I  speak  con¬ 
cerning  Christ  and  his  Church.1  And  this  language  is  not  more 
decisive,  than  that  which  Christ  used  not  only  when  he  instituted 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Supper,  but  a  year  before  his  crucifixion  in 
a  discourse  which  has  been  preserved  by  John  ;  afi  er  which,  many 
of  his  disciples,  understanding  him  to  teach  hard  sayings  which 
they  could  not  receive,  went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  him.2 
His  own  explanation  to  his  Apostles  was,  It  is  the  Spirit  that 
quickeneth  ;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing  ;  the  words  that  I  speak 
unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life.3  It  is  impossible, 
therefore,  to  suppose,  that  Christ  meant  that  the  bread  was  phy¬ 
sically  his  body  or  the  wine  physically  his  blood,  or  that  his  dis¬ 
ciples  physically  eat  his  flesh  and  drink  his  blood  ;  impossible, 
because,  as  we  see,  he  said  that  would  be  of  no  profit  to  them,  and 
that  it  was  his  Spirit  and  word  which  made  his  flesh  and  blood  a 
means  of  life  to  his  followers.  Indeed  it  is  obvious,  as  I  intimated 
before,  what  the  general  sense  of  his  words  is.  He  uses  both  sets 
of  terms  throughout,  and  therefore  we  must  accept  both  through¬ 
out.  We  cannot,  without  violence,  allow  with  the  Papists,  that  the 
bread  and  wine  are  by  consecrating  them  transubstantiated  into 
the  soul,  body,  blood,  and  divinity  of  Christ  ;  for  then,  to  say  no¬ 
thing  else,  one  set  of  terms  used  throughout  has  disappeared, — 
and  the  ordinance  has  become  a  gross  impiety.  For  the  same  rea¬ 
son,  we  cannot  allow  with  the  Socinians,  that  the  whole  is  a  mere 
representation  ;  for  then  the  opposite  set  of  terms  has  disappeared, 
and  the  ordinance  has  become  an  empty  show.  We  cannot  allow 

1  Eph.,  y.  23-32.  2  John,  vi.  26— G6.  3  John,  vi.  63. 


CHAP.  XXX.] 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


607 


with  Luther  that  consubstantiation  has  taken  place,  and  that  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  present  in,  with,  and  under  the 
bread  and  wine  ;  for  then  both  sets  of  terms  are  outraged  by 
confounding  what  Christ  has  carefully  kept  seperate  ;  and  pre¬ 
tending  to  eat  both  bread  and  Christ's  body,  and  to  drink  both 
wine  and  Christ's  blood,  we  combine  into  one  error  the  opposite 
misconceptions  of  the  Papists  and  the  Socinians.  All  that  is  left 
is  to  accept  and  respect  both  sets  of  terms.  And  in  effect,  while 
no  other  conception  of  this  sacrament  can  be  justly  gotten  from 
the  terms  of  its  institution,  none  can  be  gotten  from  any  other 
scriptural  representation  of  it,  which  does  not  require  the  use  of 
both  sets  of  terms  to  express  it.  The  bread  is  bread  and  is  eaten, 
and  the  wine  is  wine  and  is  drunk  ;  and  so  are  Christ's  words. 
But  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ  are  as  really  the  matter  of 
the  sacrament,  as  the  bread  and  wine  are  the  symbols  used  in  it  : 
and  the  relation  between  the  matter  and  the  symbol  is  instituted 
by  God,  and  is  so  immediate  that  the  name  of  the  matter  is  given 
to  the  symbol :  and  the  matter  and  the  symbol — thus  related  and 
united  by  God — unitedly  make  the  sacrament.  Physically,  the 
symbols  bread  and  wine  are  present  to  our  senses.  Spiritually, 
the  matter,  Christ  crucified,  his  body  and  his  blood,  are  present 
to  our  faith.  To  express  more  strongly  the  reality  of  this  spir¬ 
itual  presence,  we  may  call  it  mystical ;  by  which  we  mean  that 
it  is  spiritual,  but  real.  Just  as  our  union  with  Christ  is  real, 
but  spiritual,  that  is,  it  is  mystical ;  and  just  as  the  Church 
itself,  the  Body  of  Christ,  is  a  spiritual  but  real  body — that  is, 
it  is  a  mystical  body.  We  cannot,  of  course,  eat  the  broken 
body  of  Christ  and  drink  his  shed  blood,  in  any  other  sense  or 
manner  than  that  in  which  they  are  present  with  us  ;  but  I  have 
shown  that  they  are  present  after  a  manner  that  is  real  but  spir¬ 
itual,  that  is,  mystical ;  in  that  manner  and  in  that  sense, 
therefore,  and  in  no  other,  we  participate  of  Christ  crucified,  in 
the  communion  of  the  Supper.  It  is  a  sacrament. 

6.  The  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  leads  directly  to  the 
sacrifice  of  the  mass,  and  to  the  idea  that  the  Christian  ministry 
is  a  priesthood  who  offer  sacrifices  ;  namely  the  sacrifice  of  Cal¬ 
vary  repeated  continually  in  an  unbloody  form,  as  it  is  expressed. 
The  whole  of  this  is  the  grossest  heresy  and  impiety.  Christ  is 
the  Great  High  Priest  of  our  profession,  a  Priest  forever  after 
the  order — not  of  Aaron — but  of  Melchisedek ;  and  after  him 


608  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

there  is  no  priesthood  at  all,  except  in  the  sense  of  the  royal 
priesthood  of  every  brother  of  Christ,  adopted  as  a  son  of  God. 
The  offering  up  of  himself  by  Christ  once,  one  sacrifice  for  sins 
forever,  by  which  he  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  are  sancti¬ 
fied, — put  an  end  to  all  offerings  and  sacrifices  for  sins  :  whereof 
we  have  the  explicit  and  repeated  assurance  of  God,  who  even 
declares  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  a  witness  to  us  of  these  truths.1 
It  was  not  to  repeat  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary,  but  to  give  efficacy 
to  it  in  the  souls  of  men,  that  all  the  means  of  grace  under  the 
Gospel  dispensation  received  their  present  form.  By  that  sacri¬ 
fice  of  himself  Christ  has  redeemed  the  elect  of  God  :  redeemed 
them  in  every  sense  and  to  every  intent.  It  is  not  to  add  any¬ 
thing  to  what  Christ  has  done,  nor  to  repeat  anything  he  has 
done,  that  the  sacrament  in  his  body  and  blood  was  instituted  ; 
but  its  use  is  to  show  forth  his  death,  and  by  participation  of  him, 
to  nourish  and  strengthen  his  disciples  in  all  grace,  to  exhibit  and 
to  seal  their  union  and  communion  with  him  and  their  commu¬ 
nion  with  each  other,  and  to  testify  and  renew  their  covenant 
with  him.  In  what  manner  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, — that 
is,  in  what  manner  the  crucified  Saviour  can  effect  the  whole  of 
these  spiritual  objects — or  anyone  of  them  :  is  an  enquiry,  which 
if  directed  to  the  possibility  of  such  an  efficacy,  goes  to  the  root 
of  the  question  of  salvation  by  grace  through  the  Mediator  ;  or 
if  directed  only  to  the  particular  manner  of  that  efficacy,  goes 
to  the  root  of  the  nature  of  this  sacrament.  Considered  in  the 
former  light,  the  answer  is  immediate,  that  unless  salvation  by 
grace  through  the  Mediator  is  a  divine  reality,  neither  is  the  ef¬ 
ficacy  enquired  after — nor  the  sacrament  by  which  it  operates,  a 
divine  reality  :  all  are  nullities  together — if  the  foundation  of  all 
is  a  nullity.  Considered  in  the  latter  light,  the  answer  is  also  im¬ 
mediate,  and  lies  upon  the  face,  and  is  wrought  into  the  nature 
of  the  sacrament.  Bread  and  wine  nourish  the  human  body — 
if  we  partake  of  them  according  to  their  nature  and  ours  ;  they 
do  this  by  a  mysterious  vital  process  of  assimilation  ;  the  effect 
of  which  is  our  support  and  continued  existence.  In  like  man¬ 
ner  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  crucified  for  us,  nourish  our 
souls,  if  we  partake  of  them  according  to  their  nature  and  ours, 
that  is  their  sacramental  nature  and  our  renewed  nature  ;  they 
do  this  through  a  mysterious  spiritual  process,  expressed  by  the 

1  Heb.,  x.  10-18. 


THE  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


609 


CHAP.  XXX.] 

terms  faith,  the  new  creature,  and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
the  effect  of  which  is  a  closer  communion  with  Christ  and  with 
each  other,  and  the  comfort  and  growth  of  the  spiritual  life. 
There  is  a  manifest  difference  between  bread;and  the  act  of  him 
who  eats  it,  and  the  nourishment  which  is  produced  by  it, — and 
the  process  of  assimilation  by  which  the  end  is  reached.  There 
is  also  a  manifest  difference  between  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
and  the  faith  of  the  Christian  which  rests  upon  Christ  crucified, 
and  the  fruit  of  that  faith  manifested  in  us,  and  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  which  produced  that  faith  and  now  nourishes  it  in 
this  manner.  The  declarations  of  the  word  of  God,  and  the  tes¬ 
timony  of  our  own  experience,  and  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
are  the  grounds  on  which  we  assert  the  latter  series  of  facts. 
There  are  no  more  conclusive  grounds  on  which  to  assert  the 
former  series  of  facts.  The  efficacy  on  which  everything  in  both 
series  depends,  is  wholly  inscrutable  :  it  is  in  God.  That  Christ 
crucified  is  the  matter  of  which  bread  and  wine  are  the  symbols, 
in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Supper,  and  that  as  such  he  is  sacra¬ 
mentally  received,  and  does  nourish  our  souls  ;  is  not  only  the 
plain  doctrine  of  this  sacrament,  hut  is  in  exact  harmony  with 
everything  else  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  concerning  the  whole 
doctrine  of  our  union  and  communion  with  Christ.  In  one  sacra¬ 
ment  we  are  baptized  into  his  death  :  in  the  other  we  have  com¬ 
munion  with  his  crucifixion  :  all  the  time  the  glorified  God-man 
is  at  the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  on  high.  In  the  former  sa¬ 
crament  our  ingrafting  into  Christ  and  our  purification  by  the 
Holy  Ghost — in  the  other  our  redemption  and  nourishment  by 
Christ,  are  signified  and  sealed.  In  this  life  it  is  mainly  fellow¬ 
ship  with  his  sufferings,  and  death — in  the  life  to  come  fellow¬ 
ship  with  his  resurrection.  In  both  worlds  union  and  communion 
with  him — is  salvation. 

7.  The  connection  of  divine  worship,  the  divine  word,  and  the 
divine  Spirit  with  the  proper  administration  and  worthy  par¬ 
taking  of  this  sacrament,  i§  indissoluble  The  inspired  accounts 
of  its  institution  agree  that  its  celebration  was  accompanied  by 
thanksgiving,  and  benediction  by  the  Saviour.  Jesus  took  the 
bread,  and  blessed,  and  brake,  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples  ;  and 
he  took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to  them.  Such 
are  the  statements.  His  directions,  also,  were  clear  ;  take,  eat, 
drink,  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me.  The  universal  obligation 
vol.  n.  39 


610 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


resting  on  us  to  sanctify  everything  by  the  word  of  God  and 
prayer/  is  made  very  special  in  this  case,  both  by  what  the  Lord 
did  and  by  what  he  said.  And  if  anything  were  wanting  to  add 
force  to  this  obligation,  it  would  be  found  in  the  fact  that  it  is 
only  by  means  of  the  blessing  of  God,  and  through  the  presence 
and  inward  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  any  blessing  is  found 
in  the  use  of  this  ordinance  ;  while  the  state  of  our  own  souls 
may  exclude  us  from  the  blessings  which,  so  to  speak,  appertain 
in  a  particular  manner  to  the  worthy  reception  of  it.  Moreover, 
the  peril  of  trifling  with  the  sacred  and  mysterious  ordinance, 
much  more  the  impiety  of  intentionally  profaning  it,  ought  to  be 
well  considered  by  such  as  do  not  discern  the  Lord’s  body  ;  since 
it  may  well  happen  that  eating  and  drinking  unworthily,  men 
may  eat  and  drink  damnation  to  themselves.8  Without  the 
knowledge  which  the  divine  word  alone  can  give  us,  whereby  we 
might  discern  the  Lord’s  body,  the  spirit  of  true  worship  in  which 
it  becomes  us  to  approach  God  in  this  sacrament  of  that  body, 
cannot  be  in  us  ;  and  in  this  condition,  we  have  much  more  rea¬ 
son  to  dread  that  the  Spirit  may  be  grieved,  than  to  hope  for  any 
fellowship  with  him.  And  yet  it  is  of  the  very  nature  of  this 
sacrament,  to  be  fitted  to  produce — when  used  by  the  divine 
Spirit  to  that  end — as  a  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  those  in¬ 
ward  graces  of  which  it  is  the  sign  :  and  I  may  add,  nothing 
else  has  that  sacramental  fitness  with  reference  to  those  special 
graces.  Divine  truth  is  specially  fitted  to  produce  faith  and 
repentance,  and  invariably  does  produce  them,  when  used  to  that 
end  by  the  Spirit ;  while  no  other  truth  is  fitted  to  produce  either 
faith  or  repentance  ;  nor  is  any  other  ever  used  in  the  production 
of  either  by  the  Spirit.  So  also,  all  divine  ordinances  are  specially 
fitted  to  produce,  and  when  used  to  that  end  by  the  Spirit,  do 
produce  the  effects  appointed  of  God  ;  and  nothing  besides  them 
is  fitted  to  produce  their  effects,  or  is  used  by  the  Spirit  to  pro¬ 
duce  them.  The  great  offices  of  the  Spirit  in  salvation,  have 
immediate  relevancy  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  and  both  the 
sacraments  of  the  Christian  Church  have  a  similar  immediate 
relevancy  to  him.  We  as  easily  see,  therefore,  how  the  efficacy 
of  the  sacrament  depends  on  the  Spirit,  as  we  see  how  its  au¬ 
thority  depends  on  Christ.  And  we  might  as  soon,  perhaps,  to 
speak  after  the  manner  of  men,  we  might  sooner  expect  the  Spirit 

1  1  Tim.,  iv.  5.  2  1  Cor.,  xl  28-32. 


CHAP.  XXX.]  THE  LORD’S  SUPPER.  611 

to  own  and  bless  uttered  falsehoods  dishonouring  to  Christ,  than 
sacramental  falsehoods  dishonouring  to  him.  If  this  sacrament 
is  that  divine  spiritual  reality  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  rep¬ 
resent,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  its  divine  relation  to  the  worship, 
the  word,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  impossible  not  to  perceive 
in  that  divine  relation,  which  it  is  easy  to  establish  independently, 
convincing  evidence  of  its  own  nature  and  use. 

8.  All  that  has  been  considered  is  founded  on  the  words  of 
Christ  uttered  when  he  instituted  this  sacrament,  but  uttered 
separately  of  his  body  and  the  symbol  of  it,  and  of  his  blood  and 
the  symbol  of  it.  Paul  speaking  of  all  together,  adds  imme¬ 
diately,  as  part  of  what  he  received  of  the  Lord,  For  as  often  as 
ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cap,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death 
till  he  come.1  As  often,  therefore,  as  we  celebrate  this  commu¬ 
nion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  it  is  bread  that  we  eat,  and 
it  is  wine  that  we  drink  ;  but  this  bread  and  wine  are  put  for  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ,  and  it  is  by  breaking  and  eating  the 
bread,  and  by  pouring  out  and  drinking  the  wine' — -that  we  show 
his  death.  The  efficacy  of  that  death  for  our  redemption — and 
the  certainty  of  our  present  participation  of  that  crucified  Saviour 
and  of  eternal  life  through  him ;  are  all  assured  by  the  resurrec¬ 
tion  and  glorification  of  the  Lord.  Being  planted  in  the  likeness 
of  his  death,  we  are  also  planted  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection. 
We  are  dead,  and  our  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  When  Christ, 
who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  we  also  appear  with  him 
in  glory.2  And  so  we  are  to  show  forth  the  Lord's  death,  till  he 
come.  This  sacrament  touches  on  one  side,  the  crucifixion,  on 
the  other  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord,  covering  the  whole 
space  between  them,  having  special  relation  to  the  former,  and 
pointing  continually  to  the  latter.  For  Christ  is  risen  from  the 
dead,  and  become  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept.  For  since 
by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made 
alive.  But  every  man  in  his  own  order  :  Christ  the  first  fruits, 
afterwards  they  that  are  Christ’s  at  his  coming.3  It  is  that  com¬ 
ing  of  the  glorified  Lord,  in  which  they  that  are  his  will  be  made 
alive  by  their  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  will  appear  in  glory 
with  him  who  is  their  life  ;  to  which  his  saints  must  continually 
have  reference,  both  as  real  and  as  not  having  yet  taken  place,  as 

1  1  Cor.,  xi.  26.  2  Col.,  iii.  3,  4.  3  1  Cor.,  xv.  20-23. 


G 12  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

often  as,  and  as  long  as,  they  sacramentally  show  his  death. 
While  the  Saviour  sat  with  his  Apostles,  and  apparently  before 
instituting  this  sacrament,  he  said  unto  them,  With  desire  have 
I  desired  to  eat  this  passover  with  you  before  I  suffer :  for  I 
say  unto  you,  I  will  not  any  more  eat  thereof  until  it  be  fulfilled 
in  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  he  took  the  cup  and  gave  thanks, 
and  said,  Take  this,  and  divide  it  among  yourselves  :  for  I  say 
unto  you,  I  will  not  drink  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  the 
kingdom  of  God  shall  come.1  And  again,  apparently  after  he 
had  instituted  this  sacrament  and  his  Apostles  had  partaken  of 
its  elements,  he  said,  I  will  not  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of 
the  vine,  until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  my 
Father’s  Kingdom.2  A  little  after  he  said,  I  appoint  unto  you  a 
kingdom,  as  my  Father  hath  appointed  unto  me  :  that  ye  may 
eat  and  drink  at  m}r  table  in  my  kingdom,  and  sit  on  thrones 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.3  This  sitting  on  thrones  and 
judging,  accordiag  to  his  previous  promise  to  them,  will  occur 
when  the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  his  glory,  and  all 
his  followers  shall  inherit  eternal  life.4  I  suppose,  therefore,  that 
the  Lord  did  not  mean  to  refer  in  what  he  said,  to  those  few  oc¬ 
casions  on  which,  after  the  resurrection,  he  partook  of  food  and 
drink  with  his  disciples,  apparently  to  satisfy  them  of  his  own 
identity  ;5  hut  to  that  coming  and  estate  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  that  consummation  of  the  work  appointed  by  him  unto  his 
Apostles,  and  that  further  consummation  of  the  New  Testament 
in  his  blood,  which  he  had  before  explained  by  the  parable  of  the 
marriage  supper  of  the  King’s  son  ;6  and  concerning  which  the 
Apostle  John,  repeating  the  Alleluias  of  the  redeemed,  and  re¬ 
lating  the  glory  of  the  Lamb’s  wife,  and  the  joy  in  heaven  that 
his  marriage  had  come — writes,  Blessed  are  they  which  are  called 
unto  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb.7  Whatever  of  glory 
and  blessedness  is  in  store  for  us,  is  purchased  for  us  by  the  blood 
of  Christ ;  and  the  more  perfect  our  communion  is  with  him  in  his 
death,  the  more  complete  is  our  appreciation  of  all  divine  things, 
and  the  more  entire  is  our  fitness  for  all  divine  blessings. 

III. — 1.  The  manner  in  which  this  sacrament  was  adminis¬ 
tered  by  Christ,  and  ought  to  be  always  administered  by  his  fol- 

1  Luke,  xxii.  15-18.  2  Matt.,  xxvi.  29. 

1  Matt.,  xix.  28,  29 ;  xxv.  31,  34,  46. 

6  Matt.,  xxii.  1-1 4. 


3  Luke,  xxii.  29,  30. 
5  Acts,  x.  41. 

7  Rer,  xix.  1-9. 


CHAP.  XXX.]  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  613 

lowers,  is  set  forth  with  great  particularity  in  the  Scriptures. 
His  example  ought  to  be  sufficient  ;  but  when  we  consider  that 
everything  he  did  was  significant,  and  that  all  departures  from 
his  example  have  led  to  superstition  and  heresy,  we  see  the  more 
plainly  that  it  is  a  wise  and  trustful  obedience,  which  conforms 
exactly  to  that  example  of  the  Lord.  Therefore  the  bread  and 
the  cup  are  to  be  taken  by  him  who  is  to  administer  the  Sacra¬ 
ment,  and  so  separated  unto  their  peculiar  end  :  they  are  to  be 
set  apart  from  a  common  to  a  sacramental  use,  by  the  word  of 
God,  and  by  special  prayer,  thanksgiving  and  blessing  :  the 
bread  is  to  be  broken  and  distributed  amongst  those  who  com¬ 
municate  :  the  wine  being  poured  out,  the  cup  is  to  be  taken 
and  distributed  amongst  those  who  communicate  :  the  bread 
is  to  be  taken  in  the  hand  of  the  communicant,  and  is  to 
be  eaten  by  him  :  the  cup  is  to  be  taken  into  the  hand  of 
the  communicant  and  the  wine  is  to  be  drunk  by  him.  At 
the  proper  times,  and  suited  to  the  proper  parts  of  the  sa¬ 
cramental  action,  the  Lord's  minister  should  repeat  the  Lord's 
words,  according  as  they  were  uttered  :  and  they  who  com¬ 
municate,  reverently,  waiting  on  the  Lord,  and  decently  ex¬ 
hibiting  their  mutual  fellowship  in  a  common  and  simultaneous 
participation,  should  solemnly  and  believingly  eat  and  drink  the 
symbols  of  the  broken  body  and  shed  blood  of  Christ  Jesus  their 
Redeemer.  Though  there  be  two  elements,  there  is  but  one 
sacrament  :  and  the  power  of  administration  is  not  joint,  but  sev¬ 
eral  :  wherefore  all  the  parts  of  the  sacramental  action  that  ap¬ 
pertain  to  him  who  ministers  in  the  place  of  the  Lord,  appertain 
to  a  single  and  the  same  minister  ;  just  as  in  the  sacrament  of 
baptism.  They  who  worthily  and  with  preparation  of  heart, 
wait  upon  him  who  said,  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me  ;  will 
find  his  promises  fulfilled  unto  them,  to  the  great  peace  and  ed¬ 
ification  of  their  souls.  And  it  may  be  confidently  asserted  that 
the  natural  effects  of  bread  and  wine  upon  those  who  receive 
them  physically,  are  neither  better  assured  nor  more  explicable 
after  their  kind  ;  than  the  gracious  effects  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  crucified  are,  upon  those  who  receive  them  spiritually, 
after  their  kind.  For  this  communion  is  a  sacrament  of  the 
Covenant  of  Grace,  under  the  Gospel  dispensation,  instituted 
by  Christ,  wherein  by  the  breaking  and  eating  of  bread  his  brok¬ 
en  body  and  by  pouring  out  and  drinking  wine  his  shed  blood, 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


614 


[book  y. 


are  signified  and  sealed,  together  with  all  the  benefits  of  his  cru¬ 
cifixion,  unto  all  who  worthily  commune. 

2.  With  respect  to  each  individual  Christian,  this  sacrament 
is  the  means  of  a  most  solemn,  gracious,  reiterated,  and  irrevoca¬ 
ble  dedication  of  himself  to  God  as  his  God,  and  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  his  Saviour.  In  return  he  receives  from  God 
pardon,  holiness,  light,  strength,  comfort,  peace,  and  joy  through 
the  divine  ordinance,  word,  and  Spirit.  For  the  crucified  Saviour 
in  all  his  past  work,  in  all  his  present  power,  and  in  all  his  fu¬ 
ture  glory,  is  sacramentally  assured  herein,  to  the  penitent  and 
believing  sinner,  on  whose  behalf  is  God’s  eternal  Covenant  of 
Grace,  and  under  it  the  New  Covenant  which  is  a  testament  in 
the  blood  of  Christ.  With  respect  to  the  whole  company  of  be¬ 
lievers,  who  are  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  the  Bride  of  the 
Lamb,  and  the  Body  of  Christ,  we  see  how  this  and  every  other 
gift  of  her  husband  and  Lord,  who  gave  himself  for  her  ;  con¬ 
secrates  her  to  himself,  and  separates  her  from  a  world  lying  in 
sin  and  under  the  curse  of  God.  She  had  the  promise  of  her 
Saviour,  the  constant  revelation  of  the  will  of  God,  and  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  his  Spirit,  before  she  had  any  permanent  sacrament. 
With  the  covenant  of  promise  in  Abraham,  came  circumcision 
and  her  own  visible  and  separate  existence  ;  with  the  covenant 
of  sacrifice  in  Moses,  a  covenant  in  the  blood  of  beasts,  came 
the  passover,  and  the  written  word,  and  her  more  complete,  and 
ordered,  and  separate  Church  state  :  with  the  New  Testament 
in  the  blood  of  Christ,  came  baptism  and  the  Lord’s  Supper,  the 
complete  and  permanent  revelation  of  the  will  of  God-— Christ 
incarnate,  crucified,  risen,  and  glorified,  the  Spirit  poured  out,  and 
all  the  ordinances  of  God,  and  all  the  ascension  gifts  of  Christ, 
peculiar  to  the  Gospel  Church.  All  the  time  it  is  the  elect  of  God, 
the  Bride  of  the  Lamb,  the  Body  of  Christ,  the  Church  of  the 
first-born  whose  names  are  written  in  heaven  :  and  all  are  proofs  of 
eternal,  unalterable,  unsearchable,  divine  love  for  her.  These  are 
sublime  and  infinitely  fruitful  truths.  Upon  the  foundation  they 
establish,  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  Church  must  rest.  What¬ 
ever  will  not  endure  to  be  built  on  them,  can  be  no  portion  of 
the  house  of  God.  Whatever  they  subvert,  is  divinely  subvert¬ 
ed.  They  guide  us,  from  all  that  concerns  the  humblest  be¬ 
liever  considered  as  a  member  of  Christ,  onward  through  the 
whole  question  of  the  Church,  to  the  highest  generalization  that 


CHAP.  XXX.] 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 


615 


concerns  the  kingdom  delivered  up  to  the  Father  on  the  Lamb's 
Book  of  Life  :  illuminating  the  entire  career  of  the  Church, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  As  soon  as  we  let  them  go,  we 
are  lost  in  darkness,  amidst  the  innumerable  revolutions  of  opin¬ 
ion,  and  the  interminable  disputes  of  men,  concerning  things 
with  regard  to  which  no  opinion  is  of  any  value,  and  about 
which  no  man  can  know  aught  of  any  worth,  except  as  divine 
light  is  shed  upon  them.  Amongst  all  the  benefits  which  Christ’s 
faithful  ministers  could  confer  on  his  Church,  none  could  com¬ 
pare  with  a  successful  effort  to  recall  her  completely  to  these 
grand  and  simple  truths,  the  perversion  of  which  has  cost  her 
so  much. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


OFFICE  BEARERS  IN'  THE  GOSPEL  CHURCH:  AND  THE  GOVERNMENT 

IN  THEIR  HANDS. 

I.  Office  Bearers,  and  Government  in  their  Hands. — 1.  Considered  in  their  relation  to  all 
Society :  and  to  the  particular  society  called  the  visible  Church  of  Christ. — 2.  As 
appertaining  to  the  Church,  they  appertain  in  a  still  higher  sense  to  Christ. — 
3.  Fundamental  principle  of  the  Divine  Origin  and  authority  of  both,  commensu¬ 
rate  with  the  existence  of  the  visible  Church  :  proved  and  illustrated  by  the  ex¬ 
ample  of  the  Apostolic  synod  of  Jerusalem. — 4.  The  Divine  Example  of  that  synod 
particularly  considered ;  and  the  Fact,  the  Nature,  and  the  Perpetuity  of  Church 
Government  demonstrated. — 5.  The  Office  Bearers  who  constituted  it :  and  first 
of  the  Apostles  considered  as  uniting  in  the  Administration  of  the  government 
they  had  formed. — 6.  Of  the  Elders — in  whose  Hands  the  Divine  Government  of 
the  Christiau  Church  is  permanently  and  exclusively  lodged — II.  1.  The  actual 
origin  of  the  Christian  Church,  its  Government,  its  Office  Bearers,  and  its  Tribu¬ 
nals:  Its  particular  congregations,  and  the  Tribunal  in  each. — 2.  Progress  and 
development  of  the  Government:  Nature,  Organization,  Divine  Authority  of  Tri¬ 
bunals  Presbyterial,  Synodical  and  Universal. — 3.  The  Nature  of  Church  Power 
as  delegated  by  the  Mediator :  its  relation  to  his  Offices  of  Prophet,  Priest,  and 
King :  the  fundamental  distinction  in  its  Nature  and  Use.  as  the  Power  of  Regi¬ 
men  and  the  Power  of  Order. — 4.  The  Perpetuation  of  Office  Bearers  and  Gov¬ 
ernment  in  their  hands,  by  Vocation  of  God,  immediate  and  mediate. — III.  1.  Other 
Office  Bearers ;  Prophets,  inspired  and  temporary. — 2.  Deacons  :  Divine  Authority, 
Nature,  and  permanence  of  their  Office. — 3.  Evangelists  :  Divine  Authority,  and 
peculiar  Nature  of  their  office. — IV.  1.  Summary  of  the  Fundamental  Principles 
of  Church  Government. — 2.  The  Phenomenon  exhibited  in  the  Origin,  Develop¬ 
ment  and  Progress  of  such  a  Government. 

I.  In  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  Fifth  Book,  I  have  en¬ 
deavoured  to  explain  the  chief  gifts  of  God  to  the  Church  of 
Christ,  which  I  had  attempted  to  demonstrate  in  the  Fourth  Book. 
In  the  first  place  came  God’s  supreme  gifts  to  the  Church — 
namely,  his  Son,  his  Spirit,  and  his  Word.  Then  the  great  Or¬ 
dinances  which  he  has  bestowed  on  her,  namely,  the  Sabbath,  the 
Sacraments,  Instituted  Worship,  Discipline,  and  Evangelization 
of  the  world.  And  then,  on  account  of  their  immense  impor¬ 
tance,  the  two  Sacraments  ot  the  Gospel  Church  have  been  sepa¬ 
rately  discussed.  What  remains,  is  to  demonstrate  the  Office 
Bearers  ordained  by  God  in  the  Christian  Church,  and  the  Gov- 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  617 

ernment  in  their  hands  which  he  has  appointed  therein.  Partly 
for  the  sake  of  brevity,  and  partly  on  account  of  the  indissoluble 
connection  of  the  subjects,  they  will  be  discussed  together. 

1.  As  soon  as  we  conceive  of  society  as  organized,  no  matter 
for  what  purpose,  and  no  matter  how,  there  arises  a  necessity  for 
the  designation,  in  some  manner,  of  persons  to  perform  for  it 
those  offices  which,  whatever,  they  may  be,  society  cannot  per¬ 
form  in  mass,  and  without  the  performance  of  which,  society  can¬ 
not  exist.  These  persons  are  officers.  There  is  a  multitude  of 
ways  in  which  they  may  come  into  office  ;  a  multitude  of  condi¬ 
tions  on  which  they  may  hold  office  ;  a  multitude  of  official  duties, 
functions,  powTers — very  various,  and  capable  of  being  distributed 
in  numberless  ways.  In  all  these  respects  the  simple,  limited, 
and  powerful  elemental  principles  of  government,  which  I  have 
pointed  out  in  another  place,  are  susceptible  of  endless  variety 
in  their  practical  exhibition  ;  and,  therefore,  government  itself 
is  presented  under  so  many  diverse  aspects.  But  in  every  case, 
under  every  modification,  the  office  bearer  under  every  form  of 
organized  society,  is  the  office  bearer  of  the  society,  and  performs 
its  offices,  for  its  benefit,  and  on  its  behalf.  Otherwise,  he  is  a 
mere  intruder,  usurper,  and  tyrant,  holding  simply,  by  force  ; 
whose  acts  do  not  subvert  society,  but  ordinarily  defeat  the  proper 
ends,  and  always  defeat  the  proper  mode  of  its  existence,  until 
he  is  taken  out  of  the  way.  The  apothegm  of  the  despot  who 
said,  I  am  the  State,  was  as  true  as  it  was  insolent.  Neverthe¬ 
less,  there  could  be  no  despot,  if  there  was  no  State  ;  and  the 
powers  he  usurps  are  not  created  by  him,  but  flowing  from  the 
existence  of  society,  are  grasped  and  abused  by  him.  The  Church 
visible  of  Christ  is  subject,  in  these  respects,  to  the  laws  and 
conditions  belonging  to  the  nature  of  all  societies,  organized  out 
of  human  beings.  Every  office  bearer  in  her  bosom,  is  her  officer; 
and  his  existence  is  necessary,  because  the  continuance  and  per¬ 
fection  of  her  own  organized  existence,  depends  on  the  perform¬ 
ance  of  offices,  which  she  cannot  discharge  in  mass.  In  the 
nature  of  the  case,  therefore,  duty  and  power,  obligation  and 
authority,  responsibility  and  control,  go  together.  But,  as  I  have 
before  explained,  the  visible  Church  is  a  society  of  a  peculiar 
kind,  created  in  a  peculiar  manner,  and  for  peculiar  purposes. 
Of  necessity,  therefore,  those  great  principles  and  truths  which 
lie  in  the  nature  of  man  and  of  society,  must  incur,  in  this  pecu- 


618  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

liar  use  and  direction  of  them,  such  a  combination  and  applica¬ 
tion  of  them,  as  the  nature  and  end  of  this  peculiar  society  de¬ 
mand  ;  precisely  as  in  all  other  cases  of  their  practical  applica¬ 
tion.  This  is  a  society  having  primary  reference,  not  to  this  but 
to  a  future  life,  not  to  temporal  but  to  spiritual  things  :  a  society 
perfectly  free,  separate  from  the  world,  consecrated  to  Christ,  and 
so  divinely  prohibited  from  making  laws  for  itself,  but  required 
to  obey,  to  expound,  to  proclaim,  and  to  execute  laws  given  to 
it  by  God.  A  society  nevertheless  ;  and  hy  consequence  possessed 
of  officers  and  a  government.  Indeed  it  is  by  far  the  oldest  society 
in  the  world  ;  having  existed  through  successive  dispensations  in 
a  visible  form,  and  in  unbroken  succession,  since  the  covenant 
of  circumcision  was  made  by  God  with  Abraham  ;  and  in  its  pre¬ 
sent  form  as  the  Gospel  Church,  since  the  day  of  Pentecost.  The 
fact  of  its  organized  and  perpetual  existence,  is  the  most  palpa¬ 
ble  fact  in  the  public  history  of  the  human  race  ;  and  the  divine 
authority  for  its  existence,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  is  far 
more  frequently  and  variously  declared  throughout  the  Scriptures, 
than  the  divine  authority  for  anything  else  that  exists. 

2.  This  most  ancient  and  permanent  society,  concerning  whose 
officers  and  government  we  are  enquiring,  is  not  only  an  ordinance 
of  God,  like  the  family,  and  the  State  ;  but,  as  I  have  abundantly 
proved,  it  is  an  ordinance  resting  absolutely  in  divine  revelation 
and  divine  acts,  having  relations  both  to  God  and  man,  the  whole 
of  which  are  revealed.  It  is  a  society  created  by  the  special  grace 
of  God,  out  of  those  who  are  united  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by 
means  of  a  divine  regeneration  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  and  it  is  in¬ 
tended  to  be  the  chief  witness  for  time  and  throughout  eternity, 
to  his  whole  intelligent  Universe.  It  is  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
which  his  Son,  Messiah  the  Christ,  has  redeemed  with  his  most 
precious  blood  ;  which  his  divine  Spirit  creates  and  sanctifies  ; 
which  the  brethren  of  Christ,  sons  and  heirs  of  God,  compose 
and  hold  forth  as  the  Church  of  the  living  God.  The  relation  of 
the  Son  of  God  to  this  society  is  inexpressibly  close  and  power¬ 
ful.  He  is  the  Mediator  between  God  and  men  of  the  Eternal 
Covenant  under  which  it  exists  ;  and  the  Gospel  form  in  which 
it  now  exists,  as  compared  with  its  preceding  forms,  is  in  a  spe¬ 
cial  sense  the  New  Testament  in  his  blood.  To  be  Mediator,  he 
took  their  nature  into  eternal  union  with  his  own  divine  nature  ; 
and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself  so  as 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS —  GOVERNMENT.  619 

to  become  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross  for 
them.  As  Mediator,  he  is  the  Prophet,  the  Priest,  and  the  King 
of  his  Kingdom  ;  by  his  word  and  Spirit  the  Teacher  of  it,  by 
the  sacrifice  of  himself,  the  Redeemer  of  it,  and  now  glorified, 
he  is  the  only  head,  ruler,  and  Lord  of  it.  Nothing  exists  in  it, 
except  according  to  the  will  of  God,  except  through  the  authority 
and  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  except  by  the  effectual  work¬ 
ing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  follows,  that  whatever  office  bearers 
may  appertain  to  this  wonderful  society,  however  they  may  be  its 
officers,  as  I  have  already  explained,  must  be  in  a  still  more  strict 
sense  the  servants,  the  ministers  of  Christ :  and  whatever  gov¬ 
ernment  of  this  Kingdom  may  be  in  the  hands  of  the  servants 
and  ministers  of  Christ,  is  his  government,  administered  in  his 
name  and  for  his  glory.  Undoubtedly  it  is  conceivable  that  offices 
of  various  kinds  might  exist,  and  that  governments  of  various 
kinds  might  also  exist,  as  God  might  see  fit  to  order  his  Kingdom. 
But  it  is  not  conceivable,  under  the  data,  that  offices  should  law¬ 
fully  exist  in  such  a  Kingdom,  or  that  it  should  lawfully  assume 
any  form  of  government,  except  in  the  name,  by  the  authority, 
and  through  the  ordination  of  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisi¬ 
ble.  The  more  precisely  it  can  be  shown  what  office  bearers  he 
has  ordained,  and  what  government  in  their  hands,  the  more  un¬ 
questionable  is  the  divine  warrant  for  it  and  for  them.  But  the 
point  now  insisted  on  is  that  most  peculiar  to  this  divine  society, 
namely,  that  its  officers  are  also  officers  of  Christ,  and  its  govern¬ 
ment  in  their  hands  is  also  the  government  of  Christ.  And  how¬ 
ever  clear  and  important  may  be  the  relation  of  all  office  bearers 
and  government  to  the  Church  as  hers  ;  the  relation  of  both  to 
Christ  as  his,  is  still  clearer  and  more  important.  But  all  this  con¬ 
cludes  both  ways  to  the  divine  authority  of  Church  office  bearers, 
and  Church  government  in  their  hands.  For,  first,  if  the  Church 
be  related  to  Christ  as  his  in  the  sense  shown,  then  necessarily 
her  organization  as  has  been  shown  at  large,  and  by  consequence 
her  officers  and  government  in  their  hands,  are  his — and  so  are 
divine.  And,  secondly,  if  in  additiou,  these  office  bearers  are  his 
Apostles,  his  Prophets,  his  Pastors,  his  Elders,  his  Deacons,  not 
only  as  they  are  exercising  offices  ordained  by  him,  but  as  they 
are  also  called  and  sent  by  him,  in  their  respective  places  and 
with  their  respective  functions  ;  then  if  anything  is  of  divine 
authority,  such  office  bearers  and  government  are. 


620  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

3.  My  space  does  not  permit  me  to  discuss  of  the  nature  of 
the  office  hearers  of  the  Church,  anterior  to  the  founding  of 
the  Gospel  dispensation  ;  nor,  desirable  as  it  would  be,  do  I  sup¬ 
pose  it  to  be  of  absolute  necessity  here.  Nothing,  however,  can 
be  more  certain  than  that  God  called  Abraham,  and  made  the  cov¬ 
enant  of  promise  with  him  ;  that  he  called  Moses,  and  by  him 
led  the  Israelites  out  of  Egypt,  and  made  with  them  the  covenant 
in  the  hlood  of  beasts  in  the  wilderness  ;  and  that  under  these 
covenants,  everything  that  existed  in  the  Church  of  God  from 
Abraham  to  the  day  of  Pentecost,  was  exactly  ordered  and  estab¬ 
lished,  and  did  appertain  both  to  God  and  the  Church,  iti  the 
manner  I  have  already  explained.  The  principles  established, 
namely  the  divine  origin  of  all  government  in  the  Church  and  the 
divine  vocation  of  all  who  bear  office  in  it,  had  been  commensurate 
with  the  whole  existence  of  the  visible  Church,  from  its  own  origin 
to  the  day  when  the  Apostles  received  their  complete  unction  from 
the  Holy  Ghost,  to  execute  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of 
the  glorified  Saviour,  the  whole  power  he  had  committed  to  them 
concerning  his  Kingdom  in  this  world.  So  far  were  those  Apostles 
from  supposing  that  these  fundamental  principles  were  changed  ; 
they  furnished  in  their  own  persons  and  office,  an  example  not 
less  illustrious  certainly  than  any  that  had  gone  before,  of  the  un¬ 
alterable  perpetuity  of  both  of  them,  and  of  the  foundation  of 
the  Gospel  Church  State  upon  them.  In  which  respects,  those 
great  principles  agree  with  all  others  that  are  fundamental  in  the 
nature  of  God’s  Kingdom ;  as  I  have  shown  with  reference  to  the 
Sabbath,  the  Sacraments,  the  associated  ideas  of  sacrifice  and 
priesthood,  and  every  other  great  ordinance  of  God  which  I  have 
had  occasion  to  discuss.  It  took  many  years  and  unquestionable 
miracles  to  make  the  Apostles  understand,  that  the  Gentile  world 
were  to  partake  with  the  seed  of  Abraham  of  the  blessings  of  the 
Gospel  ;  and  many  more  years  and  miracles  to  make  them  see, 
that  the  Gentiles  were  entitled  to  partake  of  these  blessings,  free 
from  the  yoke  which  more  ancient  covenants  had  imposed  ;  and 
many  more  years,  and  the  most  wonderful  interpositions  of  God, 
to  make  the  Jewish  converts  understand  that  Jesus  had  released 
them  also  from  the  same  bondage.1  Within  these  years  the  Gos¬ 
pel  had  been  planted,  and  Christian  Churches  organized,  and 
numberless  office  bearers  ordained,  and  Church  courts  constituted 

1  Acts,  xxi.  17-25;  Gal.,  in.  passim. 


GOVERNMENT.  621 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  — 

in  Jerusalem,  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  according  to  the 
order  prescribed  by  Christ  ;  and  the  work  for  all  the  world  which 
was  to  follow,  had  already  spread  widely.  The  very  question  of 
Gentile  circumcision,  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  was  decided, 
by  a  synod  of  Apostles  and  Elders,  before  which  Paul  and  Bar¬ 
nabas  and  certain  other  men  appeared  to  represent  the  Churches 
of  Antioch.  Already  the  government  of  the  Church  was  fully  in 
operation,  already  its  office  bearers  were  determined  and  estab¬ 
lished  everywhere,  before  a  Gentile  idea  had  found  entrance  into 
its  bosom,  or  those  grand  and  long  descended  ideas  of  God's  in¬ 
timate  power  and  personal  presence,  had  changed  even  their  col¬ 
ouring  in  the  Jewish  mind.  Nay,  when  we  enter  this  Christian 
tribunal  which  determined  this  question,  in  which  was  involved 
the  fate  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Gentile  world  ;  the  very  name 
of  the  office  bearers  carries  us  back  to  Moses,  back  to  the  Patri¬ 
archs.  Elders,  who  were  rulers  always,  since  God  had  a  Church 
visible  on  earth,  whose  title  was  always  familiar  where  God  had  a 
people  :  Elders  sit,  counsel,  decide,  with  the  Apostles.1  And  it  may 
be  added  that  this  great  tribunal  of  Apostles  and  Elders,  citing  the 
example  of  Moses,  reduced  their  decrees  to  writing  that  they  might 
be  read  everywhere,  and  sent  them  to  Antioch  by  Judas  surnamed 
Barsabas,  and  Silas,  chief  men  among  the  brethren,  and  chosen 
men  of  their  own  company,  along  with  Paul  and  Barnabas.  These 
written  decrees,  received  with  great  joy  by  the  multitude  of  breth¬ 
ren  in  Antioch,  were  delivered  by  Paul  himself,  accompanied  by 
Timothy,  to  all  the  Churches  in  the  cities  scattered  throughout 
Syria  and  Cilicia,  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  as  decrees  for  to  keep, 
that  were  ordained  of  the  Apostles  and  Elders  which  were  at  Je¬ 
rusalem  ;a  which  service  immediately  preceded  his  first  entrance 
with  the  blessed  Gospel,  upon  the  continent  of  Europe,  about 
the  twentieth  year  after  the  crucifixion. 

4.  Here  then  are  the  two  objects  of  our  enquiry,  set  palpably 
before  us  by  the  divine  record  ;  office  bearers,  and  a  government 
in  their  hands.  Concerning  the  government  itself,  the  most 
important  and  fundamental  truths  lie  on  the  face  of  the  narra¬ 
tive.  It  is  a  government  whose  authority  extends  over  the  whole 

1  Gen.,  L  7  ;  Ex.,  iii.  16-18 ;  iv.  29-31 ;  Lev.,  iv.  13-21 ;  Numb.,,  xi.  24-31;  Psalm 
evii.  32;  Joel,  i.  14,  15;  ii.  15-11;  Matt.,  xvi.  21;  xxvii.  12;  xxviii.  12.;,  Acts,  xi. 
29,  30  *.  xiv.  23 ;  xv.  passim, ;  xvi.  4. 

2  Acts,  xv.  19-22,  30-41 ;  xvi.  1-9. 


622  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

Christian  world.  It  is  a  tribunal  whose  decision  has  been  sought 
by  the  remote  Churches  of  a  great  Gentile  city  ;  which  being  con¬ 
vened,  accepts  the  reference  to  it  without  hesitation,  and  delib¬ 
erates  on  the  question  as  one  proper  for  it  to  determine  ;  which 
renders  its  authoritative  decision  in  writing,  and  sends  that  de¬ 
cision  in  the  form  of  a  decree  to  the  Churches  immediately 
concerned.  The  same  written  decree  is  immediately  circulated 
throughout  all  the  surrounding  nations,  the  great  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  who  had  brought  the  question  to  the  supreme  tribunal, 
being  conspicuously  active  in  delivering  it  to  the  scattered 
Churches  in  many  States  of  the  East ;  and  it  was  everywhere 
delivered,  everywhere  received,  as  a  decree  ordained,  and  as  such 
to  be  kept ;  ordained  by  the  Apostles  and  Elders  who  convened 
at  Jerusalem,  to  be  kept  throughout  the  Christian  Church.  It 
had  been  determined  long  before,  in  the  great  case  at  Csesarea, 
that  Gentiles  may  be  baptized  :  but  the  manner  of  that  decision 
is  not  formally  recorded.1  Now  it  must  be  decided,  and  the  con¬ 
duct  of  Peter  himself  at  Antioch,  and  the  supposed  scruples  of 
James,  and  the  teaching  of  certain  men  who  came  from  Judea  to 
Antioch,  obliged  the  Church  to  settle,  whether  or  not  a  Gentile, 
even  though  baptized,  can  be  saved  except  he  be  circumcised 
after  the  manner  of  Moses.2  And  the  Church  by  its  highest  tri¬ 
bunal  does  settle  it,  and  the  Church  through  all  her  borders  re¬ 
ceives  it  as  settled,  and  all  succeeding  ages  accept  the  settlement, 
that  day  made  at  Jerusalem  ;  that  there  never  was  such  a  Chris¬ 
tian  doctrine,  as  that  a  Gentile  could  not  be  saved  unless  he  kept 
the  law  of  Moses.  We  do  not  know  precisely,  how  many  Apos¬ 
tles  sat  in  this  Church  court ;  all,  doubtless,  who  were  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  Certainly  Peter,  who  after  much  disputing  by  others,  de¬ 
livered  his  brief  and  massive  decision,  ending  with  the  words,  We 
believe  that  through  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  we  shall 
be  saved,  even  as  they.  James  also  sat  in  the  body  ;  and  after 
hearing  all,  stated  his  judgment  briefly,  closing  it  with  these  words, 
My  sentence  is  that  we  trouble  not  them  which  from  among  the 
Gentiles  are  turned  unto  God.  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  probably 
members  of  the  synod  ;  at  any  rate  they  urged  it  to  the  conclu¬ 
sion  it  reached,  by  declaring  what  miracles  and  wonders  God  had 
wrought  among  the  Gentiles  by  them.  As  for  the  Elders  pres¬ 
ent,  we  know  only  that  Barnabas  and  Silas  were  two  ;  and  that 

1  Acts,  xi.  1-18.  2  Gal.,  ii.  11-14;  Acts,  xv.  1,  2. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS - GOVERNMENT.  623 

the  number  of  them  was  so  great,  as  to  be  called  a  multitude. 
The  argument  of  Peter  was,  that  this  question  had  already  been 
decided  by  God,  and  that  it  was  merely  to  tempt  him,  to  treat  it 
otherwise.  The  argument  of  James  was,  that  the  prophets  had 
foretold  the  call  of  the  Gentiles  ;  and  that  Peter’s  statement  was 
in  accordance  with  their  predictions.  The  argument  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas  was,  the  actual  miraculous  demonstration  of  the  will 
of  God.  The  result  reached  was  unanimous,  joyful,  also,  not  only 
to  the  Apostles  and  Elders,  but  to  the  brethren  also,  nay,  to  the 
whole  Church.  Let  it  be  added,  that  everything  that  was  said  and 
done,  avowed  or  assumed  that  they  w^ere  acting  by,  and  under,  the 
authority  of  God,  seeking  to  know  his  will,  and  when  known  to  en¬ 
force  it ;  all  has  express  reference  to  Jesus ;  and  the  formal  conclu 
sion  is,  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us1.  I  forbear  to 
urge  farther,  that  the  court  decreed  as  well  what  the  Gentile  Church 
must  do,  as  what  they  need  not  do  ;  the  very  form  of  their  words, 
— To  lay  upon  you  no  greater  burden  than  these  necessary  things, 
— showing  the  sense  they  had  of  the  power  of  the  synod,  and  of 
the  force  of  its  decrees.  But  let  us  note  in  addition  to  what  has 
been  said,  that  this  tribunal  had  obviously  no  connection  with 
any  authority  civil  or  sacred,  either  of  the  Jewish  people  or  of 
the  Roman  Empire  ;  that  it  was  manifestly  constituted  of  a  sin¬ 
gle  body  made  up  of  Apostles  and  Elders,  not  of  two  chambers 
or  houses,  of  which  Apostles  composed  one  and  Elders  the  other  ; 
that  according  to  all  the  intimations  of  the  narrative,  as  well  as 
all  the  probabilities  of  the  case,  the  number  of  Elders  present 
far  exceeded  the  number  of  Apostles  present ;  that  as  members 
of  this  synod,  the  right  to  sit,  to  deliberate,  and  to  decide,  was 
equally  complete  in  both  classes  of  its  members  ;  and,  finally, 
that  a  clear  and  decisive  example  of  this  sort,  in  which  James, 
and  Peter,  and  Paul  were  the  chief  actors,  and  such  fellow  labour¬ 
ers  as  Barnabas,  and  Barsabas,  and  Silas  took  part,  and  the  body 
of  Elders,  at  Jerusalem  sat  as  members,  and  the  whole  Church 
of  Christ  approved,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  endorsed  :  must  be  con¬ 
sidered  conclusive.  Conclusive  that  there  was  a  government  in 
the  Christian  Church  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles  ;  that  it  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Apostles  and  Elders  ;  that  it  was  indepen¬ 
dent  of  all  human  authority,  coextensive  with  the  whole  Church, 
and  had  jurisdiction  of  the  doctrine,  the  practice,  the  life,  and 

1  Acts.  xv.  1-29. 


624  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

the  interest  of  the  whole  body  considered  as  a  spiritual  society  ; 
and  that  the  whole  was  in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Leaving  out  the  parts  of  the  case  which 
were  miraculous,  extraordinary,  local  and  transitory,  the  grand 
and  permanent  truths  which  were  settled  by  means  of  those  ele¬ 
ments,  remain  perpetually.  The  government  by  tribunals, 
the  Elders,  the  jurisdiction,  the  multitudinous  congregations,  the 
unity  of  the  whole  Church,  the  supremacy  over  all  of  the  tribu¬ 
nal  which  embraces  all,  the  exclusive  spirituality,  complete  sepa¬ 
ration  from  the  world,  and  absolute  authority  of  Christ  :  all  this 
abides,  and  has  been  constantly  manifest  in  the  Gospel  Church, 
exactly  in  proportion  to  its  own  fidelity  to  its  divine  Lord. 

5.  So  far  concerning  the  Government  :  next,  briefly,  concern¬ 
ing  the  office  bearers  in  whose  hands  it  is  :  and  of  the  two 
classes,  the  Apostles  first.  The  Saviour  near  the  commencement 
of  his  public  ministry,  chose  twelve  of  his  disciples,  who  received 
the  name  of  Apostles,  to  be  his  constant  companions.  One  of 
them  betrayed  him,  and  then  hanged  himself.  The  hundred  and 
twenty  Disciples  who  met  in  Jerusalem,  chose  another  in  his 
place,  sometime  between  the  final  ascension  of  the  risen  Saviour 
and  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 
It  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  that  the  glorified  Redeemer  miracu¬ 
lously  added  Paul  to  the  company  ;  and  many  suppose  that  Bar¬ 
nabas  was  also  of  the  number.  Some  allege  that  others,  perhaps 
many  others,  were  also  Apostles  ;  about  which  I  shall  not  enquire 
here,  as  it  is  not  material  to  the  matter  before  us.  Whoever 
were  true  Apostles  of  the  Lord,  had,  of  course,  Apostolic  power, 
rights,  and  fitness,  divinely  bestowed  on  them.  For  they  were 
persons  expressly  and  individually  chosen  by  Christ,  to  be  wit¬ 
nesses  for  him,  concerning  his  life,  his  miracles,  his  doctrine,  his 
crucifixion,  his  resurrection,  and  his  glory  ;  expressly  chosen  to 
preach  his  gospel  of  salvation  and  cause  it  to  be  preached,  to  the 
whole  family  of  man  ;  and  to  make  known  and  cause  to  be  made 
known  in  all  nations,  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,  all 
things  whatsoever  he  had  commanded  them.  To  these  men,  even 
during  his  own  ministry,  he  gave  miraculous  powers,  and  bade 
them  freely  use  them,  in  confirmation  of  all  he  bade  them  preach.1 
He  appointed  unto  them  a  kingdom,  even  as  his  Father  had  ap¬ 
pointed  unto  him  :a  he  gave  them  unlimited  authority  to  set  it 

1  Matt.,  x.  passim.  2  Luke,  xxii.  24-30. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  625 

up  and  to  establish  it — to  open  and  to  shut  it — to  form  and  to 
administer  it  :x  he  promised  and  he  sent  the  Holy  Ghost  upon 
them,  to  fit  them  every  way  for  their  divine  work,  both  by  his 
ordinary  and  extraordinary  work  with  and  in  them,  and  by  his 
continual  work  as  the  Comforter  of  all  those  who  should  believe 
on  him,  and  as  the  Reprover  of  the  world  itself  :2  and  to  crown 
all,  he  promised  to  be  with  them  himself  in  the  plenitude  of  his 
infinite  power,  always,  everywhere,  and  to  return  again,  personally 
and  in  boundless  glory,  when  the  dispensation  of  his  kingdom 
committed  to  their  hands,  had  reached  the  point  for  his  second 
coming,  then  hidden  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father.8  These  are  the 
men,  three  of  whom  certainly,  and  possibly  more,  were  connected 
with  the  synod  whose  nature  has  just  been  considered  ;  to  which, 
by  their  participation  and  approbation,  they  gave,  both  as  to  its 
substance  and  its  form,  its  nature,  organization,  and  acts,  the 
whole  weight  of  Apostolical,  that  is  of  divine  authority.  It  is 
not,  however,  disputed  by  any,  that  the  Apostles  were  completely 
authorized  and  fitted  to  create  a  government  for  the  Gospel 
Church  ;  nor  that  whatever  government  they  did  create,  was  in 
their  hands,  wholly  or  in  part.  That  Elders  had  part  with  them 
in  the  government  they  actually  established,  is  as  indisputable 
as  the  divine  record.  So  that  even  if  the  Apostolic  office  is  per¬ 
manent  in  the  Gospel  Church,  the  exclusion  of  Elders  from  this 
participation  with  the  Apostles,  now  existing,  would  be  a  gross 
impiety.  For  if  no  such  Elders  exist  to  share  the  government 
of  the  Church  with  these  living  Apostles,  according  to  the  man¬ 
ner  ordained  by  God  ;  this  is  an  immense  and  impious  revolution. 
But  if  such  Elders  do  exist,  and  are  excluded  by  these  living 
Apostles,  this  is  an  atrocious  usurpation  and  tyranny  united.  If 
added  to  one  or  both  of  these  outrages,  these  living  Apostles  are 
mere  intruders  into  an  office  that  has  no  longer  any  existence, 
then  whatever  government  may  be  in  their  hands,  is  doubly  im¬ 
pious;  for  it  exists  by  first  dispossessing  those  to  whom  it 
rightly  appertains,  and  then  giving  it  to  those  who  are  guilty 
of  imposture  even  in  what  they  pretend  to  be.  After  that, 
it  was  natural  to  ravage  and  pollute  the  Church  which  had 
been  betrayed — to  deny  and  insult  the  Saviour  who  had  been 

1  Mark,  xvi.  13-21  ;  xviii.  15-20;  John,  xx.  19-25. 

2  Acts,  L  8 ;  ii.  passim ;  x.  passim ;  Luke,  xxiv.  44-53 ;  John,  xiv. ;  xv. ;  xvi. 

*  Acts,  L  1-11  ;  Matt.,  xxviii.  18-20  ;  xxv.  31-46  ;  xxiv.  36-41  *  Mark,  xiii.  32-3T... 

40 


VOL.  II. 


626  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

defied.  That  the  Apostolical  office  was  extraordinary,  and 
never  designed  by  Christ  to  be  permanent  in  the  Church, 
is  every  way  clear  :  and  even  if  it  were  not,  it  is  every  way  clear 
that  those  now  claiming  to  be  Apostles,  are  impostors.  Because, 
if  they  are  Apostles  they  must  be  so  either  by  a  lawful  vocation 
of  the  people  of  God,  like  other  permanent  office  bearers,  which 
vocation  none  of  them  have,  or  even  pretend  to  have  :  or  they 
must  be  so  by  official  succession  from  the  original  Apostles, 
which  none  of  them  can  produce  the  slightest  evidence  that  they 
possess,  and  which  it  can  be  clearly  shown  it  is  historically  im¬ 
possible  that  they  should  possess  :  or  they  must  be  so  by  mirac¬ 
ulous  vocation  of  God,  to  assert  which,  besides  the  imposture  of 
it,  is,  considering  whom  they  are,  equally  an  insult  to  the  com¬ 
mon  sense  of  men,  and  to  the  majesty  of  God.  But,  in  effect, 
the  Apostolic  office  had  no  such  succession  as  is  alleged  :  because 
whatever  succession  appertains  to  the  Church  is  not  by  office 
bearers  but  by  the  Church  itself,  which  is  the  Body  of  him  who 
is  the  ruler  of  the  universe.  By  the  vocation  of  God,  ascertained 
in  the  manner  I  will  disclose,  the  permanent  offices  ordained  of 
God,  are  filled  from  age  to  age.  No  perpetual  succession  apper¬ 
tains  to  the  Church  itself,  in  any  other  sense  than  that  God  has 
always  had,  and  always  will  have,  a  Church  in  this  world  ;  but 
where,  amongst  what  people,  and  how  connected  with  preceding 
generations  under  the  Gospel  dispensation,  is  matter  of  sover¬ 
eign  grace,  and  not  of  succession.  Moreover  the  very  nature  of 
the  Apostolic  office,  namely,  with  plenary  power  and  fitness  to 
set  up  and  establish  a  new  dispensation  of  the  Church  of  God  ; 
makes  it  as  obvious  that  Peter  had  no  successor,  as  that  Abra¬ 
ham  had  none,  and  that  Moses  had  none.  And  every  Apostolic 
duty  is  of  that  nature,  that  it  requires  for  its  discharge  such  ex¬ 
traordinary  operations  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  have  ceased  from 
the  Church  for  nearly  eighteen  centuries  :  and  the  Scriptures 
are  not  only  profoundly  silent  touching  any  continuance  of  this 
office  permanently  in  the  Church,  but  they  assert  that  impostors 
calling  themselves  Apostles  will  arise,  and  command  us  to  reject 
them,  and  praise  those  who  had  already  before  the  death  of  the 
"last  Apostle,  tried  some  of  them  and  found  them  liars.1  If 
however,  there  could  be  any  doubt  to  any  sincere  enquirer  after 
truth — the  word  of  God  has  laid  down  three  marks  of  a  true 

1  Rev.,  ii.  2;  1  John,  iv.  1 ;  Matt.,  xxiv.  3-5,  25,  2G. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  627 

Apostle,  by  the  union  of  all  of  which  he  who  claims  to  he  one, 
must  make  that  claim  good.  First,  an  Apostle  must  be  a  true 
lover  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  his  faithful  disciple  in  good  report 
and  ill  report.1  Secondly,  he  must  be  able  to  verify  his  claim  by 
working  miracles.2  Thirdly,  he  must  have  personally  seen  the 
Lord  Jesus,  so  as  to  be  personally,  and  of  his  own  knowledge,  a 
witness  of  his  resurrection.3  If  now  it  be  alleged,  that  inas¬ 
much  as  the  government  was  in  the  hands  of  Apostles  and  El¬ 
ders,  the  ceasing  of  the  Apostolic  office  would  abolish  the  gov¬ 
ernment,  by  putting  an  end  to  the  chief  element  of  it  ;  the 
answer  is  very  easy.  The  government,  whatever  it  might  be, 
was  created  by  the  Apostles  ;  that  they  took  part  in  its  admin¬ 
istration  during  their  lives,  has  been  proved  ;  that  they  intended 
to  perpetuate  the  Apostolic  office,  has  been  disproved  :  the 
two  remaining  solutions  are,  first  that  they  designed  the  govern¬ 
ment  to  be  temporary  and  to  cease  with  their  office' — which  is 
absurd  in  itself,  and  wholly  unsupported  by  the  word  of  God  ; 
and  secondly,  that  they  designed  the  permanent  government  of 
the  Church  to  be  by  courts  composed  exclusively  of  Elders.  This 
is  precisely  what  they  did  intend,  and  what  they  actually  did  : 
which  I  will  prove  in  its  place.  The  Greek  words  for  these  El¬ 
ders  and  those  courts  composed  of  them,  are  as  nearly  as  possible, 
transferred  into  English,  in  the  ordinary  words  used  to  express 
them.  The  permanent  government  of  the  Church  is  by  Presby¬ 
tery ,  composed  of  Presbyters .*  That  the  Apostles  should  take 
part  in  the  administration  of  this  government  formed  by  them¬ 
selves,  designed  to  be  perpetual  and  universal,  rapidly  extend¬ 
ing  itself  over  every  quarter  of  the  earth,  and  embracing  Jews, 
Samaritans,  and  Gentiles,  a  vast  heterogeneous  multitude  of  peo¬ 
ples,  differing  in  all  things  but  their  common  discipleship  to 
Jesus  ;  seems  to  me  to  offer  the  only  assurance  of  its  successful 
establishment,  unless  the  first  generation  of  believers  had  all 
been  inspired.  That  their  office  justified  what  they  did,  can 
hardly  be  questioned.  If  it  should  be  questioned,  however,  it 
could  avail  nothing,  because  it  would  be  further  necessary  to 
show  that  the  Apostolic  office  was  inconsistent  not  only  with 
such  a  use  of  it,  but  also  inconsistent  with  the  actual  holding  of 

1  John,  xxi.  14-17 ;  Luke,  xxii.  25-29. 

‘l  Acts,  ii.  42  ;  Rom.,  xv.  16-20  ;  2  Cor.,  xii.  11-13. 

3  Acts,  i.  8,  21-26;  iv.  33;  John,  xv.  26,  27  ;  1  Cor.,  xv.  1-10;  ix.  1,  2. 

*  Upeapvrcpt'  v — irpeodvrepo^. 


628  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

the  additional  office  of  Elder  at  the  same  time.  Blit  that  never 
can  be  shown  ;  for  two  at  least  amongst  the  most  eminent  of 
them,  have  declared  that  they  were  Elders  themselves  ;  and  all 
may  have  been.  Peter  says,  The  Elders  which  are  amongst 
you  I  exhort,  who  am  also  an  Elder,  and  a  witness  of  the  suffer¬ 
ings  of  Christ,  and  also  a  partaker  of  the  glory  that  shall  be  re¬ 
vealed.1  John  commences  two  of  his  Epistles  by  calling  himself, 
The  Elder.2  For  my  own  part,  however,  I  consider  it  past  dis¬ 
pute  that  the  Apostolic  office  embraced  unlimited  Church  power ; 
and  nothing  can  be  more  certain,  than  that  the  Apostles  exer¬ 
cised  it  all,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest. 

6.  I  will  now  examine  the  nature  of  the  office  held  by  the 
Elders  who,  along  with  the  Apostles,  constituted  the  synod  met 
at  Jerusalem,  which  has  been  examined.  As  in  the  preceding 
portions  of  this  enquiry,  so  here  a  clear  case  made  and  stated 
through  divine  inspiration,  shall  guide  us.  If  any  one  ever  knew 
what  a  Christian  Elder  was,  the  Apostle  Peter  certainly  did.  His 
First  General  Epistle,  towards  the  close  of  his  eventful  and  glo¬ 
rious  life,  is  thus  dedicated,  Peter  an  Apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  to 
the  strangers  scattered  throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia, 
Asia,  and  Bithynia,  elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God 
the  Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience 
and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ ;  Grace  unto  you  and 
peace  be  multiplied.  In  the  latter  part  of  this  Epistle  he  ad¬ 
dresses  the  Elders  of  these  widely  scattered  saints,  and  equally 
all  the  Elders  on  earth  to  the  end  of  time,  in  the  manner  follow¬ 
ing  :  The  Elders  which  are  among  you  I  exhort,  who  am  also  an 
Elder,  and  a  witness  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  also  a  par¬ 
taker  of  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed.  Feed  the  flock  of  God 
which  is  among  you,  taking  the  oversight  thereof,  not  by  con¬ 
straint  but  willingly  ;  not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind  ; 
neither  as  being  lords  over  God’s  heritage,  but  being  ensamples  to 
the  flock.  And  when  the  chief  Shepherd  shall  appear,  ye  shall 
receive  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadetli  not  away.3  These  state¬ 
ments  hardly  admit  of  being  misunderstood.  The  predominant 
ideas  are,  the  chief  Shepherd,  his  flock,  and  the  office  bearers 
specially  exhorted  :  it  is  Christ,  and  his  widely  scattered  Church, 
and  his  under  Shepherds  who  are  her  Elders.  This  flock  of  Christ 
are  called  the  elect  of  God,  they  are  said  to  be  redeemed  by 

1  1  Peter,  iv.  1.  2  2  John,  1 ;  3  John,  1. 


3  1  Peter,  i.  1,  2 ;  v.  1-3. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  629 

Christ,  to  be  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  walk  in  new 
obedience  :  they  are  the  flock  of  God,  the  heritage  of  God, 
Christ  being  the  chief  Shepherd,  and  the  officers  whom  Peter  ex¬ 
horts  being,  according  to  the  force  and  sense  of  the  terms  he 
uses,  Elders,  that  is  Presbyters  of  the  flock,  a  title  shared  with 
Peter,  Shepherds  of  it,  a  title  shared  with  Christ,  and  as  such 
Bishops  of  it,  teachers  of  it  and  rulers  of  it  under  the  great 
Teacher,  the  great  King  Jesus.  They  feed  the  flock  ;  they 
have  the  oversight  of  the  flock  ;  they  are  its  teachers,  its  rulers, 
its  pastors,  its  bishops,  all  under  the  one  name — Elders.*  They 
were  not  appointed  of  God  to  lord  it  over  his  heritage,  but 
to  be  examples  to  his  flock.  They  must  not  take  the  oversight 
of  it  through  any  constraint  upon  the  flock,  but  by  its  willing 
consent :  the  great  doctrine  of  Vocation.  They  must  not  enter 
upon  this  work  for  filthy  lucre,  but  from  zeal.  And  the  second 
coming  of  the  Lord,  and  their  crown  of  unfading  glory  to  be  re¬ 
ceived  at  that  time,  are  the  motives  suggested  for  their  fidelity. 
If,  therefore,  we  may  rely  upon  this  Apostle,  a  Christian  Elder, 
to  whom  the  permanent  administration  of  the  government  of  the 
Christian  Church  belongs,  is  a  Presbyter,  who  by  his  connection 
with  the  flock  is  Pastor  and  Bishop,  and  whose  functions  are  to 
teach  and  rule  ;  who  is  forbidden  to  lord  it  over  the  flock,  or  even 
to  intrude  into  it,  but  is  commanded  to  be  an  example  to  it. 
Peter’s  words  do  not  admit  of  any  other  sense  :  and  what  he 
teaches  corresponds  with  everything  taught  elsewhere  by  the 
Holy  Ghost :  insomuch  that  it  may  be  confidently  asserted  not 
an  intimation  can  be  found  throughout  the  Scriptures,  that  any 
one  who  is  not  a  Presbyter,  has  any  power  of  rule,  since  the 
Apostolic  office  ceased,  in  the  Gospel  Church.  His  generic  title 
is  Presbyter — Elder — which  is  specifically  significative  of  his  power 
of  rule  ;  and  the  officer,  the  idea,  and  the  mode  of  expressing 
both,  according  to  the  various  tongues,  have  been  a  part  of  the 
inheritance  of  the  Church  of  God  under  every  dispensation,  since 
it  had  a  visible  existence.  Being  Presbyter  he  is  ruler  ;  having 
the  cure  of  souls  he  is  Bishop  ;  having  charge  of  a  particular 
flock  he  is  Pastor  and  Teacher.  Thus,  to  take  another  example 
from  another  Apostle,  Paul  as  he  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  proba¬ 
bly  for  the  last  time,  passing  from  Macedonia,  touched  at  Miletus, 
in  Asia  Minor,  and  sent  to  Ephesus  and  called  the  Elders  of  the 

*  Upeo(3vrepovr — 7 xoLpavare — txoluvlov — skloko'kovvtc^ — aox^oLpevog. 


630  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

Church.  His  exhortation  to  them  is  preserved  in  the  narrative 
of  the  affecting  transaction  ;  in  the  course  of  which  he  spoke  these 
words  to  them  :  Take  heed  therefore  to  yourselves,  and  to  all  the 
flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  you  overseers,  to  feed 
the  Church  of  God,  which  he  has  purchased  with  his  blood.1 
Now,  here  is  a  congregation  of  believers  at  Ephesus,  whom  God 
had  purchased  with  his  own  blood,  to  the  aggregate  body  of  whom 
Paul  applies  two  Greek  words,  translated  by  the  two  English 
words  church  and  flock.*  The  persons  he  sent  for,  are  described 
by  two  Greek  phrases,  one  of  which  is  rendered  by  the  words,  the 
Elders  of  Church,  the  word  for  Elder  being  the  only  Greek  word 
for  Presbyter  ;  and  the  other  is  rendered  by  the  words,  the  flock 
over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  you  overseers,  the  word  for 
overseer  being  the  only  Greek  word  for  Bishop.f  The  charge  he 
gives  them  is,  to  take  heed  to  themselves  and  to  all  the  flock, 
and  to  feed  the  Church  of  God.  We  learn,  therefore,  the  same 
things  from  Paul,  as  before  from  Peter.  God  had  a  Church  in 
Ephesus,  which,  like  all  his  other  Churches,  had  office  bearers  in 
it,  called  Elders  or  Presbyters,  who  were  Overseers  or  Bishops, 
who  were  placed  by  the  Holy  Ghost  over  this  flock  or  Church  to 
take  care  of  it,  and  feed  it ;  that  is,  to  be  its  Pastors,  Bishops, 
Teachers,  Eulers.  Without  multiplying  proofs  of  what  seems  to 
be  made  clear  and  certain — namely,  the  nature  of  the  office  held 
by  these  Elders  ;  I  will  add  one  great  and  permanent  peculiarity 
of  the  office,  not  disclosed  particularly  in  the  passages  I  have  cited, 
but  involved  in  them,  and  necessary  to  be  clearly  understood. 
The  Jewish  Sanhedrim,  called  in  Greek  Sunedrion  (Zvvedpiov) 
and  in  English  Synod,  was  established  by  Moses  by  the  express 
command  of  God,  in  the  hands  of  seventy  of  the  Elders  of  Israel  ;3 
and  existed  throughout  the  Jewish  dispensation  as  the  supreme 
tribunal,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  ;  being  in  full  exercise 
during  the  ministry  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  till  the  total 
destruction  of  the  Jewish  commonwealth.  In  the  times  of  our 
Saviour  and  his  Apostles,  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  sat  in  this 
bodv  with  the  Elders,  who  were  still  its  chief  element  :s  the 
whole  matter,  though  frequently  alluded  to,  being  unnecessarily 
obscured  in  our  version  by  using  the  word  council ,  instead  of 

1  Acts,  xx.  It,  28.  *  EK^Tjma — koi/uviov. 

f  T ovc  npEofivTspovc;  enK/iTjOLag ; — ev  (p  vfiag  to  tt vev/j.a  to  aytov  sOsto  etthtkotcovi. 

a  Lev.,  xi.  16-30  3  Matt.,  xxvi.  29  ;  Luke,  xxii.  66. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARER  S — G  OVERNMENT.  631 

synod.  In  the  body  of  the  Christian  Elders,  from  their  first  ex¬ 
istence,  all  without  exception  were  rulers,  as  I  have  proved.  But 
a  new  function  manifested  itself  amongst  these  Elders,  unknown 
to  those  of  the  Jews  ;  the  great  function  of  preaching  the  cross 
of  Christ,  as  the  power  of  God,  and  of  a  divine  stewardship  of 
those  mysteries  of  God  which  stand  immediately  related  to  the 
great  work  of  proclaiming  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  To 
meet  this  glorious  exigency,  many  expedients  presented  them¬ 
selves.  The  one  adopted  by  the  Apostles  was  the  simplest  and 
the  most  effectual.  The  whole  body  of  Elders  was  divided  upon 
this  new  function  into  two  classes,  one  of  which  should  perform 
it  in  addition  to  all  other  functions,  and  the  other  should  unite 
with  them  as  before  in  the  performance  of  all  other  functions  of 
the  Elder's  office.  The  designation  of  individual  Elders  to  one 
or  other  class,  as  well  as  the  call  of  them  all,  might  at  first  have 
been  miraculous,  or  might  have  been  personal  by  the  Apostles  as 
theirs  had  been  by  Christ.  Permanently,  it  must  all  be  through 
vocation  of  God’s  people,  and  by  ordination  ;  the  fact  of  such  a 
distinction  as  I  have  pointed  out,  being  the  main  thing  here. 
The  dispensation  of  Sacrifices  had  ended,  and  with  it  the  cere¬ 
monial  law  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  order  of  the  priest¬ 
hood,  the  essence  of  whose  office  it  was  to  offer  sacrifice.  But 
the  Church  stood  not  only,  but  passed  into  a  far  higher  state  ; 
and  every  permanent  gift  which  God  had  bestowed  on  her,  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world,  stood  forth  only  the  more  distinctly 
as  all  that  was  temporary  disappeared.  The  Elders  of  the  people 
were  one  of  these  gifts,  older  than  the  call  of  Moses,  which  he 
found  and  by  the  command  of  God  organized  ;  which  the  Apos¬ 
tles  found,  and  in  like  manner  organized,  as  I  have  shown  ;  in  all 
instances  the  form  of  organization  being  responsive  to  the  form 
of  each  successive  dispensation.  In  the  Gospel  dispensation, 
Church  power  is  subject  to  the  profound  distinction  which  both 
the  examples  I  have  just  expounded  involve  and  suggest,  namely 
the  distinction  between  ruling  and  teaching  :  which  distinction 
in  the  power,  must  exist  also  in  those  who  hold  the  power  ;  or 
else  all  of  them  must  hold  both  forms  of  Church  power,  and  the 
inherent  distinction  in  the  nature  of  the  power  be  liable  to  con¬ 
stant  disregard.  In  effect,  what  happens  by  the  ordination  ot 
God  is,  that  the  distinction  in  the  nature  of  the  power  is  pre¬ 
served,  and  the  whole  body  of  Elders  is  divided  into  two  classes, 


632  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

of  whom  one  hath  rulers  and  teachers,  while  the  others  rule 
only  ;  all  being  by  order  Elders — Presbyters.  Therefore,  says 
the  Apostle,  Let  the  Elders  that  rule  well  he  counted  worthy  of 
double  honour,  especially  they  that  labour  in  word  and  doctrine.1 
That  is,  all  Elders  are  Church  rulers,  and  all  as  such  should  he 
honoured  ;  and  those  who  do  this  duty  well  should  receive  spe¬ 
cial  honour  on  that  account  :  hut  besides  ruling  well,  there  are 
Elders  who  preach  the  Gospel,  and  these  are  particularly  worthy 
of  being  honoured.  In  the  same  chapter  the  Apostle  charges 
Timothy,  to  whom  he  was  writing,  that  he  should  not  rebuke  an 
Elder,  but  exhort  him  as  a  father  ;  and  that,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  ordaining  Elders  in  every  city,  to  whom  should  be  committed, 
that  they  also  might  commit  to  others,  the  things  in  which  Paul 
had  instructed  him  ;  hands  must  not  be  laid  in  ordination  sud¬ 
denly  on  any  man.2  In  another  epistle  this  Apostle,  more  in 
detail,  commands  generally  that  every  one  having  any  part  in 
the  service  of  the  body  of  Christ,  should  diligently  use  his  special 
office,  received  as  a  gift  of  the  grace  of  God  ;  and  then  entering 
into  particulars,  commands  among  other  things  that  those  who 
are  thus  called  of  God  to  teach  shall  be  occupied  therein,  and 
those  who  are  called  to  rule  shall  do  it  diligently.3  And  to  this 
purport  is  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  subject,  whether  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Church  be  considered  in  its  relation  to  past  dispensations,  or 
in  its  own  special  nature  ;  whether  we  examine  the  revealed  form 
of  the  government  given  to  it,  or  the  absolute  nature  of  the  of¬ 
fice  bearers  themselves,  or  the  multitudinous  statements  relating 
expressly  or  indirectly  to  every  part  of  the  subject,  scattered 
throughout  the  word  of  God.  Touching  the  point  I  have  now 
discussed,  the  result  is  certain  ;  namely,  that  the  permanent 
government  of  the  Gospel  Church  is  exclusively  in  the  hands  of 
Elders,  and  that  there  are  two  classes  of  Elders,  of  whom  one 
are  both  teachers  and  rulers,  and  the  other  rulers  only. 

II. — 1.  There  is  then,  by  divine  ordination,  a  spiritual  gov¬ 
ernment  in  the  Gospel  Church,  wholly  distinct  from  all  civil 
government :  the  office  bearers  in  whose  hands  this  government 
is  lodged  by  God,  are  revealed  :  and  the  nature  of  the  power  of 
the  Church,  to  be  exercised  through  this  government,  and  these 
office  bearers,  is  taught  us  by  God.  I  will  now  endeavour  to  ex- 

1  1  Tim.,  v.  1 1.  2  1  Tim.,  v.  1-22  ;  2  Tim.,  ii.  2  ;  Titus,  i.  5. 

8  Rom.,  xii.  4-8. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  633 

plain,  from  tlie  word  of  God,  as  briefly  as  possible,  the  manner  in 
which  this  government  originates  and  tabes  its  divine  form,  in 
which  it  acts,  and  in  which  its  existence  is  every  way  involved 
with  that  of  the  visible  Church  itself.  And  first  of  the  particu¬ 
lar  congregations  and  their  tribunal.  We  have  no  means  of 
knowing  to  what  extent  men  wTere  regenerated  under  the  per¬ 
sonal  ministry  of  Christ  ;  no  means  of  ascertaining  what  propor¬ 
tion  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  were  already  true  children  of  God 
when  Christ  came,  and  joyfully  received  him  as  soon  as  he  ap¬ 
peared.  When  we  recollect  that  the  Jewish  people  were  the  visi¬ 
ble  Church  of  God,  and  that  the  profession  of  being  a  Jew  which 
was  only  outward  and  not  inward,  is  distinctly  repudiated  by 
Christ  and  by  the  Apostles  ;  and  call  to  mind  the  signal  examples 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  of  righteous  Jews  who  were 
waiting,  when  Christ  appeared,  for  the  hope  of  Israel ;  we  shall, 
perhaps  justly,  conclude  that  we  are  prone  to  make  too  low  an 
estimate  of  the  number  of  God's  children  who  were  ready  to  ac¬ 
cept  their  Messiah.  On  the  other  point,  if  we  call  to  mind  the 
wonderful  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  its  wonderful  effects; 
and  reflect  on  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  teaching,  the  mira¬ 
cles,  and  the  very  presence  of  Christ,  and  consider  wThat  vast  mul¬ 
titudes  throughout  Judea  heard  his  doctrine  from  himself,  as 
well  as  from  the  twelve,  and  the  seventy  whom  he  sent  out ;  it  is 
not  easy  to  believe  that  the  number  of  true  believers  was  small, 
when  the  Lord  was  crucified.  We  know  that  the  number  of  the 
disciples  met  together  in  one  place  before  Pentecost,  who  at  the 
suggestion  of  Peter  substituted  an  Apostle  for  Judas,  was  about 
a  hundred  and  twenty  j1  they  being,  probably,  a  select  body  of 
the  principal  Christians  then  about  Jerusalem.  And  Paul  states 
that  Christ  was  seen  after  his  resurrection,  by  about  five  hundred 
brethren  at  once  ;  although  Peter  says  it  was  only  by  witnesses 
chosen  before  of  God,  that  he  was  seen  after  his  resurrection.2 
To  this  precious,  dispersed,  and  perhaps  great  flock  delivered  by 
Christ  to  the  Apostles,  three  thousand  were  added  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost.  The  number  was  increased  to  five  thousand  a  short 
time  after,  and  the  Lord  added  to  the  Church  daily  such  as 
should  be  saved  ;  and  in  a  single  generation  the  Gospel  seems  to 
have  penetrated  the  remotest  nations.  At  first,  the  Apostles  ap¬ 
pear  to  have  discharged  every  official  duty  ;  very  soon  they  caused 

Acts,  L  15.  2  1  Cor.,  xv.  6 ;  Acts,  x.  41. 


634 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


the  multitude  of  the  disciples  in  Jerusalem  to  elect  Deacons  ;  as 
soon  as  we  hear  of  particular  Churches,  we  hear  of  their  Elders  : 
and  then  of  Presbytery,  and  ordinations  ;  and  then  of  Synod, 
and  great  questions  discussed  and  settled.  The  office  bearers  of 
the  Church,  are  ascension  gifts  of  Christ ;  for,  it  is  certain  that 
when  he  ascended  up  on  high,  he  led  captivity  captive  and  gave 
gifts  unto  men  ;  which  gifts  were  Apostles,  Prophets,  Evange¬ 
lists,  Pastors  and  Teachers.  And  these  were  given,  for  the  per¬ 
fecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edify¬ 
ing  of  the  body  of  Christ.1  And  so  far  were  the  Apostles  from 
being  at  any  loss,  that  the  narrative  of  their  reception  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  of  their  instantaneous  proclamation  of  salvation  by  Jesus 
Christ,  of  the  conversion  and  immediate  baptism  of  about  three 
thousand  souls  ;  proceeds  to  add  that  these  persons  continued 
steadfastly  in  the  Apostles’  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  break¬ 
ing  of  bread,  and  in  prayer.2  But  this  breaking  of  bread  was  the 
celebration  of  the  Lord’s  Supper,  which  has  been  shown  to  be  a 
sacrament  involving  a  community,  and  not  merely  individual  per¬ 
sons  :  and  this  fellowship*  necessarily  involves  the  same  thing. 
From  Pentecost  itself,  therefore,  the  family  of  Christ,  the  Church, 
the  Christian  commonwealth,  already  existed  in  its  visible  form  ; 
and  was  numbered  by  thousands  ;  possibly,  as  I  have  pointed  out, 
by  hundreds  of  thousands.  From  the  remotest  antiquity  per¬ 
haps,  undoubtedly  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  fixed  congre¬ 
gations  of  believers  met  to  worship  God.  The  Jews  called  these 
fixed  congregations  synagogues,  and  held  the  worship  of  each  at 
a  fixed  place  ;  and  that  worship  consisted  in  the  reading  and  ex¬ 
pounding  of  God’s  word,  and  in  offering  up  prayers  to  him.  Each 
one  of  these  synagogues  had  a  bench  of  these  Elders,  whom  the 
Scriptures  mention  so  often,  who  jointly  bore  rule  in  it.  During 
the  ministry  of  Christ  and  that  of  his  Apostles,  these  synagogues 
existed  throughout  Palestine,  and  were  found  in  every  city  in  the 
world,  wherever  a  small  community  of  Jews  resided.  If  the  Rabbis 
are  to  be  credited,  Jerusalem  contained  nearly  five  hundred  syn¬ 
agogues.  Every  Christian  in  the  world,  probably,  for  the  first 
eight  years  of  the  existence  of  the  Gospel  Church,  was  a  Jew : 
and  whether  by  divine  inspiration,  by  reason  of  the  perfection  of 
the  organization,  by  reason  of  their  Jewish  training,  or  by  reason 
of  all  combined  :  the  fact  is  certain  that  the  fixed  congregations, 

i  Eph.,,  iv.  7-15’  1  Cor.,  xii.  5-13.  2  Acts,  ii.  42. 


*  YLoivmvlci. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  635 

the  particular  Churches,  which  the  Apostles  erected  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Church  universal,  were  as  near  the  model  of  the  Jewish 
synagogue  as  the  respective  natures  of  the  two  dispensations  of 
the  Church  of  God  allowed.  The  Apostle  James,  indeed,  calls 
the  Christian  congregation  of  his  dispersed  brethren  to  whom  his 
Epistle  is  addressed,  your  synagogue,  which  our  version  obscures 
by  using  the  w7ord  assembly.1  And  the  promise  of  our  Saviour, 
Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together*  in  my  name,  there  am 
I  in  the  midst  of  them  :2  appears,  from  the  peculiar  word  he  used, 
to  intimate  an  organic  gathering  together,  and  that  after  the 
manner  of  the  synagogue.  Now  these  fixed  Christian  congrega¬ 
tions  are  the  elemental  particulars  of  which  the  whole  structure 
of  Church  government  is  constructed.  To  each  one  of  these 
Christ  gives  a  plurality  of  Elders,  two  or  three,  ten  or  twenty, 
according  to  its  need.  To  each  one  of  them  he  gives  a  Pastor  or 
"Bishop— or  two  or  three  or  more,  if  need  require.  And  all  these 
Pastors,  Bishops  and  Elders,  are  alike  Presbyters ;  and  all  jointly 
rule,  and  the  Pastors  or  Bishops  besides  this,  labour  in  word  and 
doctrine.  The  tribunal,  the  court  in  that,  congregation,  which 
exercises  all  the  power  of  rule  appertaining  to  it,  is  constituted 
of  all  these  Presbyters.8  To  this  fixed  particular  Church,  God 
gave  another  class  of  permanent  office  bearers  called  Deacons,  of 
whom  I  have  had  no  occasion  to  speak  particularly  as  yet,  because 
Church  government  is  not  in  their  hands.  They  arc  mentioned 
here  for  the  purpose  of  adding,  that  every  complete  Christian 
Church,  has  everything  that  every  other  one  has,  everything  that 
the  Church  universal  has  :  Pastors,  Elders,  Deacons,  members,  a 
tribunal,  ordinances,  worship,  everything.  If  there  was  but  one 
on  earth  it  would  possess  all  that  the  universal  Church  would 
possess,  if  it  embraced  the  whole  family  of  man  :  numbers  only 
would  be  increased,  the  government,  the  office  bearers,  the  mem¬ 
bers,  the  tribunal,  the  nature  of  Church  power  being  the  same. 
On  the  one  hand  the  unity  of  the  whole  Church,  on  the  other  the 
efficacy  of  every  particular  element  of  it,  is  perfectly  secured  : 
and  all  that  is  lacking  is  some  application  of  this  wonderful 
organization,  by  which  a  tribunal  like  that  in  the  congregation, 
shall  exist  for  the  whole  of  the  Church  considered  as  one,  and  tri- 

i  James,  ii.  2.  *  Zwqyfievoi  2  Matt.,  xviii.  20. 

3  1  Cor.,  v.  4,  5;  xii.  28;  Matt.,  xviii.  15-20;  Acts,  xiv.  23;  1  Thess.,  v.  11,  12; 
Acts,  xv.  2,  6;  xx.  17,  28;  Rom.,  xii.  8  ;  1  Tim.,  v.  17. 


636  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V, 

bunals  like  both  of  these  shall  exist  between  the  first  and  the 
last,  the  smallest  and  the  greatest,  as  necessity  may  demand. 
This  I  will  now  explain. 

2.  The  particular  Christian  congregations  everywhere  gathered 
and  organized,  everywhere  called  the  Church,  the  flock  of  Christ, 
of  which  the  mention  is  constant  in  those  divine  writings  which 
cover  a  period  of  about  sixty  years,  from  the  crucifixion  of  Christ 
to  the  death  of  the  Apostle  John  ;  varied  greatly  with  respect  to 
members,  both  one  from  another,  and  each  one  in  itself  from  time 
to  time.  The  organized  congregation  and  its  tribunal,  might 
exist  singly  in  a  city  and  be  small :  or  might  exist  singly,  and 
the  numbers  be  so  great  and  the  city  so  large,  as  to  require  nu¬ 
merous  places  for  public  worship,  and  numerous  office  bearers  to 
serve,  to  rule,  and  to  teach,  so  great  a  multitude  :  or  each  one  of 
these  various  meetings  might  become  fixed  and  organized  with 
its  own  officers  and  tribunal.  It  is  an  aspect  of  the  subject  which 
presents  no  difficulty,  either  in  theory  or  practice.  That  Presby¬ 
ters,  Elders,  Pastors,  Bishops,  were  ordained  in  every  Church,  by 
the  Apostles  or  by  their  orders,  is  explicitly  and  repeatedly  as¬ 
serted  in  the  Scriptures  and  I  have  already  shown  that  they 
constituted  the  tribunal,  the  court' — the  congregational  or  pa¬ 
rochial  Presbytery.  It  is  by  the  union  of  many  of  these  particu¬ 
lar  congregations,  with  their  tribunals,  and  by  the  erection  of  a 
tribunal  over  the  united  body,  similar  to  the  one  that  exists  in 
each  of  them  ;  that  the  Church  preserves  its  outward  unity,  and 
extends  its  government,  as  its  own  area  enlarges,  and  its  num¬ 
bers  increase.  It  is  immaterial  what  the  number  of  these  united 
congregations  may  be,  three,  a  hundred,  or  any  convenient  num¬ 
ber.  The  model  of  this  application  of  the  principles  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment,  already  existed  from  the  origin  of  the  Church,  probably  in 
every  large  city,  certainly  in  Jerusalem,  Antioch  and  others  ;  where 
numerous  unfixed  congregations,  although  worshipping  statedly 
apart,  belonged  for  a  time  to  the  same  organized  Church,  under 
the  control  of  its  single  but  numerous  tribunal.  So  that  the 
transition  to  a  similar  union  of  numerous  fixed  and  organized  con¬ 
gregations,  and  the  erection  of  a  tribunal  over  them  all  which 
should  be  exactly  like  the  tribunal  of  each,  indeed  constituted  by 
uniting  the  whole  of  the  particular  tribunals  or  a  select  portion 
of  each  one  ;  was  a  perfectly  obvious  mode  by  which  the  united 

1  Acts,  xiv.  23  ;  xiii.  1-3  ;  xxi.  17,  18 ;  1  Tim.,  v.  17-22 ;  Titus,  i.  5 ;  James,  v.  14. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  637 

congregations  might  have  mutual  counsel  and  assistance,  might 
more  effectually  preserve  the  doctrine  and  execute  the  discipline 
of  the  Church,  might  preserve  the  organic  unity  of  the  whole  as 
the  body  of  Christ  of  which  all  are  parts,  and  might  augment  by 
union  of  counsel  and  effort  the  efficient  working  of  the  whole,  in 
perfecting  and  extending  the  Kingdom  of  God.  What  is  as¬ 
serted  is,  that  this  part  of  the  organization  of  the  Church,  which 
seems  to  be  so  natural,  so  obvious,  and  so  wise,  is  also  Apostolical 
and  divine  ;  that  this  union  of  congregations  is  as  thoroughly 
according  to  the  will  of  God,  as  the  union  of  individuals  into 
congregations  is  ;  and  the  control  of  the  tribunal  of  the  united 
congregations  as  real  over  all  the  congregations  and  all  their 
special  tribunals,  as  the  rule  of  each  particular  tribunal  is  over 
the  congregation  in  which  it  is  erected.  Thus  originating  and 
thus  constituted,  the  members  of  this  tribunal  are  the  same  per¬ 
sons  who  are  members  of  the  tribunals  in  the  congregations  ;  not 
only  similar,  but  the  same,  beyond  all  doubt  to  the  extent  of 
embracing  them  ;  they  are  Presbyters  of  both  classes,  all  of  one 
order,  and  according  to  that  order  all  of  equal  dignity,  rank,  and 
authority,  as  rulers  in  the  house  of  God.  The  tribunal  itself  is 
called  in  the  Greek  Scriptures  Presbuterion  ( Upeof^vrepLov )  Pres¬ 
bytery  :  the  very  same  word  being  applied  by  Paul  to  the  Jewish 
and  to  the  corresponding  Christian  tribunal ;  but  obscured  by 
rendering  it  the  Estate  of  the  Eiders  when  applied  to  the  former.1 
So  we  have  in  the  Jewish  Church  the  Sanhedrim,  the  Presbytery, 
and  the  Synagogue,  and  in  the  Christian  Church  the  Synod,  the 
Presbytery,  and  the  congregation  :  the  very  names  of  all  the 
Jewish  courts  being  allowed  by  the  Apostles,  as  being  appro¬ 
priate  to  the  Christian  institutions;  and  the  things  represented 
by  these  names  respectively,  being  as  similar  as  the  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  two  dispensations  permits.  It  would  prevent  much 
error,  if  we  would  more  carefully  distinguish  between  those  parts 
of  our  great  inheritance  which  are  peculiar  to  our  own  dispensa¬ 
tion,  and  those  parts  which  are  common  to  all  dispensations.  For 
the  detailed  exposition  of  the  three  ecclesiastical  tribunals  so  near¬ 
ly  common  to  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Dispensations,  a  volume, 
and  not  a  single  section  of  a  single  chapter,  would  be  required. 
I  therefore  content  myself,  upon  this  naked  point  of  the  divine 
warrant  for  the  classical  Presbytery,  that  is  a  Presbytery  over  a 

1 1  Tim.,  iv.  14 ;  Acts,  xxii.  5  ;  Luke,  xxii.  G6. 


638 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[book  V. 


dass  of  particular  Churches,  which  is  the  tribunal  next  above 
the  congregational  Presbytery  or  Church  session  ;  with  merely 
adding  to  what  has  been  advanced,  the  example  of  the  classical 
Presbytery  in  the  Churches  in  Jerusalem,  in  Antioch,  in  Ephe¬ 
sus,  and  in  Corinth  concerning  all  of  which  the  numerous 
statements  of  the  Scriptures,  when  collected  and  duly  consid¬ 
ered,  make  it  fully  apparent  that  they  were  just  such  courts  as 
have  existed  always,  and  as  exist  still,  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 
Supposing,  in  the  next  place,  the  Church  visible  to  extend  itself 
beyond  such  limits,  either  in  space  or  numbers,  as  may  be  con¬ 
veniently  covered  by  the  classical  Presbytery  just  described  ;  the 
formation  of  additional  tribunals  of  the  same  kind,  either  by  di¬ 
vision  of  such  as  exist,  or  the  erection  of  new  ones,  puts  these 
classical  Presbyteries  with  all  the  Churches  composing  them,  in 
a  position  similar  to  that  occupied  by  the  particular  Churches 
and  their  congregational  Presbytery,  before  the  creation  of  the 
classical  Presbytery.  And  the  remedy  and  the  result  are  the 
same,  as  in  the  first  case.  The  union  of  anv  number  of  classi- 
cal  Presbyteries  as  such,  three,  fifty,  a  hundred,  creates  a  synod 
covering  them  all  ;  composed  of  the  same  office  bearers,  organ¬ 
ized  in  the  same  way,  and  with  the  same  power  and  jurisdiction 
over  all,  that  each  had  over  part.  By  taking  the  members  of 
this  third  court,  or  synod,  immediately  from  the  first  one,  or 
Church  session,  it  may  be  made  a  very  numerous  body  ;  or  by 
taking  them  from  the  second  court,  or  Presbytery  strictly  so 
called,  and  applying  the  principle  of  representation  of  the  whole 
Presbytery  by  a  small  part  of  its  members,  the  synod  may  be  a 
very  small  body.  It  is  perfectly  suitable,  therefore,  either  to  be 
the  permanent  head  of  a  denomination  of  Christians,  or  of  a  na¬ 
tional  Church  ;  or  to  be  one  of  a  series  of  tribunals,  the  supreme 
one  of  which  shall  be  above  it.  The  scriptural  warrant  for  this 
tribunal  has  been  as  fully  set  forth,  and  its  nature  as  fully  con¬ 
sidered,  in  the  examination  I  have  already  made  of  the  synod 
constituted  at  Jerusalem  concerning  Gentile  circumcision,  as  my 
limits  permit.  And  now  supposing  the  extent  of  the  Church 
in  any  way,  or  its  interests  of  any  sort,  to  demand  a  tribunal 
still  higher  than  the  synod,  the  same  divine  organization  and 
principles  apply  perfectly,  and  with  the  same  result :  and  a  uni- 

1  Acts,  xi.  27,  30 ;  xv.  2,  35  ;  xiii.  1-3  ;  xx.  17,  28  ;  iv.  35,  37  ;  vi.  2,  3-6 ;  1  Cor., 
i.  12  ;  iv.  15  ;  v.  4-15  ;  xiv  29  ;  2  Cor.,  ii.  6-9. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  639 

versal  council  of  any  number  of  Churches,  can  he  constituted 
for  a  special  purpose  ;  or  a  General  Assembly  of  any  separate 
Church,  whether  denominational  or  national,  can  be  constituted 
as  a  permanent  tribunal,  without  departing  in  the  least  particular 
from  the  divine  model,  or  from  the  divine  precepts.  If  the  Gen¬ 
eral  Assembly  is  to  be  numerous,  that  is  effected  by  making  the 
Presbyters  who  compose  it,  the  representatives  of  Presbyteries  : 
if  it  is  to  be  comparatively  small,  that  is  effected  by  making  the 
Presbyters  who  compose  it  the  representatives  of  Synods.  It  is 
the  tribunal  of  the  whole  Church  ;  it  is  the  whole  Church  met 
in  one  Assembly  by  its  office  bearers,  exactly  as  a  Church  ses¬ 
sion  is  a  particular  Church  met  by  its  office  bearers  ;  and  the 
jurisdiction  and  power  of  the  supreme  tribunal  over  all,  are  of 
the  same  nature  and  have  the  same  divine  warrant,  as  the  juris¬ 
diction  and  the  power  of  the  tribunals  below  it  over  the  parts 
which  they  respectively  rule.  The  government  of  the  Church, 
therefore,  is  a  free  representative  government  :  it  is  not  a  tyr¬ 
anny  like  popery,  nor  an  oligarchy  like  Prelacy,  nor  a  pure  de¬ 
mocracy  like  Independency.  It  is  in  its  conception  perfect,  no 
matter  how  small  :  perfect,  no  matter  how  widely  expanded  : 
perfect  at  every  intermediate  point  between  a  small  company  and 
the  whole  race  of  man.  It  cannot  make  Christians  ;  but  it  en¬ 
ables  Christians  to  do  with  the  highest  efficiency,  all  that  God 
requires  them  to  do,  as  his  Kingdom.  Its  whole  authority  de¬ 
pends  on  the  only  head  of  the  Church,  who  is  Christ  the  Lord  ; 
in  whose  name  everyone  of  its  tribunals  perpetually  constitutes  ; 
and  all  their  lawful  a.cts  are  worship  of  him.  Its  whole  efficacy 
depends  on  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  its  sole  rule  is  the  word  of  God. 
Its  connection  with  the  Church  of  God,  which  is  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth,  is  so  vital,  that  its  permanent  extinction  is 
totally  impossible,  except  by  means  of  the  annihilation  of  the  visi¬ 
ble  Church.  Nevertheless,  while  its  existence  depends  on  that  of 
the  Church,  the  existence  of  the  Church  depends  on  it  only  in 
the  sense,  that  by  the  command  of  God  she  manifests  the  life 
he  gives  her,  through  the  gifts  he  bestows  on  her  ;  two  of  which 
are  these  office  bearers,  and  this  government  in  their  hands. 
Great  gifts  :  but  she  has  others  earlier  and  greater. 

3.  I  have  explained  in  another  place,  how  it  is  that  the  inhe¬ 
rent  power  of  making  laws,  which  in  the  nature  of  society  mani¬ 
fests  itself  in  the  very  process  of  its  organic  life  ;  receives,  in 


640  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

this  divine  society,  a  very  peculiar  direction,  and  manifests  itself 
by  the  willing,  nay,  joyful  acceptance  of  God  as  its  only  law¬ 
giver,  and  his  laws  as  the  only  laws  of  his  Church.  Obedience  to 
the  laws  of  God,  together  with  the  exposition  and  administration 
of  them,  therefore,  embraces  the  whole  power  and  duty  of  the 
government  of  that  society  called  the  visible  Church.  All  its 
officers,  and  the  whole  government  in  their  hands,  and  the  entire 
tribunals  appertaining  to  that  government,  are,  as  I  have  shown, 
from  God,  and  of  the  Church.  This  Church  is  the  company  of 
God’s  elect  now  on  earth,  who  are  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  his 
visible  Body,  a  peculiar  people  purified  unto  himself,  a  chosen 
generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation.1  To  it,  God  has 
given  inestimable  gifts,  out  of  some  of  which  its  visible  existence 
originated,  and  by  means  of  others  its  complete  organization  bas 
been  produced  ;  and  its  continued  existence  and  extension,  as 
well  as  its  peace,  purity  and  edification  are  secured  by  them  all. 
In  a  special  manner  the  office  bearers  of  the  Gospel  Church  are 
ascension  gifts  of  Christ  to  the  Churcb  in  its  present  form  ;  and 
the  government  in  their  hands  is  of  Christ,  wfith  special  reference 
to  this  dispensation.  Nor  does  it  impair,  but  rather  adds  to  the 
force  of  these  statements,  that  the  model  of  the  office  bearers 
and  of  the  government  of  the  Church,  is  found  in  part  under  preced¬ 
ing  dispensations  ;  just  as  the  Sabbath,  the  Sacraments,  the  moral 
law,  the  Gospel,  nay,  Christ  himself,  are  found  in  them.  The  re¬ 
lation,  therefore,  between  Christ,  the  Church,  its  office  bearers, 
and  its  government,  all  to  each,  and  each  to  every  one,  is  un¬ 
speakably  intimate  ;  and  on  that  very  account  we  are  the  more 
liable  to  err,  in  our  weak  attempts  to  apply  the  logical  element 
of  the  question  of  the  Church,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  settle  and 
bound  acts  and  gifts  of  God,  into  which  the  supernatural  element 
of  the  question  of  the  Church  enters  so  profoundly.  Whatever 
power  is  in  the  Church  or  its  office  bearers,  is  in  them  by  investi¬ 
ture  from  Christ,  and  is  revealed  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  But 
the  whole  power  of  Christ  unto  salvation  is  in  him,  under  the 
covenant  of  grace,  and  as  Mediator  of  the  Covenant  ;  and  all  his 
power  unto  salvation  as  Mediator,  is  manifested  in  his  offices  of 
Prophet,  Priest,  and  King.  Of  his  Priestly  office,  and  power,  he 
delegates  nothing  to  the  Church  ;  except  as  it  is  a  Kingdom, 
every  member  of  which  is  a  royal  Priest  ;  and  except  as  that 

1  Titus,  ii.  14;  1  Peter,  ii.  9. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  641 

portion  of  its  Presbyters  who  labour  in  word  and  doctrine,  each 
being  a  minister  of  Christ,  an  Elder,  a  Bishop,  a  receiver  of  gifts, 
is  a  steward  of  the  mysteries  of  God.*1  Of  his  Kingly  office  he 
delegates  to  his  Church,  whatever  power  of  rule  he  invests  in  the 
Elders  he  gives  her,  and  in  the  government  he  creates  in  their 
hands.  And  of  his  Prophetic  office  he  delegates  in  a  wide  sense 
power  to  every  disciple  of  his,  to  spread  the  glad  tidings  of  sal¬ 
vation  through  all  the  earth,  and  to  make  the  way  of  life  known 
to  every  creature  ;  but  in  a  strict  sense,  he  calls  one  class  of  the 
great  order  of  Elders,  and  delegates  to  them  the  preaching  of 
the  everlasting  Gospel,  they  being  herein  his  special  official  ser¬ 
vants,  ministers,  and  stewards  of  the  mysteries  of  God.  The  whole 
rule  of  the  Church  is,  therefore,  a  delegation  to  a  certain  extent, 
of  certain  parts  of  the  Kingly  power  of  Christ  ;  and  is  in  Elders 
as  Elders,  to  be  exercised  by  them  in  the  tribunals  ordained  of 
God.  But  to  a  certain  class  of  this  order  of  Elders,  the  great 
function  of  the  ministry  in  word  and  doctrine,  and  that  of 
stewardship  of  the  mysteries  of  God,  is  divinely  committed  ;  and 
this  is  a  delegation  also,  from  Christ,  and  the  most  glorious  of 
all,  but  a  delegation  not  of  his  Kingly  but  of  his  Prophetic 
power  as  to  the  former,  and  of  his  Priestly  power  as  to  the  latter. 
The  rule  of  the  Church,  I  repeat,  is  a  delegation  from  Christ  as 
Kinsr,  and  is  in  the  hands  of  Elders  met  in  tribunals  ;  the  ministra- 
tion  of  the  Gospel  is  a  delegation  from  Christ  as  Prophet,  and  is  in 
the  hands  of  ministers  who  are  Elders  ;  and  the  stewardship  of 
the  mysteries  of  God  is  a  delegation  from  Christ  as  Priest,  and 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  The  ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  therefore,  are  rulers,  not  as  ministers,  nor  as  stewards, 
but  as  Elders,  Presbyters  ;  Presbyters  on  whom  those  great  addi¬ 
tional  honours  are  laid  by  GoJ,  and  on  account  of  those  gifts  and 
callings  of  God,  they  become  a  separate  class  of  Elders,  not  by 
any  means  a  different  order.  There  is,  therefore,  as  I  said  before, 
a  thorough  and  obvious  distinction  in  the  nature  of  Church 
power  itself  ;  which  is  ordinarly  and  justly  expressed  by  calling 
one  form  of  it,  the  power  of  rule,  or  government,  Potestas  Pe- 
giminis;  and  the  other  the  power  of  teaching  and  of  adminis¬ 
tering  the  mysteries,  or  from  the  nature  of  it,  the  power  of  order, 

*  'T'jreprjTac  Xpcarov,  kcu  oucovouovg  pvoTTjpiov  Oeov  : — Trpeoflvrepovg  etuokottov 
Oeov  oiKpvofiov  : — -XdpLOuci — OLK.ovop.oi — -xapLTog  Oeov. 

1  1  Cor.,  iv.  1 ;  Titus,  i.  4-7  ;  1  Peter,  iv.  10,  11. 

41 


VOL.  II. 


642 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[BOOK  V. 


Potestas  Ordinis.  The  distinction  is  fundamental ;  and  the  dif¬ 
ference  in  the  use  and  exercise  of  the  two  powers  is  also  funda¬ 
mental  ;  and  not  only  the  freedom  and  efficiency  of  the  Church, 
hut  its  very  nature  as  a  society,  depends  on  seeing  that  distinc¬ 
tion  clearly,  and  observing  it  faithfully.  The  power  of  order  is 
a  several  power,  never  joint  ;  the  power  of  regimen,  rule,  is  a 
joint  power,  never  several.  A  Presbyter,  who  is  a  minister  of 
Christ,  labouring  in  word  and  doctrine  and  a  steward  of  the 
mysteries  of  God  ;  preaches  the  Gospel,  administers  sacraments, 
and  the  like,  as  a  single  person,  ex  or  dine,  by  virtue  of  his  being 
what  he  is  ;  and  nothing  can  be  added  to,  nothing  taken  from 
the  lawfulness  and  efficacy  of  such  acts,  by  the  absence  or  the 
concurrence  of  other  office  bearers  like  himself.  As  to  his  ruling, 
it  is  widely  different.  No  Presbyter  has  any  several  power  of 
rule  ;  the  power  itself  is  joint,  and  can  be  exercised  only  by  a 
tribunal,  never  by  a  single  yierson,  nor  by  any  number  of  single 
persons  taken  severally.  The  exercise  of  rule  in  Christ's  Church 
is  not  by  the  body  of  the  brotherhood,  nor  by  a  diocesian  Prelate, 
nor  by  a  Pope  ;  but  exclusively  by  Church  courts,  constituted 
of  both  classes  of  the  one  great  order  of  Presbyters.  The  tri¬ 
bunals  they  constitute  are  courts,  not  legislative  assemblies  : 
courts  having  power,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  Christ 
the  eternal  King  and  Lawgiver  and  Judge,  to  expound  and  ad¬ 
minister  the  laws  of  his  Kingdom  on  earth  ;  which  laws  embrace 
his  whole  will  revealed  unto  salvation,  as  held  forth  in  the  Scrip¬ 
tures.  And  these  courts,  as  has  been  shown,  rise  one  above  ano¬ 
ther,  each  embracing  all  below  it,  until  that  which  is  supreme 
embraces  all.  Everything  has  reference  to  the  preservation  and 
extension  of  the  Kingdom  ;  to  the  gathering  and  perfecting  of 
the  saints  in  this  life,  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Everything  has 
a  divine  authority  :  or  no  authority  at  all. 

4  .In  the  practical  continuance  of  the  existence  of  the  visi¬ 
ble  Church,  and  the  practical  administration  of  its  government, 
and  of  all  power  whether  that  of  Regimen  or  that  of  Order  ; 
everything  depends  upon  the  practical  exercise  of  the  vocation 
of  office  bearers.  Theoretically,  the  subject  is  no  less  vital  ;  for 
the  grounds,  no  matter  what  they  are,  upon  which  we  decide  it, 
will  be  found  to  enter  deeply  into  the  whole  conception  we  have 
of  the  nature  of  the  Church,  its  office  bearers,  and  its  govern¬ 
ment.  If  the  Pope  or  the  King  appoints  the  diocesan  Bishops, 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  643 

and  they  appoint  the  Priests,  and  the  Elder's  office  is  abolished  ; 
it  is  easily  seen  that  the  idea  of  the  Church,  of  its  government, 
of  its  officers,  and  of  their  vocation,  is  consistent  throughout.  On 
the  other  extreme,  if  the  idea  of  the  visible  unity  of  the  Church 
is  swallowed  up  in  the  idea  of  the  independence  of  each  particu¬ 
lar  congregation,  the  brotherhood  of  which  is  the  sole  power  in 
the  Church  of  God  ;  here  again,  the  idea  of  the  Church,  of  its 
government,  of  its  office  bearers,  and  of  vocation,  is  consistent 
throughout.  In  both  cases  it  is  seen  how  much  of  what  I  have 
established,  is  destroyed  ;  and  they  show,  also,  that  there  must 
be  some  idea  of  vocation  of  officers  corresponding  with  the  cohe¬ 
rent  system  of  the  Church,  its  government,  and  office  bearers, 
which  I  have  explained.  This  I  will  briefly  disclose.  That  Gocl 
has  always  established  whatever  offices  have  lawfully  existed  in 
his  Church,  whether  extraordinary  or  ordinary,  and  that,  by  con¬ 
sequence,  none  ever  were  or  can  be  authorized  except  they  are 
established  by  him  ;  is,  I  suppose,  already  abundantly  proved. 
The  manner  in  which  individual  persons  are  to  obtain  a  lawful 
right  to  these  offices,  established  by  God  ;  is  itself,  also,  ordained 
by  God  ;  but  variously  ordained  under  successive  dispensations. 
Under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  none  might  be  Priests  but  a 
legitimate  male  descendant  of  Aaron,  nor  he,  except  on  certain 
conditions  and  in  a  certain  way,  ordained  by  God  ;  and  none 
might  be  High  Priest,  on  the  peril  of  his  life,  but  male  after  male 
in  a  direct  line  from  Aaron  ;  so  that  when  Aaron  had  but  two 
sons,  God  made  the  perpetuity  of  the  Jewish  dispensation  depend 
on  this  narrow  point.  Under  the  Gospel  dispensation,  the  Apos¬ 
tles  were  chosen  personally  by  Christ,  and  were  anointed  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  their  divine  vocation  attested  by  miracles.  The 
offices  and  courts  instituted  by  Christ,  so  far  as  the  regimen  and 
order  are  concerned,  have  been  already  sufficiently  proved  and 
explained.  The  personal  vocation  of  each  individual  who  occu¬ 
pies  any  office  in  the  Gospel  Church,  is  of  God,  both  mediately 
and  immediately.  As  to  the  latter,  even  Christ  glorified  not  him¬ 
self  to  be  made  a  High  Priest  ;  but  he  that  said  unto  him,  Thou 
art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee  :  as  he  saith,  also,  in 
another  place,  Thou  art  a  Priest  forever  after  the  order  ot  Mel- 
chizedek.1  Ho  man,  therefore,  may  take  this  honour  on  himself, 
but  he  that  is  called  like  Aaron.2  Called,  not  after  the  same  or- 

i  Heb.,  y.  5,  6.  2  Heb.,  v.  4 ;  vii.  11 ;  Ex.,  xxviii. ;  xxix. 


644  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

der  as  Aaron,  but  as  really  called  of  God.  This  inward  call  of 
God  by  his  Spirit,  is  the  immediate  vocation  of  God  ;  and  every 
one  who  becomes  an  office  bearer  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  is  at 
least  as  much  bound  to  have  an  inward  and  satisfying  convic¬ 
tion  that  he  is  thus  called  of  God  to  the  work  he  undertakes,  as 
every  one  who  becomes  a  disciple  of  Christ  is  bound  to  have  an 
inward  and  satisfying  conviction  that  he  is  called  thereunto  by 
the  Spirit  of  God.  Of  the  two  evils,  it  is  more  disastrous  every 
way,  to  intrude  into  an  office  of  the  Church  than  merely  into  its 
membership  ;  and  nothing  can  be  more  clear  than  that  a  body 
whose  officers  and  members  are  alike  destitute  of  the  immediate 
calling  of  God's  Spirit,  is  a  synagogue  of  Satan.  Whatever 
remains  after  this  immediate  vocation  of  God,  is  not  mere  pru¬ 
dential  rules  established  by  men,  but  is  the  mediate  call  of  God  ; 
the  ordinances  which  he  has  established,  whereby  his  Church  may 
ascertain  that  he  has  really  and  immediately  called  the  particu¬ 
lar  person,  to  the  particular  office.  I  will  not  deny  that  the 
Apostles  might  have  justly  exercised,  in  the  vocation  of  the  first 
permanent  office  bearers,  powers  equivalent  to  everything  after 
the  inward  and  immediate  call  of  God.  That  they  did  nothing 
of  this  sort,  however,  may  be  fairly  urged  from  the  manner  in 
which  the  first  Deacons  were  chosen  i1  and  I  have  before  shown, 
that  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  doctrine,  the  ordinances,  the 
ceconomy,  and  the  worship  of  the  Church,  are  spoken  of  as  already 
existing.  At  any  rate  there  was  the  Church  of  Christ,  whose 
vocation  under  two  aspects,  and  at  two  stages,  is  that  which  con¬ 
stitutes  the  mediate  call  of  God.  No  one  is  subject  to  be  called 
to  any  office,  who  is  not  already  a  member  of  the  body  of  Christ ; 
and  the  qualifications  which  every  one  must  possess,  before  he 
can  presume  to  say  he  has  an  inward  vocation  of  God,  and  before 
the  Church  can  lawfully  call  him  to  any  office  ;  are  plainly  laid 
down  concerning  each  office,  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.2  Nor  can 
any  one  be  lawfully  called  to  a  permanent  and  ordinary  office, 
except  by  the  congregation  he  is  to  serve  in  the  Lord  ;  nor  can 
any  office  bearer  be  set  in  any  office  in  a  congregation,  except  by 
its  own  vocation.  It  is  thus  that  God  has  guarded  his  Church 
against  intruders  and  impostors.  It  is  thus  that  the  Bride  of  the 

3  Acts,  vi.  1-7. 

2  Titus,  i.  5-9 ;  1  Tim.,  iii.  passim ;  v.  1 7-25  ;  2  Tim.,  ii.  21-26 ;  Epli.,  iv.  11-16 ;  Acts 
vi.  31 ;  i.  21-25  •  xvi.  1-3. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  645 

Lamb  accepts  the  ascension  gifts  of  her  head  and  Lord.  It  is 
thus  that  ultimate  power  is  lodged  by  Christ,  in  that  royal 
priesthood  which  constitutes  the  holy  nation,  whereby  the  whole 
government  of  the  Church  takes  its  start  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Christian  congregation,  and  is  perpetuated  only  b}*  their  perpetual 
action.  And  the  highest  fidelity  in  the  exercise  of  this  great  and 
sacred  trust  is  secured,  by  obliging  each  particular  congregation 
to  receive  as  its  own  office  bearer,  every  one  to  whom  its  vocation 
is  given.  Nor  is  the  mediate  calling  of  God  yet  complete.  This 
vocation  of  the  Church  attests,  on  one  side,  to  him  who  supposes 
he  has  been  called  of  God,  and  on  the  other  side  to  the  tribunal 
which  God  has  appointed  to  ordain  him  to  his  office  ;  her  con¬ 
viction  that  God  has  called  him,  and  her  readiness  te  accept 
him.  Without  this,  I  repeat,  no  Church  court  may  lawfully 
ordain  any  one,  to  any  ordinary  and  permanent  office.  But 
while  the  want  of  this  seal  of  a  divine  vocation,  is  a  defect 
which  ordination  cannot  cure  ;  the  possession  of  it  is  not  conclu¬ 
sive  on  the  Church  court.  This  tribunal,  no  matter  which  it  is, 
is  composed  exclusively  of  office  bearers  who  have  received  the 
vocation  of  God,  outward  and  inward,  mediate  and  immediate,  to 
be  rulers  in  the  courts  of  the  Lord  ;  part  of  whom  are  always, 
besides,  ministers  who  labour  in  word  and  doctrine.  It  is  for 
this  court  of  Christ,  with  the  evidence  of  the  vocation  of  God  be¬ 
fore  them,  which  is  furnished  by  the  conviction  of  the  person 
who  seeks  the  office,  and  by  the  call  of  the  Church  ratifying  it; 
to  judge  finally  and  by  whatever  other  evidence,  and  under  what¬ 
ever  other  divine  guidance,  in  this  solemn  and  important  matter. 
If  there  be  persons  competent  to  decide  in  such  a  case,  these  are 
they.  If  any  motives,  human  or  divine,  can  be  supposed  to  se¬ 
cure  a  just  and  righteous  decision,  they  exist  here.  If,  on  their 
souls,  and  as  they  will  answer  to  Christ,  they  believe  the  Lord 
has  called  the  person  to  the  office;  they  ordain  him  to  it,  as 
Christ  has  provided,  by  an  irrevocable  act  in  his  name,  calling 
upon  him  by  prayer,  and  with  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
Presbytery.1  This,  briefly,  is  the  method  pointed  out  by  God 
for  the  perpetuation  of  office  bearers,  and  a  government  in  his 
Church.  In  a  settled  state  of  the  Church,  its  operation  is  per¬ 
fectly  simple  and  efficacions.  Once  erected,  all  the  knowledge, 

1  Titus,  i.  5 ;  1  Tim.,  iv.  14-16;  Gal.,  ii.  9 ;  2  Tim.,  i.  6;  ii.  2 ;  iv.  1,  2;  Acts,  vi. 
6;  i.  25 ;  xiii.  2,  3;  Ex.,  xl.  12-16;  Num.,  viii.  9-11. 


646  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

piety,  and  zeal  it  contains  are  always  free  to  act,  and  are  neces¬ 
sarily  in  perpetual  conflict  with  whatever  error,  ignorance,  or  in¬ 
difference  may  have  gained  entrance.  The  most  difficult  of  all 
systems  to  derange,  it  possesses  also  in  the  highest  degree  of  all, 
the  forces  which  tend  to  readjustment.  If  by  the  most  indis¬ 
criminate  persecution  it  appears  to  bo  destroyed,  the  smallest 
fragment  that  escapes  the  rack  and  the  stake,  is  capable  of  re¬ 
producing  all.  If  by  the  rich  grace  of  God,  boundless  extension 
is  given  to  it,  it  might  cover  the  whole  world  as  easily  as  a  single 
province.  The  conditions  of  its  endless  triumph  are  few  but  ab¬ 
solute  :  and  I  have  demonstrated  them  all.  Its  Faith  must  be 
pure,  its  Life  holy,  its  Worship  acceptable  to  God. 

III. — 1.  Amongst  the  permanent  office  bearers  of  the  Church, 
who  have  the  power  of  Regimen  and  Order,  I  have  omitted  any 
separate  mention  of  Teacher  as  one  of  them ;  because  it  seems 
to  me  to  be  very  obvious  that  a  separate  office  for  permanent 
teaching  was  never  created  by  God  in  the  Christian  Church  ;  but 
the  Elder  who  was  the  minister  of  the  word  and  steward  of  the 
mysteries  of  God,  was  also  teacher  as  well  as  Pastor  of  the  flock, 
just  as  every  Elder  who  had  the  cure  of  souls  was  bishop,  over¬ 
seer.1  There  was  but  one  order  of  permanent  Rulers,  and  they 
were  all  Presbyters,  Elders,  and  as  rulers  all  equal  ;  there  was 
but  one  class  of  ministers  of  the  word  and  doctrine,  and  they 
were  all  equal  in  rank  and  class,  all  Presbyters,  Elders,  to  whom 
various  names  are  given,  according  to  the  various  functions  they 
discharge,  to  teach  being  amongst  the  chief.  Of  the  manifestly 
extraordinary  orders  of  office  bearers,  Apostles  and  Prophets,  to 
which  perhaps  teachers  might  be  added,  the  former  has  been  suf¬ 
ficiently  considered  ;  and  little  need  be  said  here  concerning  the 
latter.  Very  frequent  mention  is  made  of  Prophets,  and  occa¬ 
sional  mention  of  Teachers  in  the  New  Testament  ;  as  of  persons 
to  whom  the  extraordinary  manifestations  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
were  vouchsafed.2  They  are  specially  classed  by  the  sacred  writers 
with  the  Apostles,  miraculous  gifts,  and  miracles  :3  and  the  name 
Prophet  is  applied  repeatedly,  and  with  emphasis,  to  Christ  him¬ 
self.4  As  inspired  teachers  of  the  true  sense  of  all  former  reve¬ 
lations  from  God,  as  inspired  teachers  of  what  Jesus  himself  had 

1  Eph.,  iv.  1 ;  Rom.,  xii.  7 ;  Gal,  vi.  6 

2  Matt,  x.  41 ;  Acts,  ii.  17  ;  xi.  27  ;  xiii.  1,  2 ;  1  Cor.,  xiv.  29-33. 

3  Rom.,  xii.  28-31;  Eph.,  iii.  5.  Matt.,  xiii.  57 ;  xxi.  11,  46;  Luke,  xxiv.  19 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  647 

taught,  as  inspired  men  who  made  known  to  the  disciples  the 
will  of  God  in  the  providences  then  existing  or  immediately  im¬ 
pending,  or  revealed  the  more  distant  future  ;  we  easily  see  the 
relation  they  bore  to  Christ,  to  the  Apostles,  to  the  Church,  and 
to  the  early  spread  of  the  Gospel  among  men.  They  appear  to 
have  had  no  connection  with  the  government  of  the  Church  :  and 
they  ceased  from  it,  when  the  extraordinary  operations  of  the 
Spirit  ceased.  The  warnings  of  God  against  false  Prophets,  are 
as  emphatic  and  as  suggestive  as  I  have  shown  they  are  against 
false  Apostles.1 

2.  There  is  another  office  bearer  who  is  ordinary  and  perma¬ 
nent  in  the  Church,  whom  I  have  not  mentioned  particularly,  be¬ 
cause  he  has  no  power  of  regimen  or  order,  in  the  sense  in  which 
I  have  used  these  terms.  I  mean  the  Deacon,  whose  creation, 
qualifications,  and  duties,  are  explicitly  stated  in  the  Scriptures  ; 
and  the  election  and  ordination  of  the  first  seven  Deacons,  to¬ 
gether  with  their  names,  in  the  Church  of  Jerusalem,  are  handed 
down  to  us.2  The  office  thus  created  at  Jerusalem,  was  intro¬ 
duced  into  the  Church  everywhere  :  and  special  honour  seems  to 
have  been  put  on  such  as  discharged  the  office  well,  while  special 
care  was  taken  to  fill  it  only  with  men  of  honest  report,  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  wisdom.3  These  officers  are  servants  of  the 
Church,  in  things  having  more  immediate  relation  to  the  manner 
in  which  Christianity  affords  a  remedy  or  solace  under  temporal 
trials  and  sorrows  ;  in  like  manner  as  the  ministers  of  the  word 
are  servants  of  the  Church,  in  things  more  entirely  spiritual. 
Their  Greek  name,  which  is  nearly  transferred  into  English,  is 
very  widely  applied  in  the  Scriptures  to  many  sorts  of  service, 
and  many  kinds  of  officers  who  performed  them.  But  this  affords 
no  pretext  for  any  mistake  about  this  office  ;  much  less  for  the 
gross  perversion  of  it ;  as  equally  appears,  whether  we  consider 
the  divine  example  so  particularly  given  us,  or  the  true  relation 
of  the  service  to  be  performed,  whether  to  Christ  himself  or  to 
the  nature  of  his  Kingdom.  I  will  add  a  few  words  as  to  both. 
As  to  the  former,  nothing  can  be  more  precise.  The  twelve  celled 
the  multitude  of  the  disciples  ;  that  is  they  convened  a  Church 
meeting  of  the  saints  in  Jerusalem,  and  desired  them,  for  reasons 

1  Matt.,  vii.  15;  xxiv.  11 ;  2  Peter,  ii.  1;  1  John,  iv.  1  ;  Rev.,  xvi.  13  ;  xix.  20 
xx.  10. 

2  Acts,  vi.  1-7. 


3  Phil.,  i.  1 ;  Acts.  vi.  3 ;  1  Tim.,  iii.  8-13. 


648  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

given,  to  make  a  careful  selection  from  among  themselves  of  seven 
men  of  peculiar  qualifications  which  are  stated,  whom  the  twelve 
would  appoint  over  the  things  they  desired  to  separate  from  their 
special  work.  The  ministration  being  then  constant  and  daily, 
decided  the  number  recommended  ; — seven,  one  for  each  day.  The 
whole  multitude  being  pleased,  they  chose,  selected,  elected,  seven 
such  members  of  the  Church  as  the  Apostles  had  described  ;  one 
of  them  was  a  proselyte — that  is  had  been  first  a  heathen  and 
then  a  Jew — and  the  bulk  of  the  others,  apparently  not  natives 
of  Judea ;  whom  they  set  before  the  Apostles  ;  and  when  they 
had  prayed  they  laid  hands  on  them.  That  is,  they  ordained 
them  to  he  Deacons  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands  ; 
which  is  the  way  all  ordinary  office  bearers  were  set  apart  to  their 
office.  The  only  matters  about  which  the  least  uncertainty  can 
exist,  is  who  prayed  and  who  laid  on  hands.  Probably  the  Apos¬ 
tles  did  both  ;  probably  the  tribunal  in  that  Church  did  both  ; 
possibly  the  Apostles  prayed,  and  the  tribunal  laid  on  hands,  as 
the  Greek  text  seems  rather  to  indicate — and  as  all  the  congre¬ 
gation  of  Israel  did  when  the  Levites  were  consecrated.1  The  es¬ 
tablishment  of  the  office  by  the  Apostles,  and  the  ordination  of 
the  officers  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands,  in  their  pres¬ 
ence  and  by  their  direction,  together  with  the  free  election  by  the 
Church,  and  the  full  concurrence  of  whatever  tribunal  existed  in 
it,  and  the  peculiar  qualifications,  and  future  duties  of  the  persons 
chosen  :  all  these  things  are  beyond  question.  Touching  the 
other  point,  the  general  nature  of  the  office  of  Deacon,  and  its 
relation  on  one  side  to  Christ  and  his  Church,  and  on  the  other 
to  those  temporal  duties  which  the  miseries  and  misfortunes  of 
our  fellow  creatures  and  especially  those  of  our  brethren  in  Christ, 
lay  Christians  under :  far  more  ought  to  be  urged,  than  is  suita¬ 
ble  in  this  place.  The  New  Obedience  which  we  owe  and  profess 
to  render  to  God,  has  for  its  rule  the  supreme  love  of  him  ;  and 
the  Good  Works  which  are  such  fruits  of  it  as  relate  chiefly  to 
man,  has  for  its  rule  the  love  of  our  neighbour  as  ourself.  All 
things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ve 
even  so  to  them  ;  for  this  is  the  law  and  prophets.  And  these 
words  of  Jesus  are  so  enforced  by  his  Apostles,  that  one  tells  us 
our  faith  is  dead  if  it  is  not  manifested  by  works  of  mercy  ;  and 
another  that  the  love  of  God  cannot  dwell  in  him  whose  bowels 

1  Xnra.,  viii.  10. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEAREKS  —  GOVERNMENT.  649 

of  compassion  are  shut  up  against  his  suffering  brother.1  I  was 
a  hungered  and  ye  gave  me  meat,  I  was  thirsty  and  ye  gave  me 
drink,  I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  in,  naked  and  ye  clothed 
me,  I  was  sick  and  ye  visited  me,  I  was  in  prison  and  ye  came 
unto  me  :  these  are  the  actions  proclaimed  by  the  Son  of  man 
from  the  throne  of  his  glory,  performed  by  those  to  whom  he 
will  say,  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  Kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  And  then, 
identifying  himself  in  glory  with  those  who  loved  him  in  suffer¬ 
ing,  his  words  are  still  more  wonderful,  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my 
brethren  ye  have  done  it  unto  me.2  Why  then  should  there  be 
any  marvel,  that  such  a  Saviour  as  this  should  make  it  a  most 
important  part  of  his  religion,  that  his  followers  should  assuage 
the  miseries  which  he  regards  with  divine  compassion  ;  that  they 
should  alleviate  the  sorrows  which  enter  into  his  own  heart ;  that 
they  should  share  with  him  the  felicity  of  making  others  happy  ; 
the  blessedness  of  making  sacrifices  that  they  may  be  blessed 
who  have  none  to  help  them  ?  Why  should  not  such  a  King  so 
organize  his  Kingdom,  that  the  temporal  results  of  the  sin  which 
has  defiled  his  universe,  should  be  bounded  and  limited  by  the 
very  action  and  progress  of  his  Kingdom,  in  its  everlasting  con¬ 
flict  with  sin  itself  ?  He  has  done  all  this.  How  affecting  is 
the  reproach  to  his  Church,  that  she  so  obscurely  perceives 
it  all ! 

3.  The  angels  of  God  are  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth 
to  minister  for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation.3  Unto  the 
Son  he  saith,  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  forever  and  ever  ;  and  again, 
when  he  bringeth  in  the  first  begotten  into  the  world,  he  saith, 
Let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him.4  So  close  is  the  connec¬ 
tion  between  Christ,  his  angels,  and  his  redeemed.  The  Greek 
word  which  is  nearly  transferred  into  English,  means  first  a  mes¬ 
senger,  and  then  the  spiritual  being  who  is  the  messenger  of  God. 
The  Gospel,  the  Evangel,  the  joyful  Message,  is  of  the  same 
coinage  in  Greek.  And  Evangelist*  is  another  word  of  the  same 
family  :  the  minister  of  Christ  of  a  peculiar  order,  whose  work 
it  was  to  hear  his  joyful  message  continually,  and  everywhere. 

i  James,  ii.  1-13;  I  John,  iii.  17.  2  Matt.,  xxv.  31-40. 

3  Heb.,  i.  14;  Psalm  civ.  4.  *  Ileb.,  i.  G,  8. 

*  Ayyr/lof — EvayyE?uoi’ — \\.vayyvXiOTT]Q — E vayyeAi^u. 


650  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  V. 

This  office  hearer  is  expressly  mentioned  as  one  amongst  the  as¬ 
cension  gifts  of  Christ  :J  being  named  between  the  obviously 
ordinary  and  extraordinary  officers  of  the  Church.  Philip,  the 
same  who  was  one  of  the  original  seven  Deacons  as  is  expressly 
said  to  distinguish  liim  from  the  Apostle  of  the  same  name,  is 
called,  about  twenty-seven  years  afterwards,  the  Evangelist  ;  at 
which  time  he  resided  at  Caesarea,  having  four  daughters  who 
were  virgins  which  did  prophesy.  It  was  at  his  house,  and  on 
this  occasion,  that  Agabus,  a  prophet,  showed  to  Paul  who  with 
his  company  was  there,  that  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  whither  he 
was  going,  would  deliver  him  bound  into  the  hands  of  the 
Gentiles.2  Some  years  after  this,  Paul  writing  to  Timothy  at 
Corinth  probably,  and  just  before  his  own  offering  up,  thus  ad¬ 
dressed  him  :  Watch  thou  in  all  things,  endure  afflictions,  do  the 
work  of  an  Evangelist,  make  full  proof  of  thy  ministry.  What 
the  venerable  Apostle  understood  by  this,  he  had  partly  explained 
before,  with  the  most  solemn  earnestness  ;  Preach  the  word,  be 
instant  in  season  and  out  of  season,  reprove,  rebuke,  exhort  with 
all  long-suffering  and  doctrine.3  These  are  the  most  unques¬ 
tionable  mention  I  have  found  of  this  office  :  though  the  places 
are  very  numerous  which  may  imply  it,  more  or  less  clearly  ;  and 
this  order  of  office  bearers  seems  to  have  been  numerous,  at  first. 
A  careful  consideration  of  the  labours  and  acts  of  these  two  great 
Evangelists,  as  they  appear  in  various  scattered  notices  ;  will  show 
that  they  were  neither  of  the  order  of  Apostles,  nor  that  of  Pro¬ 
phets,  on  the  one  side  ;  nor  that  of  ordinary  Presbyters  on  the 
other,  whether  of  the  class  of  Ministers,  or  the  class  of  Ruling 
Elders.  But  they  were  Extraordinary  Officers,  in  so  far  as  they 
did  not  appertain,  in  an  ordinary  way  to  the  regular  administra¬ 
tion  of  the  settled  Church.  On  the  other  hand,  they  are  officers 
permanent  in  the  Church,  whenever  the  occasion  demands  their 
employment.  They  constitute  the  link,  so  to  speak,  between 
those  officers,  like  Apostles,  who  have  plenary  power  and  are  in¬ 
spired,  and  those  like  Elders,  who  are  both  ordinary  and  perma¬ 
nent  :  an  officer  excluded  from  interior  work  in  a  completely 
settled  state  of  the  Church,  but  indispensable  in  the  exterior 
efforts  of  the  Church  to  extend  itself,  and  important  in  various 
ways  on  occasions  of  great  internal  languishment  or  destitution. 
The  total  disuse  of  this  office  is,  therefore,  without  divine  war- 

1  Epk.,  iv.  11.  2  Acts,  xxi.  8-15.  3  2  Tim.,  iv.  1-5. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  651 

rant  ;  while  its  internal  ordinary  use,  is  contrary  to  the  ordinance 
of  God,  and  subversive  in  various  ways  of  the  divine  polity  of 
the  Church. 

IV. — 1.  According  to  the  doctrine  I  have  taught,  which  I 
think  is  plainly  the  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures,  civil  society  is  an 
ordinance  of  God  ;  and  its  actual  formation  produces  inevitably 
certain  aggregate  necessities  and  results,  which  with  reference  to 
government  in  itself  considered,  are  perfectly  distinct,  and  capa¬ 
ble  of  an  exhaustive  scientific  statement.  It  is  in  society  itself 
that  all  power  is  naturally  vested  by  God  ;  and  it  is  by  the  naked 
fact  of  the  existence  of  society,  that  these  powers  manifest  them¬ 
selves  in  an  aggregate  manner,  as  soon  as  society  assumes  a  con¬ 
dition  above  that  of  its  ancient  tribal  form.  And  these  powers 
thus  aggregately  manifested,  and  the  functions  of  society  pro¬ 
duced  thereby,  are  not  casual,  in  any  sense  whatever  ;  but  besides 
being  by  divine  ordination  they  are  of  that  ordination  in  such  a 
manner,  as  to  be  responsive  to  the  nature  of  man  as  a  being  having 
Reason,  Conscience,  and  Will  ;  and  also  responsive  to  the  nature 
of  God,  as  the  Lawgiver,  the  Judge,  and  the  Ruler  of  the  Uni¬ 
verse.  What  God  leaves  to  the  natural  freedom  of  man,  is  the 
shaping  of  the  government  of  every  particular  society,  according 
to  its  own  choice,  and  the  creation  of  such  particular  institutions 
under  such  government  thus  formed,  as  that  society  shall  choose  ; 
respect  being  had,  on  one  hand,  to  all  truth  and  morality,  and  on 
the  other  to  the  individual  and  social  progress  of  the  race.  The 
visible  Church  is  an  organized  society  of  human  beings  ;  and 
supposing  it  could  exist  independently  of  divine  revelation, 
everything  would  be  true  of  it,  that  is  true  concerning  society 
absolutely  considered  ;  and  supposing  it  to  have  a  divine  reve¬ 
lation,  everything  in  which  this  society  differs  fundamentally  from 
all  society  absolutely  considered,  is  the  product  of  that  revela¬ 
tion.  The  nature  and  the  extent  of  the  resemblance  and  the 
difference  between  the  visible  Church  and  all  other  societies,  and 
the  actual  nature  of  the  visible  Church  and  its  government,  and 
its  institutions,  as  by  divine  revelation  ;  I  have  endeavoured  to 
explain  and  to  demonstrate.  As  the  result  of  ail,  I  suppose  this 
divine  government  of  this  peculiar  society,  is  capable  of  being 
clearly  exhibited  in  a  few  consecutive  statements.  Thus  : 

(i a ;)  The  first  principle  of  this  government,  considered  as  ac¬ 
tually  exercised,  is  that  the  whole  power  of  it  is  in  the  hands  of 


652  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [BOOK  Y. 

officebearers,  whose  office  is  ordained,  defined,  and  limited  by  God 
himself,  and  every  one  of  whom  must  have  a  personal  vocation 
of  God  to  bis  office,  attested  by  the  election  of  some  particular 
congregation,  and  by  ordination  by  a  Church  court.  It  is  a  gov¬ 
ernment  in  the  hands  of  Presbyters — Elders. 

( b )  The  second  principle  is,  that  this  power  and  government 
are  in  their  hands,  not  severally  and  man  by  man,  but  jointly  and 
when  they  are  met  as  a  tribunal,  and  constituted  as  such,  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Head  and  Lawgiver  of 
the  Church  ;  all  authority  being  in  and  from  Christ,  and  all  effi¬ 
cacy  in  and  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  As  having  such  a  government, 
the  Church  is  a  commonwealth,  and  its  government  is  by  tribu¬ 
nals  composed  of  a  plurality  of  Presbyters,  Elders. 

(c)  The  third  principle  is,  that  these  Presbyters,  Elders,  are 
all  of  one  order,  all  equal  in  dignity,  rank,  and  authority  as 
Rulers  ;  but  that  order  is  divided  into  two  classes,  of  which  one 
labour  in  word  and  doctrine  and  are  stewards  of  the  myste¬ 
ries  of  God,  in  which  additional  functions  all  of  this  class  are  also 
of  equal  rank,  authority,  and  dignity  one  with  another,  the  class 
to  which  each  particular  Presbyter  belongs  being  determined  by 
vocation  and  ordination  ;  and  everv  tribunal  of  the  Church  is 
constituted  out  of  some  of  each  class  of  Presbyters,  Elders.  The 
tribunals  of  the  Church  are  neither  clerical  nor  laic  :  they  are  all 
Presbyterial. 

( d )  The  fourth  principle  is,  that  the  whole  visible  Church  of 
Christ,  is  one  Church,  and  might  all  be  embraced  under  one  ad¬ 
ministration.  Its  division  into  national  and  denominational 
Churches,  is  a  necessity  arising  under  the  actual  course  of  Provi¬ 
dence,  and  is  neither  avoidable,  nor  of  itself  hurtful,  under  the 
Gospel  dispensation.  The  division  of  a  particular  denominational 
or  national  Church  into  smaller  parts,  such  as  congregations, 
Presbyteries,  and  Synods,  is  by  the  ordination  of  God,  and  so  far 
from  breaking  its  unity  or  efficiency,  consolidates  both.  The 
congregations  with  their  tribunals  are  the  elemental  particulars 
of  the  government ;  and  each  one  possesses  a  part  of  all  possessed 
by  the  whole  Church.  Their  union  constitutes  the  Presbytery 
with  its  tribunal  over  those  composing  it;  the  union  of  Presby¬ 
teries  constitutes  the  Synod  with  its  tribunal  over  those  compos¬ 
ing  it :  the  union  of  all  constituting  the  universal  council,  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  whole  Church  with  jurisdiction  over  all. 


CHAP.  XXXI.]  OFFICE  BEARERS  —  GOVERNMENT.  653 

The  principle  of  representation  begins  with  the  vocation  of  the 
office  bearer  by  the  congregation,  and  vitally  pervades  the  whole 
system.  The  government  of  the  Christian  Church  is  a  strictly 
limited  Kepresentative  Government,  in  the  bosom  of  a  free, 
spiritual  commonwealth. 

2.  The  erection  of  such  a  government  as  this  at  the  very  dawn 
of  ancient  society,  and  in  the  midst  of  Asiatic  despotism  ;  the 
perfect  development  of  it  in  the  heart  of  the  Eoman  Empire,  by 
a  portion  of  one  of  its  conquered  provinces  ;  the  wide  dissemina¬ 
tion  of  it  through  the  earth,  in  utter  disregard  of  every  form  of 
human  tyranny ;  its  perfect  preservation  throughout  centuries 
of  gross  darkness  and  universal  oppression  ;  its  reappearance 
wherever  it  had  been  apparently  extinguished  ;  and  the  august 
spectacle  it  now  presents  throughout  the  earth  :  all  combined 
exhibits  one  of  the  most  striking  phenomena  in  the  career  of  the 
human  race.  It  has  withstood  everything,  through  all  ages, 
from  within  and  from  without,  before  which  everything  else  has 
perished.  It  cannot  perish  as  long  as  it  is  true  to  Christ,  the  Son 
of  the  living  God,  who  made  it  and  pronounced  it  invulnerable 
even  to  the  gates  of  hell,  so  long  as  it  is  built  upon  him.  All 
that  it  has  yet  accomplished,  and  all  it  may  hereafter  do,  for  the 
temporal  amelioration  and  the  spiritual  regeneration  of  mankind, 
is  due  only  to  him  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  forevermore.  Of 
itself,  and  considered  merely  as  the  form  through  which  the 
Church  acts,  it  appears  to  be  capable  of  producing,  in  the  highest 
degree,  those  two  opposite  results  which  are  the  perfection  of  all 
government ;  namely,  the  highest  individual  development,  and 
the  highest  united  efficiency.  But  what  gives  it  its  great  glory 
and  power,  is  that  God  has  made  it  the  instrument  of  diffusing 
through  the  Church,  and  of  bestowing  on  men  through  her,  the 
benefits  of  those  inestimable  Gifts,  to  the  explanation  of  which 
this  Fifth  Book  is  devoted  ;  amongst  which  Gifts,  Office  Bearers 
and  the  Government  in  their  hands,  must  be  ranked  as  not  the 
least. 


■N 


I 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD, 

SUBJECTIVELY  CONSIDERED. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  GENERAL  CONCLUSION. 


The  general  demonstration,  according  to  the  conception  I  have  of  the 
Knowledge  of  God  subjectively  considered,  and  according  to  the  method  I 
adopt  in  the  statement  of  that  Knowledge,  seems  to  me  to  be  concluded  at  the 
end  of  the  preceding  Book.  The  following  chapter,  therefore,  has  two  objects, 
and  is  divided  into  two  parts.  The  first  object,  to  which  the  first  large  division 
of  the  chapter  is  devoted,  is  to  point  out  the  fundamental  nature  of  religion 
and  of  salvation :  to  disclose  the  absolute  and  universal  identity  of  Immanuel, 
with  true  religion  and  with  salvation :  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  covenant 
of  Grace,  and  its  relation  to  the  nature  of  God,  and  to  the  possibility  of  true 
religion  in  man :  to  disclose  the  manifestation  of  that  eternal  covenant,  in  the 
creation  and  progress  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  this  world,  from  the  first 
proclamation  of  the  covenant  to  the  present  time:  and  to  exhibit  the  actual 
point  reached  in  the  manifestation  of  the  covenant,  and  in  the  progress  of  the 
Kindom  of  God  under  it.  The  second  object,  to  which  the  second  large  divi¬ 
sion  of  the  chapter  is  devoted,  is  to  disclose — in  brief — the  further  manifesta¬ 
tion,  and  the  consummation  of  the  covenant  of  Grace,  and  the  further  progress, 
final  triumph,  and  eternal  state  of  the  Kingdom  of  God :  which  is  attempted, 
not  at  all  in  the  way  of  prophetical  interpretation,  but  wholly  as  matter  of 
Christian  doctrine.  In  doing  this,  a  general  and  condensed  survey  is  attempted, 
of  the  chief  of  those  infinite  future  realities,  which  the  Scriptures  connect  with 
the  person,  and  work,  and  glory  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  and  their  relation 
to  the  Godhead — their  effects  upon  the  created  universe,  especially  upon  this 
earth — their  relation  to  the  Church  in  its  Gospel,  its  Millennial,  and  its  Eternal 
state — their  influence  upon  the  mortal  and  the  immortal  existence  of  the  human 
race,  considered  as  a  whole  and  as  individuals,  considered  as  united  to  Christ 
and  as  without  Christ — and  finally  their  relation  to  the  second  coming  and 
Millennial  Reign  of  the  glorified  Redeemer — are  all  sought  to  be  disclosed  in  so 
far,  as  in  the  present  state  of  Knowledge,  light  can  be  thereby  thrown  upon 


*  656  ARGUMENT  OF  THE  GENERAL  CONCLUSION. 


the  future  manifestation,  and  the  consummation  of  God’s  eternal  covenant. 
The  chapter  closes  with  a  short  statement  concerning  the  Son  of  God,  and 
saving  Knowledge  of  him.  Two  ideas  pervade  the  whole.  The  infinite 
Grace  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord: — the  end  thereof,  infinite  Glory 
to  God,  and  eternal  Blessedness  to  his  restored  universe  and  his  redeemed 
creatures. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


GENERAL  CONCLUSION:  PROGRESS  AND  CONSUMMATION  OE  GOD’S 

ETERNAL  COVENANT. 

L  1.  The  Objective  Knowledge  of  God — and  its  Statement:  Relation  thereof  to  reli¬ 
gion. — 2.  The  Subjective  Knowledge  of  God:  the  Means  and  Effects  thereof — 
3.  The  middle  term  between  God  and  sinless  man  subverted  by  the  Fall :  Restored 
by  the  Mediator  between  God  and  sinful  men:  Relation  of  Salvation  by  Grace  to 
the  Nature  of  God. — 4.  Relation  of  the  manner  of  Salvation  to  the  mode  of  the 
Divine  Existence :  the  Eternal  Covenant  of  Redemption :  special  Relation  of  the 
Son  of  God  thereto. — 5.  First  Proclamation  of  this  Eternal  Covenant,  and  the 
effects  thereof:  the  Kingdom  created  by  and  under  it :  Messiah  the  Prince  :  Pro¬ 
gress  of  the  Kingdom  to  the  present  time. — 6.  The  actual  Posture  of  the  Kingdom, 
in  the  form  of  the  Gospel  Church :  the  Demonstration  which  has  been  attempted 
of  the  Subjective  Knowledge  of  God  unto  Salvation. — II.  1.  Consummation  of  God’s 
Eternal  Covenant,  with  Relation  to  Him  and  to  all  his  Works. — 2.  Future  Pro¬ 
gress  of  the  Gospel  Church :  Millennial  state :  Eternal  state. — 3.  Every  Effect  of 
Sin  upon  the  Universe  retrieved :  the  consummation  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace, 
with  Reference  to  this  Earth. — 4.  Effect  of  that  consummation  upon  the  Human 
Race,  individually  considered:  Eternal  Death  of  the  Wicked:  Eternal  Life  of  the 
Righteous. — 5.  The  Sum  and  Result  of  all,  with  Relation  to  God,  and  with  Rela¬ 
tion  to  the  Created  Universe,  especially  the  human  Race. — 6.  The  second  Coming 
of  the  Son  of  Man — and  his  Millennial  Glory. — I.  Jesus,  and  the  Knowledge  of 
him,  and  the  Life  through  him. 

I. — 1.  The  objective  treatment  of  divine  truth  depends  for 
its  success  upon  our  knowledge  of  God,  who  is  both  the  author 
and  substance  of  it  all.  Even  our  knowledge  of  ourselves,  of  the 
created  universe,  of  the  course  and  event  of  providence — indeed 
of  all  things — depends,  when  objectively  considered,  upon  this 
knowledge  of  God,  the  author  and  substance  of  all  truth.  In 
total  ignorance  of  God,  there  can  be  no  possibility  of  any  treat¬ 
ment  d  priori  of  his  nature,  his  Attributes,  his  works — or  the 
relation  of  any  truth  to  him  :  that  is  there  can  be  no  objective 
treatment  of  divine  truth,  in  our  total  ignorance  of  it.  When 
our  d  priori  knowledge  of  God,  therefore,  is  ridiculed  by  infidel 
philosophers,  and  the  ridicule  is  extended  to  all  attempts  to  treat 
divine  truth  objectively  ;  it  is  their  own  method,  not  ours,  which 
VOL.  42 


658  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

is  justly  amenable  to  their  contempt.  For  if  there  is  any  such 
thing  as  Religion,  its  true  nature  is  to  he  sought  in  the  relation 
of  an  infinite  personal  Spirit,  to  a  finite  personal  spirit — -that  is 
the  relation  of  God  to  man  :  and  the  knowledge  by  man  of  this 
relation,  and  the  knowledge  by  him  both  of  God  and  of  himself 
thus  related,  is  the  exact  measure  not  only  of  the  reality,  hut  of 
the  possibility  of  religion.  And  if  this  knowledge  could  he  im¬ 
agined  to  he  perfect,  religion  wmuld  necessarily  be  perfect ;  pro¬ 
vided  we  could  conceive  of  the  finite  spirit  arriving  at  such  a 
perfect  intuition  of  the  infinite  Spirit,  without  involving  a  con¬ 
tradiction  in  terms,  making  the  finite  infinite,  and  abolishing  the 
relation  on  which  the  existence  of  Religion  depends.  But  this 
mortal  intuition  of  God,  is  strictly  speaking,  the  only  conceivable 
form  of  strictly  mortal  knowledge,  a  priori ,  of  God  ;  and  it  is 
this,  in  so  many  empty  and  pretentious  forms,  which  derides  all 
true  religion  ;  this,  which  so  far  from  asserting,  I  have  proved,  in 
another  place,  to  he  absolutely  impossible.  God  must  manifest 
himself  to  man,  in  order  that  man  may  know  him  ;  and  I  have 
demonstrated,  in  the  former  Treatise,  in  an  exhaustive  manner, 
the  fact  of  this  manifestation,  all  the  ways  in  which  it  is  accom¬ 
plished,  and  all  the  methods  under  each  way.  The  knowledge 
of  God  thus  obtained  by  man,  is  capable  of  distinct  treatment 
as  a  body  of  truth  ;  one,  and  the  highest  of  whose  aspects  is  re¬ 
ligious.  God  manifests  himself  to  man  in  the  works  of  Creation 
and  Providence  ;  in  the  whole  work  of  God  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
and  that  ot  God  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  in  the  Inspired  Word,  and  in 
the  self-conscious  existence  of  the  human  soul,  created,  and  re¬ 
newed  in  his  own  image.  It  is  not  of  God  simply  considered, 
therefore,  that  we  treat  a  priori ,  upon  the  vain  pretext  that  we 
have  of  ourselves,  an  intuition  of  the  infinite  ;  but  it  is  through 
Religion,  the  relation  between  God  and  man,  revealed  to  us  on 
the  side  of  God  in  his  manifestations  of  himself  to  us,  that  the 
sum  of  our  knowledge  of  God  at  every  stage  of  its  progress,  is 
capable  of  an  exact  objective  statement.  In  proportion  as  our 
Religion  is  true,  and  our  Knowledge  of  its  elemental  truths  is 
exact  ;  that  is,  in  proportion  as  we  understand  the  relation 
between  God  and  man  ;  must  be  the  certainty  and  the  com¬ 
pleteness  of  our  statement  of  the  Knowledge  of  God  objectively 
considered. 

2.  In  the  same  manner,  the  subjective  treatment  of  divine 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 


CONCLUSION. 


659 


truth  involves  d  priori  knowledge  of  ourselves,  as  really  as  it  does 
d  posteriori  knowledge  of  God  and  of  Religion.  It  is  not  to  in¬ 
fluence  God — but  it  is  to  influence  man,  that  Religion  exists. 
God  is  from  eternity,  and  is  the  source  of  all  things :  man  is  of 
yesterday,  the  creature  of  God,  the  source  of  nothing  that  rises 
higher  than  a  second  cause,  flow  vain  is  it  to  speak  of  his  hav¬ 
ing,  of  himself,  such  an  intuition  of  God,  as  to  guide  him  stead¬ 
ily  along  the  line  of  the  infinite  relation  which  God  bears  to  him  ; 
when  he  has  no  such  intuition  of  himself  as  to  enable  him  to 
take  a  single  step  along  that  immeasurable  line,  except  by  the 
light  which  shines  from  the  divine  source  of  light.  Even  this  a 
priori  knowledge  of  himself,  which  he  must  possess  before  it  is 
possible  for  him  to  know  what  is,  what  ought  to  be,  or  what  can 
be  wrought  in  him  by  God's  truth  and  God's  Spirit  ;  is  not  only 
unreal,  but  is  impossible  to  any  created  being,  much  less  to  a 
fallen  sinner,  independently  of  his  d  posteriori  knowledge  of 
God,  and  from  God.  We  cannot  know  ourselves  as  creatures, 
except  as  we  know  God  the  Creator  ;  we  cannot  know  ourselves 
as  sinners,  except  as  we  know  God  as  our  Lawgiver  ;  we  cannot 
know  salvation,  except  as  we  know  the  Saviour.  It  is  God  mak¬ 
ing  himself  known  to  us  by  means  of  those  manifestations  of 
which  I  have  already  spoken,  who  at  the  same  time,  and  by  the 
same  means, — and  perhaps  I  should  add,  to  the  same  degree, 
makes  us  known  to  ourselves.  It  is  in  him  that  we  live  and 
move  and  have  our  being  :  and  the  very  conviction  of  his  exist¬ 
ence  which  leaves  all  men  without  excuse,  and  by  means  of  which 
his  eternal  power  and  Godhead  are  clearly  seen  and  understood 
through  the  works  of  his  hands,  is  a  manifestation  of  God  in 
them  made  by  himself,  and  a  revelation  of  his  wrath  against  all 
ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of  men.  Step  by  step  the 
knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation  is  a  revelation  to  us,  and  a  rev¬ 
elation  in  us.  We  are  the  subjects  of  a  sublime  subjective  work 
of  God’s  word  and  Spirit  in  us  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  both  God 
and  our  own  souls,  and  the  relation  between  the  two,  are  objects 
of  a  sublime  objective  knowledge.  Created  at  first  in  the  image 
of  God — but  fallible  ;  after  our  fall,  restored  indeed  to  the  lost 
image  of  God,  but  so  restored  that  the  Godhead  has  taken  our 
human  nature  into  eternal  union  with  itself,  and  has  in  addition 
made  human  beings  partakers  of  the  divine  nature  by  a  divine 
regeneration — thus  securing  them  from  all  lapse  forever.  The 


660  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

object  of  the  knowledge  is  infinite — even  God  himself :  the 
means  of  it,  his  manifestations  of  himself  ;  the  result  of  it 
knowledge  of  ourselves.  The  subject  of  the  work,  is  lost  sin¬ 
ners, — who  being  restored  to  the  image  and  united  to  the  Son  of 
God,  are  made  partakers  of  the  divine  nature,  and  eternally  ex¬ 
alted  in  glory  and  blessedness  beyond  all  conception  of  the  heart 
of  man. 

3.  In  a  certain  sense,  the  middle  term  between  God  and  man, 
the  relation  between  them,  namely,  out  of  which  Eeligion  springs, 
assumes  a  most  wonderful  aspect  as  soon  as  sin  enters,  and  grace 
and  salvation  are  proclaimed.  That  middle  term  as  between 
God  and  polluted  rebels,  lost  all  its  original  significance  by  the 
Fall  of  man:  and  what  takes  its  place  is  the  mediator  between 
God  and  sinful  men — the  Godman — the  Saviour  of  the  world. 
Under  the  Covenant  of  Grace  the  formula  is,  God — Godman — 
man.  Of  man  the  statement  is  brief  and  simple.  First,  life  ; 
then,  immortality.  Of  life  two  possibilities  ;  first,  pollution  at¬ 
tended  by  misery  ;  secondly,  purity  attended  by  blessedness.  Of 
immortality,  two  possibilities  :  first,  shame  and  everlasting  con¬ 
tempt,  as  the  conclusion  of  the  pollution  and  misery  ;  secondly, 
infinite  glory  and  felicity,  as  the  conclusion  of  the  purity  and 
blessedness  which  grace  produced.  Of  God,  in  whose  light  every 
particular  concerning  man  is  seen,  the  statement  notwithstanding 
all  his  manifestations  of  himself,  can  never  appear  to  the  thought¬ 
ful  mind,  wholly  divested  of  the  difficulty  which  attends  its  over¬ 
powering  nature.  God,  the  infinite,  the  eternal,  the  unchange¬ 
able,  in  his  being  and  in  his  perfections  :  perfections,  infinite  in 
number,  and  each  one  infinite  in  itself — of  which  we  know  im¬ 
perfectly  a  very  few  in  comparison  of  all,  and  even  of  these  so 
little  that  even  a  classification  of  them  above  cavil,  has  never 
been  suggested.  This  living  and  true  God,  our  Creator,  our  Pre¬ 
server,  our  Lawgiver,  our  Euler,  our  Father,  our  Saviour,  our 
Judge  and  Eedeemer  ;  so  exists  that  in  his  infinite  Spiritual 
Essence,  there  is  absolute  unity,  and  but  one  God  ;  and  yet  the 
mode  of  that  existence  is  such  that  of  that  Essence  there  are 
three  divine  persons ,  as  we  express  it  in  English,  the  same  in  sub¬ 
stance,  equal  in  power  and  glory  :  namely  the  Father,  the  Son 
and  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  the  matter  of  our  salvation — it  is  the 
Father,  to  .whose  Goodness,  Love,  Holiness,  Justice,  Truth,  Wis¬ 
dom,  Power,  Will,  the  Scriptures  constantly  direct  our  thoughts. 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 


CONCLUSION. 


661 


It  is  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the  Spirit  that  giveth  life,  as  the 
Spirit  of  all  truth,  and  as  the  Spirit  of  all  Holiness,  that  they 
constantly  direct  us  ;  the  Spirit  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son 
— the  true  author  of  all  truth  unto  salvation,  whether  revealed 
or  only  inspired — the  true  renewer  and  sanctifier  of  the  human 
soul — the  true  comforter  of  God's  children  and  Reprover  of 
the  world.  Between  these  two,  is  the  Son  ;  as  between  God  and 
men,  he  is  the  Mediator.  That  he  may  be  Mediator,  he  is  God 
and  man — Godman.  As  Mediator,  he  is  Prophet,  Priest,  and 
King  :  as  all  he  executes  the  offices  of  all,  in  Humiliation  and 
in  Exaltation.  And  that  Word  of  Life,  of  which  I  have  said 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  the  true  Inspirer  and  Revealer,  is  the  only 
infallible  rule  to  guide  us  in  all  knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation, 
objectively  considered  ;  as  it  is  the  only  direct  instrument  used 
by  the  Spirit  in  all  his  subjective  work  in  us,  unto  salvation. 
From  the  moment  that  we  find  the  Godman  placed  between  God 
and  men,  as  the  sum  of  every  relation  involved  in  the  word  Reli¬ 
gion,  and  the  complete  expression  of  everything  that  points  to¬ 
wards  salvation  for  lost  sinners  ;  two  ideas — with  their  opposites 
• — reign  throughout  all  the  word  of  God,  and  throughout  all  the 
dealings  of  God  with  men.  In  this  life,  it  is  to  penitent  and  be¬ 
lieving  sinners  Grace  abounding — Grace  triumphant :  and  in  the 
life  to  come,  it  is  Grace  swallowed  up  in  glory.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  in  this  life,  to  God's  obdurate  enemies,  warnings,  re¬ 
bukes,  and  threatenings,  mingled  with  exhortations  and  entrea¬ 
ties  to  be  reconciled  to  him  :  and  in  the  life  to  come,  the  worm 
that  shall  never  die,  and  the  fire  that  shall  never  be  quenched. 

4.  The  fact  that  there  is  any  salvation  for  sinners  does  not  de¬ 
pend  more  absolutely  upon  the  nature  of  God,  than  the  manner 
of  salvation  does  upon  the  mode  of  his  existence.  I  have  proved 
in  a  great  variety  of  forms,  that  supposing  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  as  it  is  commonly  called,  to  be  plainly  revealed  in  the 
Scriptures,  it  is  not  conceivable  that  a  way  of  salvation  at  all  dif¬ 
ferent  from  that  disclosed  in  them,  could  accord  with  that  mode 
of  the  divine  existence  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  if  nothing 
had  been  directly  taught  concerning  the  mode  of  the  divine  exist¬ 
ence,  the  way  of  salvation  disclosed  in  the  Scriptures  would  be 
incomprehensible,  upon  any  supposition  of  the  mode  of  the  divine 
existence,  except  that  mode  revealed  therein.  I  will  add,  that 
seeing  we  know  nothing  concerning  the  peculiar  mode  of  God's 


662  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

existence  developed  in  the  revealed  manner  of  saving  sinners, 
except  in  connection  with  that  special  revelation  ;  we  have  a 
vast  illustration  of  what  I  have  just  said  in  the  fact,  that  every 
false  religion  that  has  existed,  has  violated  in  some  way  the  fun¬ 
damental  convictions  of  human  nature,  in  the  manner  in  which 
they  have  proposed  to  deliver  men  from  the  wrath  of  God  ;  and 
I  have  proved  that  this  result  was  absolutely  unavoidable,  be¬ 
cause  upon  the  fundamental  convictions  of  human  nature  a  way 
of  deliverance  for  sinners,  much  more  true  salvation,  was  inscru¬ 
table  upon  any  knowledge  of  God  attainable  without  the  revela¬ 
tion  contained  in  the  Scriptures.  With  that  revelation,  we  are 
carried  back  into  eternity  ;  and  the  foundations  of  the  revealed 
wray  of  life,  which  is  so  closely  connected  with  the  mode  of  God's 
being,  are  laid  bare  in  that  very  mode  of  being.  The  Scriptures 
speak  continually  of  the  Counsel  of  God,  of  the  Purpose  of  God, 
of  the  Will  of  God,  of  the  Decree  of  God.  This  created  universe 
in  preference  to  all  others — this  plan  of  salvation  to  the  exclu¬ 
sion  of  all  others — this  scheme  of  providence  in  the  place  of  all 
others  :  all  are  of  God — all  have  as  their  chief  end  the  illustra¬ 
tion  of  his  own  Glory,  and  the  blessedness  of  the  universe  itself 
in  the  highest  degree  consistent  with  that  chief  end.  The  Scrip¬ 
tures  plainly  reveal  to  us — nor  is  it  conceivable  that  it  could  be 
otherwise — that  it  is  Jehovah,  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
of  whose  counsel,  purpose,  wall,  pleasure,  decree,  they  continually 
speak  ;  and  while  all  these  acts  and  exercises  of  the  Godhead  are 
always  characterized  by  the  same  unity  which  distinguishes  the 
divine  Essence,  the  manner  of  working  is  equally  characterized 
by  the  distinctness  which  belongs  to  the  personal  mode  of  the 
divine  existence.  In  a  most  particular  manner  is  this  true  of 
the  Plan  of  Salvation,  and  of  the  Eternal  Covenant  according  to 
whioh  that  plan  proceeds.  Under  it  the  office  work,  as  it  is  com¬ 
monly  expressed,  of  each  Person  of  the  Godhead,  is  perfectly  dis¬ 
tinct  from  that  of  each  of  the  other  Persons  ;  and  that  of  each 
varies  perceptibly  within  certain  limits,  under  successive  dispen¬ 
sations  of  it  thus  far  disclosed,  and  will  incur  further  variations 
according  to  the  revelations  not  yet  accomplished,  nor  perhaps 
fully  understood.  Both  according  to  the  counsel,  purpose,  de¬ 
cree,  and  will  of  God,  considered  in  his  infinite  unity  ;  and  also 
according  to  the  Eternal  Covenant  of  Grace  and  Redemption  be¬ 
tween  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  wherein  that 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 


CONCLUSION. 


663 


counsel,  purpose,  decree,  and  will  of  God  are  expressed  according 
to  that  manner  which  discriminates  the  peculiar  mode  of  the 
divine  existence  ;  God  considered  absolutely,  and  again  consid¬ 
ered  with  relation  to  his  threefold  personality,  is  revealed  to  us 
concerning  the  whole  matter  of  our  salvation,  and  concerning  his 
own  infinite  glory  therein.  Each  Person  of  the  Godhead,  accord¬ 
ing  to  his  special  office  work  in  our  salvation  under  this  Eternal 
Covenant,  is  a  party  to  it  not  only  with  reference  to  the  glory  of 
God  thereby,  and  with  reference  to  every  result  of  it  upon  the 
whole  universe,  but  also,  and  very  particularly,  with  reference  to 
the  salvation  of  God’s  Elect,  and  the  manner  thereof.  It  is  very 
obvious,  therefore,  that  the  elect  of  God  are  from  eternity  parties 
in  interest  to  this  Covenant ;  and  are  so  by  and  through  every 
Person  of  the  Godhead,  every  one  of  whom  in  his  participation 
in  the  covenant  had  special  relation  to  the  salvation  of  the  Elect, 
according  to  the  special  office  work  of  each  Person  under  the 
covenant.  But  the  whole  office  work  of  the  Second  Person  of 
the  Godhead  under  this  covenant,  is  of  such  a  nature,  and  iden¬ 
tifies  him  so  completely  with  those  whom  he  redeems  and  saves  ; 
that  it  is  to  him  the  Scriptures  pre-eminently  direct  our  atten¬ 
tion  as  representing  the  Elect  of  God  in  the  covenant ;  and  it  is 
absolutely  by  means  of  our  union  with  him  through  a  divine  re¬ 
generation,  and  as  our  crucified  and  risen  Saviour,  that  we  ever 
become  parties  in  fact  to  the  covenant  in  his  blood.  Moreover, 
there  is  a  special  reference  to  him  in  the  office  work  of  both  the 
other  Persons  of  the  Godhead  :  for  the  gift  of  him  to  be  our  Sa¬ 
viour  is  the  crowning  proof  of  the  love  of  the  Father,  and  it  is  for 
his  sake  that  we  are  both  justified  and  adopted  by  him  ;  while 
the  entire  work  of  the  Spirit  is  with  perpetual  reference  to  him. 
Our  salvation,  therefore,  is  absolutely  through  grace,  absolutely 
by  covenant,  absolutely  responsive  to  the  nature  of  God,  abso¬ 
lutely  decisive  concerning  the  mode  of  his  being. 

5.  The  existence  of  this  Eternal  Covenant  is  first  manifested 
in  the  proclamation  of  the  Saviour  by  God,  as  a  part  of  his  sen¬ 
tence  upon  Satan  after  the  Fall  of  Man.  That  proclamation 
changed  the  destiny  of  the  universe,  as  completely  as  the  Fall  of 
Man  had  before  changed  it.  Instead  of  executing  at  once  the 
penalty  annexed  to  the  Covenant  of  Works,  God  pronounced 
upon  Satan,  upon  the  man  and  the  woman,  and  upon  the  earth, 
what  I  have  called  an  interlocutory  sentence — opening  up  the 


664  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

whole  career  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  upon  earth,  and  adjourn¬ 
ing  the  cause,  so  to  speak,  till  the  earthly  career  of  that  King¬ 
dom  should  he  accomplished,  and  the  time  come  to  pronounce 
final  sentence.  The  judge  of  quick  and  dead  who  will  pronounce 
that  sentence  in  the  great  clay,  is  he  who  was  proclaimed  at  first 
as  the  Seed  of  the  woman  :  afterward  as  the  Seed  of  Abraham 
in  whom  God  promised  that  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should 
he  blessed.  For  the  Kingdom  itself  is  made  up  wholly  of  his 
brethren  whom  he  has  redeemed  with  his  own  blood,  whom  his 
own  Spirit  regenerates,  whom  his  own  Father  gave  to  him  in  the 
Eternal  Covenant,  for  whose  sake  ho  took  flesh,  and  of  whom  he 
is  the  Prophet,  the  Priest,  and  the  King.  The  Word  of  God 
contained  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  sus¬ 
tains  toward  this  heavenly  Kingdom,  of  which  Messiah — Christ — 
is  the  only  Head  and  Lord,  relations  unspeakably  glorious — as  I 
have  attempted  in  various  places  to  disclose.  The  Kingdom  it¬ 
self  under  many  aspects,  and  through  successive  Dispensations, 
has  survived  through  all  time  ;  and  the  Eternal  Covenant  of 
which  it  is  the  great  outbirth,  has  received  to  the  present  moment 
an  accomplishment  so  exact  and  so  universal,  that  every  human 
being  who  has  existed,  and  every  incident  that  has  influenced 
the  career  of  the  human  race,  has  been  a  separate  proof  alike  of 
its  divine  reality  and  of  its  unalterable  steadfastness.  From  the 
Fall  of  Man  through  all  time,  what  this  world  has  exhibited  and 
what  all  generations  have  seen,  is  the  development  of  that  con¬ 
dition  of  all  things  produced  by  the  proclamation  of  the  Cove¬ 
nant  of  Grace  by  God,  in  pronouncing  the  interlocutory  sentence 
after  that  Fall.  From  the  uttering  of  that  sentence  till  the 
Flood,  everything  remained  in  such  a  position,  that  the  King¬ 
dom  of  Messiah  would  have  been  the  only,  and  of  necessity  a  uni¬ 
versal  Kingdom,  if  the  world  had  received  him  :  instead  of  which 
eight  souls  only  of  all  living  flesh  escaped  the  Flood.  From  the 
call  of  Abraham,  the  establishment  of  the  visible  Church,  the 
erection  of  human  Kingdoms  and  thereby  the  visible  and  final 
change  of  the  relation  of  the  world  to  the  organized  Kingdom  of 
Messiah  ;  all  things  were  shaped  with  a  more  direct  reference  to 
his  advent,  and  to  the  posture  of  his  Kingdom  when  he  should 
come.  He  came  :  and  once  more  the  world,  which  under  the  an¬ 
cient  form  of  society  had  so  steadfastly  rejected  him  from  Adam 
to  Abraham  ;  received  under  the  new  form  of  society  created 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 


CONCLUSION. 


665 


under  God’s  covenant  with  Noah,  a  distinct  offer  by  Messiah 
himself  to  save  it  under  this  new  form.  The  last  and  greatest 
of  the  universal  world-powers,  for  answer,  crucified  the  Lord  of 
life  ;  instigated  thereto  by  the  very  race — the  very  Church — the 
very  commonwealth  which,  of  all  on  earth,  were  most  peculiarly 
his  own.  Can  it  be  possible,  after  this,  for  any  world-power,  any 
commonwealth,  any  organized  Church,  any  race  as  such,  to  in¬ 
herit  the  Millennial  Glory  ?  The  chosen  kingdom,  chosen  com¬ 
monwealth,  chosen  people,  chosen  Church — all  are  guilty  of  the 
blood  of  the  Son  of  God  !  Where  are  they  now  ?  How  will 
they — and  those  of  whom  they  were  divinely-appointed  types — 
appear  at  the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  P  And  now, 
last  of  all,  more  than  eighteen  centuries  of  the  Gospel  Dispen¬ 
sation  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  have  passed  over  the  world  ; 
and  the  living  generation  stands,  for  a  little  while,  in  its  lot,  to 
accomplish  its  own  probation,  to  behold  the  progress  of  the  whole 
creation  groaning  and  travailing  in  pain  together  under  the  curse 
of  sin,  but  with  God’s  promise  of  deliverance,  and  then  to  give 
place  to  another  generation.  And  what  is  the  result  of  these 
sixty  centuries  of  probation  for  man,  and  progress  for  the  King¬ 
dom  of  Messiah  P  What  is  the  result  of  these  eighteen  centu¬ 
ries  of  Gospel  Grace  during  which  the  glorified  Godman  has  been 
exalted  to  the  throne  of  the  universe — and  has  sent  the  Spirit  of 
God  to  abide  with  his  people  as  their  Comforter — with  the  world 
as  its  Reprover  ? 

6.  We  shall  have  no  more  sacrifice  for  sin,  no  more  revelation 
of  the  saving  grace  of  God,  no  more  incarnation  of  the  Son  of 
God.  When  the  glorified  Redeemer  sat  down  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  Majesty  on  high,  the  heavens  received  him  until  the  times 
of  restitution  of  all  things,  which  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth 
of  all  his  holy  prophets  since  the  world  began.  Until  Jehovah 
makes  his  foes  his  footstool,  his  place  is  at  his  right  hand.  And 
being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and  having  received  of 
the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  having  shed  it 
forth  on  Pentecost ;  those  last  days  predicted  so  long  before  by 
Joel,  and  now  explained  by  Peter,  are  fully  come,  and  God  pours 
out  his  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.  And  while  they  last,  and  until 
that  great  and  notable  day  of  the  Lord  which  closes  them  shall 
come  ;  it  is  the  constant  and  unalterable  doctrine  of  all  Scripture 
that  whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be 


666  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

saved.  And  for  the  very  reason  that  God’s  Spirit  is  poured  out, 
and  that  these  last  days  are  not  ended,  and  that  they  who  call 
on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved  ;  the  Gospel  Church  is 
transcendently  bound  to  preach  to  every  creature  that  Lord  who 
is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  that  lost  sinners  may  believe  in  his 
name,  and  may  call  upon  him,  and  may  be  saved.  Now  we  see 
not  yet  all  things  put  under  him.  But  we  see  Jesus,  who  was 
made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  for  the  suffering  of  death, 
crowned  with  glory  and  honour.  Just  so  the  great  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  described  the  posture  of  the  Kingdom,  when  these  last 
days  had  but  recently  commenced  ;  just  in  his  own  words,  which 
David  had  uttered  in  prophecy  so  many  centuries  before,  we  may 
describe  the  posture  of  the  Kingdom  still.  What  I  have  at¬ 
tempted  is  to  demonstrate  upon  the  word  of  God,  the  Kingdom 
of  Messiah,  exactly  as  it  has  stood  since  these  last  days  began,  as 
it  stands  now,  and  as  it  will  stand  while  they  continue.  What  I 
have  sought  is,  to  disclose  the  blessings  and  benefits  of  the  Cov¬ 
enant  of  Redemption  as  a  present  possession,  now  and  here,  of 
inestimable  grace ;  and  as  a  future  and  unfading  inheritance  of 
eternal  glory.  In  this  endeavour  the  whole  Knowledge  of  God 
unto  salvation  subjectively  considered,  must  of  necessity  pass 
under  consideration,  be  classified,  be  explicated.  But  the  very 
nature  of  the  attempt  demanded  above  all,  two  things  ;  first,  the 
just  statement  of  everything  according  to  the  divine  proportion 
of  faith  :  and  secondly,  the  total  omission,  as  far  as  possible,  of 
everything  uncertain,  and  if,  in  the  present  state  of  Knowledge, 
this  should  prove  in  any  case  to  be  impossible,  then  the  distinct 
statement  of  the  nature  of  the  uncertainty.  For  my  fundamen¬ 
tal  conception  is,  that  the  knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation  is  a 
science  of  positive  truth,  both  inductive  and  deductive.  And 
according  to  the  method  by  which  I  attempt  to  develop  that 
conception,  the  demonstration  of  the  subjective  aspect  of  the 
knowledge  of  God,  to  which  this  Treatise  is  devoted,  was  ex¬ 
hausted  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Fifth  Book.  All  that  com¬ 
monly  passes  under  the  term  Eschatology,  or  last  Things,  which 
it  has  been  usual  to  discuss  separately,  and  at  the  end  of  works 
on  Theology ;  I  have  considered  it  more  proper  to  discuss  in  im¬ 
mediate  connection  with  those  topics  in  the  body  of  the  work, 
from  which  they  cannot  be  separated  without  a  certain  violence. 
And  in  proceeding  now  to  make  some  general  statements  with 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 


CONCLUSION. 


667 


regard  to  them,  my  object  is  not  to  repeat  any  discussion  of  them  ; 
but  to  indicate  generally  the  consummation  of  the  Covenant 
of  Grace,  for  all  the  future  beyond  the  point  now  actually 
reached  ;  in  a  manner  somewhat  analogous  to  that  in  which  I 
have  just  been  exhibiting  its  progress  through  all  the  past,  up  to 
the  consummation  it  has  now  reached. 

II. — 1.  It  is  not  possible  to  doubt  that  God  has  objects  worthy 
of  himself,  in  all  his  works  of  creation,  of  providence,  and  of 
grace ;  or  to  doubt  that  those  objects  will  be  perfectly  ac¬ 
complished.  What  those  objects  are,  he  has  informed  us  in  his 
blessed  word,  to  a  certain  extent  ;  and  what  he  has  there  said, 
accords  with  all  we  are  able  to  gather  from  every  other  manifes¬ 
tation  of  himself  to  us.  He  purposes,  by  all  his  works,  to  make 
known  his  own  being  and  perfections  to  all  his  intelligent  uni¬ 
verse,  for  the  glory  of  his  own  great  name  ;  and  in  doing  this, 
to  bestow  the  highest  blessedness  on  his  creatures  which  can  con¬ 
sist  with  that  chief  object.  In  the  Plan  of  Salvation  these  two 
objects  are  identified  in  the  highest  degree,  which  the  infinite 
wisdom  of  God  could  suggest,  and  his  infinite  power  execute. 
Concerning  it,  therefore,  he  has  revealed  to  man  the  knowledge 
of  his  counsel,  purpose,  will  and  decree,  and  also  the  knowledge 
of  his  Eternal  Covenant  relating  thereto  :  with  a  distinctness  and 
fulness,  out  of  all  comparison  with  the  knowledge  of  him  at¬ 
tainable  by  man,  concerning  anything  else.  So  that  the  perfect 
consummation  of  that  Covenant  of  God,  and  the  complete  ac¬ 
complishment  of  everything  embraced  in  it,  are  invested  with  the 
highest  conceivable  certainty. 

2.  The  existence  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  the  immediate 
result  of  the  proclamation  by  him  of  his  Eternal  Covenant.  The 
perpetuity  of  that  Kingdom,  is  as  certain  as  the  perpetuity  of 
the  Covenant  ;  as  certain  as  the  perpetuity  of  the  existence  of 
God.  The  accomplishment  of  the  mission  of  the  Church  of  the 
living  God  is  as  certain,  as  that  the  will  of  God  cannot  he  resist¬ 
ed  ;  as  certain  as  that  each  person  of  the  Godhead  will  continue 
to  perform,  as  each  has  performed  since  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  the  mutual  stipulations  between  them  all  for  their  own 
eternal  glory.  And  the  eternal  ‘triumph,  glory,  and  blessedness 
of  the  Church  cannot  be  called  in  question,  without  impeaching 
the  immaculate  truth  of  God,  which  has  a  thousand  times  de¬ 
clared  it  all  ;  without  impeaching  the  infinite  power  of  God,  who 


668 


THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD. 


[CONCLUSION. 


has  pledged  his  very  life  for  it  all  ;  without  impeaching  the 
infinite  fidelity  of  God  to  his  own  glory,  to  which  that  Church  is 
the  eternal  witness,  and  his  infinite  faithfulness  to  the  Church 
herself,  whose  endless  renown  and  felicity  depend  on  her  endless 
service  and  enjoyment  of  him.  In  the  accomplishment  of  her 
mission  of  gathering  and  perfecting  the  saints  to  the  end  of  the 
world,  the  vicissitudes  she  may  incur,  the  persecutions  she  may 
endure,  the  perils  she  may  encounter,  the  struggles  she  must 
make,  before  she  can  enter  upon  her  Millennial  glory  ;  may  far 
transcend  her  own  habitual  expectations,  and  would  probably 
appal  her  if  she  saw  them  clearly.  But  all  these  things,  like  all 
things  besides,  will  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love 
God,  to  them  who  are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose.  What 
is  certain  is,  that  her  mission  of  Evangelization  must  be  accom¬ 
plished  in  her  present  Gospel  form.  It  is  this  Gospel  Church, 
founded  upon  the  Apostles  and  Prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself 
being  the  chief  corner  stone,  once  crucified,  now  made  of  God 
both  Lord  and  Christ ;  which  constitutes  the  visible  Kingdom 
of  God  from  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  the  second  coming  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  How  much  this  Church  accomplished  during  the 
first  age  of  its  existence — we  know,  to  a  certain  extent,  from  the 
statements  and  intimations  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures. 
What  it  has  accomplished  since — -what  it  is  capable  of  accom¬ 
plishing  in  its  present  condition — what  it  has  endured  without 
being  extinguished — what  is  required  for  its  complete  deliverance 
from  the  polluting  contact  of  the  world,  and  its  thorough  extri¬ 
cation  from  the  horrible  incumbent  mass  of  merely  nominal 
Christianity  ;  all  these  are  topics  which,  alas  !  it  is  easy  to  over¬ 
look,  but  which  lie  very  near  to  the  heart  of  every  one  that  sighs 
and  that  cries  for  all  the  abominations  that  be  done  in  the  midst 
of  Jerusalem — every  one  that  takes  pleasure  even  in  the  stones 
of  Zion  and  favours  the  very  dust  thereof.  Concerning  the  com¬ 
ing  glory  of  the  Church,  and  the  consummation  of  the  Covenant 
of  Grace  with  respect  to  her  ;  the  Scriptures  appear  to  me  to  re¬ 
veal,  as  yet  future,  two  states  very  distinct  from  each  other  : 
namely,  her  Millennial  state  and  her  Eternal  state.  The  former 
I  judge  to  be  upon,  and  connected  with  this  earth  delivered  from 
the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children 
of  God  ; — as  the  Apostle  Paul  expresses  it,  explaining  at  the 
the  same  time  that  we  ought  to  hope  with  confidence,  and  wait 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 


CONCLUSION. 


669 


with  patience,  for  that  glorious  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God. 
That  Millennial  glory  seems  to  me  to  be  a  dispensation  of  the 
Covenant  of  Grace,  as  distinct  and  as  real  as  any  preceding  dis¬ 
pensation  under  that  Covenant ;  and  that  it  can  no  more  be  con¬ 
sidered  merely  the  perfection  of  the  Gospel  Church,  than  that 
Church  can  be  considered  merely  the  perfection  of  the  Jewish 
Dispensation.  The  whole  analogy  of  the  past  dealings  of  God 
with  his  Kingdom,  the  whole  economy  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemp¬ 
tion,  and  the  explicit  revelation  of  God  concerning  the  Millennial 
state  of  the  Church  ;  appear  to  set  that  glorious  state  distinctly 
forth,  as  a  separate  dispensation  of  the  Kingdom  of  Messiah. 
Besides  this,  there  are  two  considerations,  one  of  which  enters 
vitally  into  the  nature  of  the  present,  and  the  other  into  that  of 
the  coming  state,  both  of  which  seem  to  be  decisive.  Concern¬ 
ing  the  coming  state,  there  does  not  appear  to  be  the  least  rea¬ 
son  to  believe,  that  any  part  of  its  object  is  to  offer  grace  and 
salvation  to  impenitent  men  ;  while  to  offer  grace  and  salvation 
to  every  creature  is  the  pre-eminent  characteristic  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  dispensation.  On  the  other  hand  the  condition  of  glory 
and  blessedness,  of  perfection  and  felicity,  which  is  absolutely 
characteristic  of  the  Millennial  state ;  is  one  historically,  prac¬ 
tically,  dogmatically  and  ethically  superior  to  the  condition  which 
is  attainable  either  by  the  Church,  or  by  individual  Christians  in 
this  life,  under  the  present  Dispensation.  I  do  not,  however, 
understand  that  the  Millennial  state  is  the  final  state  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  ;  nor  that  this  earth  is  the  final  theatre  of  its 
glory  ;  nor  that  its  organization  and  its  ordinances,  will  adhere 
to  it  forever.  Its  Eternal  state  is  still  higher,  still  more  glorious  ; 
and  its  entrance  upon  it  will  be  prepared  by  the  Millennial  state, 
according  to  its  manner,  in  a  way  analogous  to  the  preparation  by 
its  Gospel  state  for  its  Millennial  state.  It  is  the  second  coming 
of  the  Son  of  Man,  which  initiates  the  Millennial  glory  of  his 
kingdom.  It  is  at  the  delivery  up  of  the  Kingdom  by  the  Son  to 
the  Father,  upon  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life,  after  he  shall  have  put 
down  all  rule  and  all  authority  and  power — all  his  enemies  under 
his  feet,  and  death  the  last  of  them  destroyed  ;  that  the  Eternal 
Glory  of  the  Church  begins — all  things  subdued  unto  the  Son — 
the  Son  himself  subject  unto  him  that  put  all  things  under  him — 
God  all  in  all.  Concerning  the  Millennial  Glory,  one  apostle  has 
said,  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet 


6T0  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

appear  what  we  shall  be  ;  but  we  know,  that  when  he  shall  ap¬ 
pear,  we  shall  he  like  him  ;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  And 
another  has  said,  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life  shall  appear,  then 
shall  ye  also  appear  with  him  in  glory.  And  concerning  all  the 
blessedness  that  awaits  the  redeemed  forevermore,  Isaiah  has  said 
and  Paul  repeated,  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  pre¬ 
pared  for  them  that  love  him.  Blessed  is  the  man  who  can  add, 
with  the  Apostle,  But  God  hath  revealed  unto  us  by  his  Spirit  ! 
— I  speak  with  great  hesitation  upon  topics  so  sublime,  so  remote 
from  human  thinking,  and  upon  which  the  mind  of  this  generation 
of  God's  true  children  seems  to  be  at  once  so  anxious  and  so  un¬ 
settled.  What  I  insist  on  is,  the  consummation  of  the  Covenant 
of  Grace  with  reference  to  the  Kingdom  of  God,  first  in  the  Mil¬ 
lennial  Glory,  and  then  in  the  Eternal  state  of  immediate  fruition 
of  God  ;  both  of  which  await  the  Church  of  Christ. 

3.  It  is  impossible  to  follow  the  chains  of  thought  perpetu¬ 
ally  suggested  in  the  Scriptures  concerning  the  origin,  career, 
and  consummation  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  under  the  Covenant 
of  Grace  ;  without  perceiving  that  at  one  point  or  another,  and 
in  one  way  or  another,  everything  in  the  universe  is  implicated 
in  the  result.  God's  work  of  creation  is  the  basis  of  all  his  other 
works  ;  and  the  extent  to  which  the  entrance  of  sin,  first  amomrst 
the  angels  in  heaven,  and  then  into  our  world  through  the  seduc¬ 
tion  of  Eve  by  a  fallen  angel,  deranged  the  created  universe  ;  and 
the  manner  of  retrieving,  restoring,  and  avenging  that  fearful  de¬ 
rangement,  by  means  of  this  Eternal  Covenant ;  draws  within 
the  pale  of  Christian  doctrine,  or  at  the  least  of  Christian  spec¬ 
ulation,  the  whole  creative  work  of  God.  In  like  manner  the 
Covenant  of  Works  which  God  in  boundless  mercy  entered  into 
with  Adam  after  his  creation,  has  failed  in  nothing  except  that 
its  breach  rendered  man  incapable  of  life  by  it ;  and  every  cre¬ 
ated  thing,  and  every  living  soul,  can  find  refuge  from  its  just 
and  fearful  penalty,  only  by  means  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace. 
So  also  God's  work  of  Providence,  wrought  out  under  those  com¬ 
plications  which  seem  to  us  so  stupendous,  of  the  Law  of  Nature 
indelibly  fixed  by  creation  itself,  the  Law  of  covenanted  perfec¬ 
tion  whose  penalty  is  incurred  every  instant  of  our  mortal  exist¬ 
ence,  and  the  Law  of  infinite  Grace  through  the  blood  of  Christ ; 
must  shape  itself  with  a  boundless  wisdom,  power,  justice,  good- 


CONCLUSION. 


671 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 

ness,  and  truth,  so  that  the  nations  which  forget  God  shall  be 
turned  into  hell,  and  the  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord  shall  he 
blessed  forevermore,  and  death  and  hell  shall  be  cast  into  the 
lake  of  torment,  and  Messiah  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour 
of  the  World  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall  be 
satisfied.  It  is  to  our  faith  that  everything  is  revealed — to  our 
curiosity  nothing  :  and  all  is  so  revealed  that  our  faith  must 
stand  in  the  power  of  God,  and  not  in  the  wisdom  of  men. 
Simple,  brief,  and  direct,  are  all  the  words  of  God  ;  topics  the 
most  overwhelming  to  us,  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  topics 
which  we  esteem  the  most  humble  ;  the  smallest  thing  that  im¬ 
mediately  concerns  our  salvation  carefully  explained,  and  things 
the  most  august  which  do  not  immediately  concern  it,  passed 
over  with  a  notice  as  incidental  as  their  relation  to  our  destiny. 
And  that  is  the  measure  of  our  knowledge,  concerning  the  man¬ 
ner  in  which  the  consummation  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  will 
affect  the  universe  and  every  particular  existence  in  it.  Of  the 
whole  effect  of  the  sin  that  entered  heaven,  upon  the  universe 
of  God,  we  only  know  so  much  as  concerns  the  angels  that  fell, 
and  so  much  as  involves  our  ruin  through  theirs  ;  but  we  know 
that  the  retribution  of  their  sin — is  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire. 
Of  the  effect  of  the  Fall  of  Man  upon  the  created  universe,  be¬ 
yond  the  range  of  our  own  planet,  many  very  remarkable  state¬ 
ments  of  the  Scriptures  exist, — which  it  wrould  be  unprofitable 
to  discuss  in  a  cursory  manner,  here  :  but  we  know  that  what¬ 
ever  they  were,  they  will  all  be  retrieved.  The  earth  we  inhabit 
was  cursed  for  our  sake,  and  the  whole  creation  thereof  groaneth 
and  travaileth  in  pain  together  under  that  curse.  And  we  know 
that  the  whole  will  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God  ;  that  there  shall  be 
new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  in  which  righteousness  shall  dwell ; 
and  last  of  all,  that  the  earth,  and  all  the  works  that  are  therein 
shall  be  burned  up,  and  the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dis¬ 
solved,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat.  And  my 
understanding  is,  that  this  period  of  the  New  Heavens  and  the 
New  Earth,  so  distinctly  stated  by  Isaiah  and  Peter,  and  de¬ 
scribed  with  so  much  detail  by  John,  is  the  period  of  the  Millen¬ 
nial  Glory  of  the  Church  ;  and  the  commencement  of  her  state 
of  Eternal  Glory,  is  the  Day  of  God,  synonymous  with  that  dis¬ 
solution  and  passing  away  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  s>  dis- 


672  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

tinctly  stated  by  the  blessed  Saviour,  aud  so  often  mentioned 
throughout  the  Scriptures. 

4.  But  it  is  our  individual  relation  to  these  vast  subjects,  their 
relation  to  our  personal  destiny,  which  so  deeply  concerns  us  ;  and 
it  is  in  this  aspect  of  them  that  God  has  taken  so  much  pains  to 
inform  us,  and  to  excite  our  interest  in  them.  It  is  not  easy, — 
perhaps  not  possible — to  conceive  what  more  God  could  have 
done,  that  he  has  not  done,  to  accomplish  in  us  both  of  those 
merciful  designs  :  to  explain  which,  would  only  be  to  recapitu¬ 
late,  in  brief,  the  chief  contents  both  of  the  present  Treatise  and 
of  the  one  that  preceded  it.  In  one  aspect  of  the  case  of  each 
human  being,  it  is  precisely  like  that  of  every  other  human  being  : 
for  all  are  born  in  sin,  all  put  off  their  mortal  existence,  all  incur 
in  another  state  of  being  a  resurrection,  an  eternal  judgment,  and 
a  just  recompense  of  reward.  But  in  another  aspect,  the  case  of 
each  human  being  is  deeply  affected  by  the  condition  of  all 
things,  and  especially  of  all  divine  things,  in  the  midst  of  which 
his  own  mortal  probation  is  cast  by  the  sovereign  disposal  of  God. 
Whether  we  would  exist  at  all,  and  under  what  circumstances, 
are  matters  which  could  never  be  submitted  to  our  consideration. 
And  as  they  are  matters  which  put  our  destiny,  both  for  time  and 
for  eternity,  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  God  ;  one  would  suppose 
that  the  last  thing  that  would  occur  to  us,  would  beany  attempt 
to  evade  or  to  resist  his  boundless  dominion  over  us  ;  and  that 
the  last  thing  which  would  become  us,  would  be  voluntary  igno¬ 
rance  of  him,  and  deliberate  disobedience  to  him.  This  sovereign 
disposal  of  God  concerning  the  fact  and  the  circumstances  of  each 
individual  existence,  proceeds,  so  to  speak,  in  a  double  manner. 
For  a  whole  generation,  or  many  successive  generations,  are 
brought  into  existence,  for  example,  at  a  certain  stage  of  the  pro¬ 
gress  of  God’s  Kingdom,  under  the  Gospel  Church  for  instance  : 
and  besides  this  aggregate  discrimination,  there  is  a  strictly  per¬ 
sonal  discrimination  by  God,  in  the  exercise  of  which  each  indi¬ 
vidual  in  every  generation,  is  born  to  the  peculiar  lot  and  makes 
his  mortal  probation  under  the  personal  circumstances,  which  dis¬ 
tinguish  him  from  every  other  being.  Besides  these  things,  over¬ 
whelming  as  they  are,  other  two  must  be  added,  which  ought 
to  stop  every  mouth  forever — except  to  make  confession  of  God 
unto  salvation.  The  first  of  these  is  the  constitutional  peculiari¬ 
ties,  physical,  mental,  and  moral  of  each  particular  being,  which 


CONCLUSION. 


673 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 

affect  his  destiny  ;  and  the  second  is  the  special  dealings  of  God 
both  providential  and  gracious,  with  each  particular  being,  after 
he  has  been  launched,  in  the  sovereign  manner  I  have  attempted 
to  portray,  upon  a  mortal  existence  which  can  have  no  issue  but 
in  immortality — of  glory  and  blessedness  on  one  side,  or  of  shame 
and  contempt  on  the  other.  The  generation  that  now  is,  finds 
itself  in  living  contact  with  the  work  of  God's  infinite  grace,  ad¬ 
vanced  to  a  certain  point  of  its  sublime  oeconomy,  considered  with 
reference  to  each  individual,  to  the  human  race,  and  to  the  Eter¬ 
nal  Covenant.  We  ask  ourselves,  what  relation  have  we  as  sepa¬ 
rate  existences,  and  what  as  composing  the  present  mortal  portion 
of  a  race  so  wonderfully  and  fearfully  made,  to  the  awful  future, 
and  the  infinite  consummation  of  the  Eternal  Covenant  ?  As  to 
the  whole  race  of  man,  nothing  seems  to  me  to  be  more  certainlv 
revealed,  than  that  its  mortal  existence,  both  individual  and  ag¬ 
gregate,  will  be  utterly  extinguished — and  that  the  personal  ex¬ 
istence  of  every  individual  of  it,  after  his  mortality  is  done,  will  be 
immortal.  An  eternal  judgment  awaits  every  human  being  ;  but  it 
awaits  us,  not  in  our  mortal  state,  but  after  death  and  after  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  ;  if  we  except  those  who  may  be  alive  at 
the  second  coming  of  the  Lord,  among  whom  the  righteous  will 
incur  an  instantaneous  change,  and  the  wicked  will  be  accursed, 
and  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment.  Whatever  may  be 
the  Millennial  glory  of  Christ  and  his  Church  in  other  respects, 
the  enemies  of  God  can  have  no  part  therein.  Whatever  may  be 
the  nature  of  the  eternal  judgment  in  other  respects,  it  is  impos¬ 
sible  for  sinful  men  who  are  without  God,  without  Christ,  and 
without  hope,  in  all  things  concerning  which  they  will  be  judged, 
to  be  acquitted  as  sons  of  God  and  brethren  of  Christ.  What¬ 
ever  may  be  the  nature  of  the  heavenly  and  eternal  state  of  the 
righteous  who  have  followed  Christ  in  the  regeneration,  and 
reigned  with  him  in  Millennial  glory  ;  they  whose  names  are  not 
written  in  the  Lamb’s  Book  of  Life  can  form  no  part  of  the  glo¬ 
rious  host,  which  he  delivers  to  the  Father  in  its  perfect  state, 
upon  that  Book  of  Life.  It  is  manifest,  therefore,  how  the  whole 
progress  of  the  eternal  covenant,  and  how  the  complete  consum¬ 
mation  of  it,  alike  involves  the  perdition  of  ungodly  men.  The 
endless  existence  of  the  wicked,  and  their  utter  perdition,  are  just 
as  certain  as  the  endless  existence  of  the  righteous,  and  their 
great  glory  and  blessedness.  And  the  certainty  on  both  sides  is 
vol.  ii.  43 


(174  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

such,  that  to  natural  reason  and  conscience  it  is  perfectly  una¬ 
voidable,  according  to  all  the  knowledge  we  have  of  God  and  of 
ourselves.  Besides  which,  all  the  spiritual  insight  we  obtain  of 
divine  things,  in  the  whole  progress  of  God’s  work  of  grace  within 
us,  settles  more  and  more  deeply  in  every  pious  soul,  that  this 
is  the  result,  on  one  side  and  the  other,  manifested  in  the  entire 
dealings  of  God  with  man  ;  that  it  is  declared  times  without 
number  in  his  blessed  word  ;  that  it  is  involved  in  his  very  na¬ 
ture  and  ours,  as  well  as  in  the  relation  between  the  two  which 
itself  involves  the  possibility  of  religion  ;  and  that  the  result 
flows  from  the  nature  of  that  relation  whether  it  is  considered  in 
its  original  form,  or  in  the  form  created  by  the  Covenant  of  Grace. 
With  regard  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life  so  deeply  seated  in  the 
human  soul,  and  the  assurance  of  it  which  is  so  thoroughly  the 
Essence  of  the  Gospel  of  God  ;  nothing  need  be  urged  here  in 
vindication  of  the  truth  that  the  realization  of  that  hope,  and  the 
possession  of  that  blessed  immortality,  are  possible  only  through 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ — possible  through  him  only  to  such  as  are 
made  conformable  unto  him.  I  have  traced  as  clearly  as  I  could, 
the  common  progress  of  every  human  being,  to  the  point  at  which 
God’s  distinguishing  mercy  makes  the  lost  sinner  an  heir  of  sal¬ 
vation  ;  and  then  I  have  traced  with  the  greatest  care  the  indi¬ 
vidual  career  of  each  child  of  God  in  the  progress  of  the  work  of 
grace  within  him,  and  the  manifestation  of  that  work  by  him  in 
the  great  offices  of  Christianity  ;  and  then  the  creation,  and 
gifts,  and  life,  of  the  Gospel  Church  composed  of  these  children 
of  God.  And  now  we  ask  ourselves,  what  more  concerning  these 
heirs  of  the  infinite  inheritance,  individually  considered,  will  the 
further  progress,  and  the  complete  consummation  of  the  Covenant 
of  Grace,  bring  forth  P  The  most  comprehensive  answer  is,  that 
whatever  awaits  them  will  always  exalt  them — always  increase 
the  glory  of  their  Lord  and  their  own  conformity  unto  him.  Tem¬ 
poral  death  will  release  them  forever  from  mortality  and  sin,  and 
exalt  them  to  companionship  with  Jesus  in  Paradise.  The  res¬ 
urrection  of  the  body  will  exalt  them  still  higher,  and  bring  them 
to  a  still  closer  conformity  to  the  glorified  Kedeemer.  The  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  great  day  will  inconceivably  magnify  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  and  of  his  grace  ;  wherein  they  will  be  openly  acquitted  and 
acknowledged  as  reigning  together  with  Christ  in  infinite  bless¬ 
edness,  and  the  place  of  each  one  in  the  host  of  the  glorified  saints 


CONCLUSION. 


675 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 

be  proclaimed.  And  then  when  the  whole  work  of  grace  is  com¬ 
pletely  accomplished,  and  the  whole  work  of  glory  resulting  there¬ 
from  arrives  at  the  point,  where  the  Kingdom  in  its  absolute 
completion  is  handed  over  to  the  Father,  into  its  eternal  heavenly 
state  ;  the  final  exaltation  pointed  out  by  the  Scriptures,  is 
reached  by  every  child  of  God,  in  that  immediate  fruition  of 
God,  and  the  glory  and  blessedness  and  eternal  increase  spring¬ 
ing  therefrom.  The  eternal  covenant  of  God  is  consummated  as 
to  the  elect  of  God  ;  and  this  eternal  heavenly  state  is  the  result 
as  to  them,  of  grace  condescending  so  low  that  God  became  man, 
rising  so  high  that  man  partakes  of  God.  Exactly  what  we  shall 
be — and  what  it  all  signifies — the  two  mortals,  who  of  all  that 
ever  lived  perhaps  could  have  best  answered,  have  answered.  To 
the  first  question,  John  has  answered,  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what 
the  sons  of  God  shall  be  :  but  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear 
we  shall  be  like  him  ;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  To  the  second 
question  Paul  has  answered,  it  means  that — God  giveth  us  the 
victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  :  it  means  that  everything 
has  reached  that  consummation,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all. 

5.  There  can  he  but  one  supreme  will  in  the  universe  :  there 
can  be  no  salvation  for  sinners,  except  through  grace.  The  rela¬ 
tion  of  these  two  propositions  to  each  other,  and  to  the  infinite 
Spirit  who  is  the  true  and  living  God,  becomes  comprehensible 
to  human  reason  as  soon  as  the  mode  of  God's  being  is  known. 
The  eternal  purpose  of  that  supreme  will  to  save  sinners,  finds 
expression  in  a  way  responsive  to  the  inscrutable  nature,  and  the 
inscrutable  mode  thereof :  and  the  consummation  of  the  will, 
and  of  the  grace,  and  of  the  way  of  manifesting  all  three,  as 
completely  illustrates  the  infinite  God,  as  mortals  are  capable  of 
understanding  him.  The  Eternal  Covenant  of  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  expresses  with  reference  to  the  three¬ 
fold  personality  which  is  the  form  in  which  the  unity  of  the  divine 
essence  subsists,  the  same  infinite  purpose,  will,  decree,  which  are 
expressed  by  the  mere  use  of  such  terms  with  reference  to  that 
infinite  Spirit,  considered  in  the  absolute  unity  of  its  essence. 
And  so  the  consummation  of  the  Eternal  Covenant  brings  us 
back  to  that  infinite  Spirit  in  its  unity.  As  for  the  sons  of  God 
— what  we  know  is  that  when  the  glorified  Redeemer  appears, 
they  will  see  him  as  he  is,  and  be  forever  like  him.  But  as  to 
God  himself,  what  will  occur  when  his  will,  and  his  grace,  and 


676  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

his  covenant  concerning  the  salvation  of  sinners,  shall  have  re¬ 
ceived  their  infinite  consummation  ;  is  that  he  will  he  all  in  all. 
God  the  infinite  Spirit  whose  essence  is  one  :  God,  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  three  Persons  in  one  Substance  :  God  will 
he  all  in  all,  with  reference  to  the  consummation  of  this  Eternal 
Covenant — and  to  all  the  effects  of  that  consummation.  It  has 
been  worked  through  with  reference  in  a  special  manner,  to  the 
personal  mode  of  the  divine  existence  :  its  consummation  is,  in  a 
special  manner,  unto  the  infinite  unity  of  God.  The  Son  deliv¬ 
ers  up  the  Kingdom — not  in  the  sense  of  separating  himself  from 
it — hut  in  the  sense  of  having  absolutely  accomplished  and  per¬ 
fected  every  part  of  the  divine  will,  purpose,  decree — every  stip¬ 
ulation  of  the  Eternal  Covenant ;  more  especially  everything 
relating  to  God’s  elect  who  had  been  given  to  him  in  that  cove¬ 
nant — of  whose  names  there  is  the  record  in  the  Book  of  Life, 
which  is  delivered  up  with  them.  The  covenant  has  perfectly 
accomplished  that  which  it  was  the  will  of  God  it  should  accom- 
plish  ;  what  remains  is,  that  God  is  all  in  all — and  that  all  his 
sons  are  like  him  :  which,  as  to  them,  is  going  so  high — that 
nothing  seems  to  he  higher,  hut  the  Godman.  And  herein,  the 
glory  of  the  Being,  Perfections,  Counsel,  and  Work  of  God,  are 
complete.  The  Fall  of  man  is  retrieved  :  the  Bride  of  the  Lamb 
rejoices  eternally  :  the  universe  receives  from  innumerable  hosts 
of  redeemed  souls — true  witness  of  God  :  all  created  things  are 
purged  from  all  defilement,  delivered  from  all  travail  under  the 
bondage  of  corruption,  freed  from  the  curse  of  God,  and  exult¬ 
ing  under  his  blessing  :  all  the  enemies  of  God  are  shut  up  in 
hell  forever.  The  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
have  perfected  grace,  and  caused  it  to  he  swallowed  up  in  glory  : 
and  the  end  of  all  God’s  counsel  and  work  in  the  promotion  of 
his  own  declarative  glory,  and  the  highest  blessedness  of  his  cre¬ 
ated  universe,  is  eternally  accomplished.  From  eternity  it  was, 
God  is  all  in  all :  to  eternity  it  will  be,  God  is  all  in  all.  Glori¬ 
ous  manifestations  of  God  are  scattered  all  along  the  track  of 
these  eternal  ages.  Somewhere  in  the  midst  of  them,  begins 
this  fearful  episode  of  sin.  Far  along  in  their  course,  is  this 
divine  solution  of  it,  with  its  threefold  effect,  of  eternal  glory  to 
God,  of  boundless  increase  of  the  knowledge  of  him  throughout 
his  universe  and  everlasting  blessedness  thereby,  and  of  endless 
perdition  of  .Devils  and  damned  spirits  ! 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 


CONCLUSION. 


677 


6.  We  must  return,  for  a  few  moments,  to  sum  up  as  well 
as  we  can  in  the  present  state  of  divine  knowledge,  the  special 
relation  of  the  divine  Redeemer  to  that  portion  of  the  future 
career  of  his  Church,  which  lies  this  side  of  that  complete  con¬ 
summation  of  the  covenant  of  Redemption,  of  which  I  have 
already  spoken  with  reference  to  the  chief  matters  involved 
therein.  It  is  not  as  a  question  of  prophecy, — hut  as  a  matter 
of  Christian  doctrine,  that  I  make  any  statement  here,  upon  the 
subject  of  the  immediate  connection  of  Christ  with  the  future 
progress  and  coming  glory  of  his  Kingdom.  As  a  question  of 
mere  doctrine,  no  reason  can  be  assigned  which  tends  to  limit 
the  period  of  the  struggle  between  good  and  evil  in  this  world, 
or  to  determine  any  positive  issue  of  it.  It  is  only  by  express 
revelation  we  could  know  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  will  triumph 
completely  and  possess  the  whole  earth  ;  and  I  have  already  said 
that  the  Scriptures  seem  to  me  to  teach,  that  in  order  to  this 
triumph  that  Kingdom  must  assume  a  new  form,  and  exist  under 
another  dispensation.  Whoever  will  assert  that  the  Church  of 
God — independently  of  some  divine  change  in  the  elements  of  the 
problem  which  it  has  been  working  out,  under  its  Gospel  form, 
for  more  than  eighteen  centuries — can  have  a  future  very  mate¬ 
rially  different  from  her  past  history ;  or  that  the  human  race  can 
have  a  future  spiritual  history  essentially  variant  from  that  which 
is  past — without  some  further  and  marvellous  interposition  of 
God  ;  will,  in  each  instance  as  it  appears  to  me,  contradict  the 
whole  current  of  divine  revelation,  and  disregard  the  absolute 
oeconomy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation.  The  augmentation  of  the 
present  saving  operation  of  the  divine  Spirit' — is  not  that  super¬ 
natural  change  in  the  elements  of  the  problem,  is  not  that  further 
interposition  of  God,  which  will  extinguish  sin  and  misery  in 
this  world,  and  give  to  the  saints  their  Millennial  glory  and  reign 
with  Christ.  It  is  the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man,  which 
is  that  change  in  the  elements  of  the  problem,  that  further  inter¬ 
position  of  God,  which  will  give  the  victory.  As  to  the  fact  that 
the  glorified  Redeemer  would  return  again ;  he  declared  it  as  dis¬ 
tinctly  as  he  did  the  fact  that  he  would  ascend  to  the  Father,  or 
the  fact  that  he  would  send  the  Comforter :  and  not  even  his 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  is  more  thoroughly  wrought  into  the 
system  of  Salvation  disclosed  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament,  than  his  second  coming  in  infinite  glory  is.  It  is  com- 


6T8  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

monly  alleged  that  this  assured  coming  of  the  Lord  is  in  his 
glory,  and  all  his  holy  angels  with  him  :  and  this  is  true,  for  it 
is  repeatedly  so  declared  in  the  Scriptures.  Moreover,  that  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  will  occur  at  that  time  ;  which  is  true, 
hut  not  exactly  in  the  sense  generally  understood  :  for  it  is  ex¬ 
pressly  declared  by  the  Apostle  John  that  none  hut  such  as  he 
describes  will  reign  with  Christ  a  thousand  years,  or  have  any 
part  in  the  first  resurrection — and  that  the  rest  of  the  dead  live 
not  again  until  the  thousand  years  are  finished  :  while  it  is  as 
expressly  declared  by  the  Apostle  Paul,  that  every  one  whose  life 
is  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  shall  appear  in  glory  with  Christ,  when 
he  appears,  and  that  this  appearing  of  Christ  is  his  descent  from 
heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with 
the  trump  of  God — at  which  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise.  Again, 
that  the  instantaneous  change  of  the  saints  then  alive,  will  im¬ 
mediately  follow  the  resurrection  of  the  righteous  dead — at  the 
appearing  of  the  Lord  :  which  is  true,  according  to  the  direct  and 
repeated  statements  of  Scripture.  With  regard  to  the  wicked 
found  alive  at  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  the  declaration  is  express, 
that  when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his 
mighty  angels,  in  flaming  fire,  not  only  shall  all  kindreds  of  the 
earth  wail  because  of  him,  but  he  will  take  vengeance  on  them 
that  know  not  God,  and  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ :  who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruc¬ 
tion  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his 
power,  when  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  to  be 
admired  in  all  them  that  believe.  Thus  every  class  of  men  is 
disposed  of:  the  righteous  dead  rise,  and  the  living  saints  are 
transfigured— and  all  reign  with  Christ :  the  living  wicked  are 
destroyed — and  the  wicked  dead  live  not  again,  till  the  thou¬ 
sand  years  are  finished.  And  when  Jesus  was  asked  by  the  dis¬ 
ciples,  as  he  sat  upon  the  mount  of  Olives,  to  tell  them  when  the 
things  of  which  he  had  been  speaking  in  the  Temple,  should 
happen,  and  what  should  be  the  sign  of  his  coming,  and  of  the 
End  of  the  World :  he  answered  them  as  recorded  by  Matthew, 
at  considerable  length — and  then  pointed  out  particularly  that  as 
the  days  of  Noah  were,  so  shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man 
be — and  then  illustrating  the  condition  of  his  Kingdom  at  his 
coming,  by  the  parable  of  the  ten  virgins,  as  before  the  condition  of 
the  world  by  the  case  of  Noah,  he  closed  the  wonderful  discourse 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 


CONCLUSION. 


679 


by  a  statement  of  bis  actual  coming,  and  the  actual  gathering  of 
all  nations,  and  his  treatment  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked. 
I  take  this  full  and  remarkable  statement  of  the  Lord,  to  be 
perfectly  intelligible  and  conclusive  upon  many  points  which  I 
need  not  recapitulate  ;  and,  as  it  seems  to  me,  it  settles  all  ques¬ 
tion  as  to  the  whole  race  of  mortals,  good  and  bad,  who  are  alive 
at  his  coming — and  in  the  light  of  other  Scriptures  settles  the 
question  of  the  extinction  of  the  mortal  existence  of  the  human 
race,  during  that  Millennial  Kingdom  which  flesh  and  blood  can¬ 
not  inherit,  any  more  than  corruption  can  inherit  incorruption. 
It  is  after  this  glorious  appearing  of  the  Lord  that  he  will  judge 
the  world  in  righteousness :  and  pronounce  that  final  Sentence, 
which  the  promise  of  the  Seed  of  the  woman  suspended.  He 
will  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.  I  suppose  that  what  has  just 
been  stated,  relates  especially  to  the  quick  or  living.  Of  the  dead, 
all  will  rise — and  all  be  judged.  But  as  stated  by  Paul,  every 
man  will  rise  in  his  own  order  ;  and  the  order  is  given.  First 
Christ — the  first-fruits  ;  more  than  eighteen  centuries  ago.  Af¬ 
terward  they  that  are  Christ’s  at  his  coming  ;  the  day  and  hour 
of  which  coming,  Christ  repeatedly  told  his  disciples,  no  man, 
not  even  the  angels  in  heaven,  not  even  the  Son — but  only  the 
Father,  knew  ;  and  distinctly  bade  them,  for  that  very  reason, 
to  watch  and  pray.  Next  in  the  divine  order,  is  the  end  :  before 
which  is  the  reign  of  a  thousand  years — declared  by  John,  which 
cannot  end  according  to  Paul,  till  Christ  has  put  all  enemies 
under  his  feet — the  last  of  whom  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death  ; 
and  at  the  end  of  which  John  assures  us  that  Satan  shall  be 
loosed  from  the  bottomless  pit  in  which  he  had  laid  bound  during 
the  thousand  years  ;  and  the  wicked  dead  shall  rise  to  shame  and 
everlasting  contempt:  and  they  and  the  Devil  that  deceived 
them,  shall  be  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  where  the 
beast  and  the  false  prophet  are,  and  shall  be  tormented  day  and 
night  forever  and  ever,  which  is  the  second  death  ;  which  judg¬ 
ment  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men,  delayed  since  Messiah  was 
first  proclaimed,  is  the  event  and  period  as  Peter  asserts,  unto 
which  the  heavens  and  the  earth  are  kept  in  store,  reserved  unto 
fire — that  day  of  God,  after  which  the  eternal  heavenly  state  of 
the  glorified  saints  will  begin — and  God  be  all  in  all.  Surely 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  judgment  of  the  just  and  the  un¬ 
just,  is  directly  connected  with  the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of 


680  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

Man;  whose  resurrection  is  the  assurance  given  by  God  to  all 
men,  that  he  will  judge  the  world  by  him.  I  do  not  see  that  the 
Scriptures  leave  us  any  alternative,  but  to  identify  the  judgment 
of  the  world  by  Chrst,  with  the  Millennial  reign  of  Christ :  the 
resurrection  of  life — the  resurrection  of  the  just — the  judgment 
of  the  saints  and  their  reign,  being  altogether  distinct  from  the 
resurrection  of  damnation — the  resurrection  of  the  unjust — the 
judgment  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men.  The  judgment  of  the 
saints  is  not  to  ascertain  their  salvation,  but  to  disclose  and  to 
proclaim  the  special  grounds  upon  which  each  crown  is  given — 
the  special  manner  in  which  each  crown  was  won  ;  all,  to  the  in¬ 
finite  glory  of  the  Lord — the  unutterable  joy  of  the  redeemed. 
The  Scriptures  call  it  a  day — but  seem  to  declare  the  duration 
of  it,  to  be  a  thousand  years  :  I  do  not  know  whether  literally, 
or  whether  each  day  of  all  those  years,  is  a  year  itself,  according 
to  the  prophetic  manner.  Along  the  line  between  the  Gospel 
and  Millennial  dispensations — all  those  great  and  intricate  ques¬ 
tions,  so  hard  to  be  satisfactorily  and  harmoniously  expounded, 
will  have  their  solution  :  the  question  of  God's  ancient  people, 
the  question  of  the  great  Apostasies  of  Borne  and  Mahomed,  the 
question  of  heathenism,  the  question  of  the  world-powers — and 
the  like  :  concerning  which  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  enlarge 
here.  And  as  the  resurrection,  judgment,  and  reign  of  the  saints 
with  Christ — fill  up  the  period  of  the  New  Heavens  and  the  New 
Earth,  so  the  resurrection,  judgment,  and  perdition  of  the  wick¬ 
ed,  the  passing  away  of  the  heavens,  the  burning  up  of  the  earth, 
and  the  melting  of  the  elements  with  fervent  heat — all  lie  along 
the  line  which  separates  the  Millennial  reign — from  the  eternal 
and  heavenly  state  of  the  saints.  The  Word  was  from  eternity 
and  had  an  inbeing  with  God,  and  was  God.  But  though  he 
thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,  when  he  was  in  the 
form  of  God  ;  yet  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled 
himself,  and  took  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  became  obedient 
unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.  Wherefore  God  highly 
exalted  him,  and  gave  him  a  name  which  is  above  every  name, 
that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall  bow,  of  things  in 
heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth  ;  and 
that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  Nay  God  so  exalted  the  risen  Sa¬ 
viour  as  to  seat  him  in  his  own  throne,  at  the  right  hand  of  the 


CHAP.  XXXII.] 


CONCLUSION. 


681 


Majesty  on  high,  gave  him  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth, 
and  made  him  head  over  all  things,  as  head  of  his  Church  which 
is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all.  But  Jesus 
himself  called  the  throne  on  which  he  will  sit,  at  his  appearing, 
the  throne  of  his  glory  ;  and  speaking  from  heaven,  after  his  ex¬ 
altation,  said,  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  down 
with  me  in  my  throne,  even  as  I  also  overcame  and  am  set  down 
with  my  Father  in  his  throne  :  and  his  promise  is  express  to  make 
all  his  followers  kings  and  priests  unto  God.  Yet  it  is  written 
that  the  Son  himself  becomes  subject  unto  him  that  put  all  things 
under  him,  when  the  Kingdom  is  delivered  up  perfect,  and  God 
is  all  in  all ;  and  the  throne  he  has  after  that,  is  the  throne  he 
had  as  God,  before  his  incarnation.  It  seems  to  follow,  beyond 
doubt,  that  this  Millennial  throne,  is  the  proper  throne  of  the 
Mediator ;  the  one  that  he  called  my  throne ,  when  he  was  seated 
in  the  Father’s  throne — after  his  ascension  ;  the  one  he  promised 
to  share  with  every  one  that  overcometh.  In  every  point  of  view, 
therefore,  the  glory  of  the  Messiah  seems  to  be  immediately  and 
transcendently  involved  in  his  second  coming  and  Millennial  reign. 
And  his  loving  and  trusting  children,  ought  to  beware  of  dis¬ 
honouring  him  and  deadening  their  own  high  and  spiritual  hopes, 
by  low  and  carnal  allegorizing  about  these  sublime  mysteries  ;  as 
well  as  of  deluding  themselves  by  vain  and  shallow  dogmatizing 
concerning  them,  as  if  they  were  perfectly  simple  and  elemental. 
For  myself,  I  speak  concerning  them  after  many  years  of  anxious 
meditation,  as  one  who  would  prefer  not  to  speak,  and  who  feels 
assuredly  that  they  who  will  follow  us,  will  get  a  clearer  insight 
as  they  draw  nearer  to  them.  The  grand  and  leading  ideas  which 
belong  to  the  future  progress  and  glorious  consummation  of  God’s 
eternal  covenant,  seem  to  me  to  be  perfectly  clear.  Around  these 
are  other  ideas,  carrying  with  them  apparently,  the  highest  prob¬ 
ability  of  truth,  but  not  a  satisfying  assurance  that  we  compre¬ 
hend  them  justly.  And  then  around  these  in  circles  perpetually 
enlarging,  are  topics  vast  and  numerous,  involving  God,  and 
man,  and  the  universe,  and  questions  the  most  intricate  and 
overwhelming  concerning  them  all  ;  in  which  a  single  inspired 
word  misunderstood,  or  even  a  shade  of  thought  wrongly  con¬ 
ceived,  may  involve  us  far  beyond  our  scanty  knowledge  and  feeble 
powers.  And  how  could  it  be  otherwise  P  It  is  the  infinite  and 
eternal  thought  of  God,  not  yet  realized  in  its  actual  accomplish- 


682  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  GOD.  [CONCLUSION. 

ment,  which  mortals  are  striving  to  penetrate  and  disclose.  Above 
all,  they  who  conceive  of  the  knowledge  of  God  unto  salvation, 
as  a  science  of  positive  truth,  are  the  last  who  ought  to  assert  as 
of  faith,  anything  which  does  not  appear  to  be  positively  certain  ; 
the  last  who  ought  to  be  willing  to  be  held  accountable  for  more 
than  it  is  yet  given  to  mortals  to  know — much  less  for  the  infi¬ 
nite  breadth  of  knowledge  which  may  still  lie  hid  in  the  Word  of 
God,  and  the  infinite  possibilities  which  may  be  realized  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  it. 

7.  The  Son,  as  a  Person  of  the  Godhead,  stands  between  the 
Father  and  the  Spirit.  With  reference  to  the  created  universe, 
he  so  stands  between  it  and  the  Father  and  the  Spirit,  that  the 
existence  of  all  created  things  is  ascribed  in  a  special  manner  to 
him.  With  regard  to  the  infinite  dominion  and  providence  of 
God — bis  position  is  the  same,  and  all  power  in  heaven  and  in 
earth  is  given  to  him,  as  head  of  the  Church.  Touching  the  hu¬ 
man  race  this  position  becomes  so  special,  that  a  new  name — 
Immanuel — is  given  to  him,  a  new  office — Mediator — is  created 
for  him — a  new  kingdom  is  erected  for  him  as  the  Messiah — the 
Christ.  The  redeemed  come  to  God,  only  through  him  as  their 
Saviour  :  the  damned  perish  forever  under  his  sentence.  Knowl¬ 
edge  of  this  Saviour,  is  the  immense  want  of  humanity  ;  conform¬ 
ity  to  him,  its  immense  necessity.  Considered  in  this  light,  two 
convictions  have  grown  upon  me,  throughout  the  whole  of  my 
Christian  profession.  The  first  is,  that  the  extrication  of  the 
simple,  living  and  glorious  truth  concerning  Jesus  and  eternal 
life  through  him,  and  the  presentation  of  it  in  its  own  perfect 
revealed  proportion  ;  is  the  supreme  means  of  all  the  good  which 
the  Church  of  God  can  accomplish  on  earth.  The  second  is,  that 
this  is  actually  accomplished  now,  and  probably  has  been  ac¬ 
complished  in  all  ages,  in  the  inward  life  of  God’s  unknown  chil¬ 
dren,  and  so  in  the  aggregate  life  of  his  Church  ;  to  a  far  higher 
degree,  than  is  exhibited  in  the  teachings  of  those  who,  in  all 
ages,  have  appeared  to  men  to  be  the  instructors  of  the  saints. 
If  these  convictions  are  just,  how  immense  are  the  explanations 
they  afford — the  results  to  which  they  point  ! 


INDEX. 


The  Numbers  refer  to  the  Page  and  the  Paragraphs. 


A. 

Ability,  Our  natural,  124,  §  3. 

Adoption,  The  Scriptural  account  of,  182,  §  1. 

“  An  act  of  the  Father,  184,  §  2.  ‘ 

“  Relation  of,  to  the  outward  act,  and  inward  work  of  God,  1 85,  §  3. 

“  Definition  of,  187,  §  4. 

“  Our  relation  to  sin  changed  by  our,  188,  §  1. 

“  Our  relation  to  the  Law  of  God  changed  by  our,  189,  §  2. 

“  Our  relation  to  all  earthly  things  and  God’s  providence  changed  by,  191,  §  3. 

“  The  relations  of  our  inner  life  to  God  changed  by,  192,  §  4. 

“  Sanctification  compared  with,  206,  §4. 

Agreement,  Points  of,  between  the  Covenants  of  works  and  of  grace,  84,  §  2. 
Almsgiving,  312,  §  7  ;  529,  §  3. 

Analogy  between  the  two  Sacraments,  and  the  two  conditions  of  Salvation,  70,  §  2. 

“  between  the  two  Covenants,  73,  §  7. 

Apostles,  Authority  and  organizing  work  of  the,  385,  §  6. 

“  The  Baptism  of,  during  Christ’s  personal  ministry,  543,  §  4. 

“  The  practice  of,  in  baptizing,  578,  §  1. 

“  The  Doctrine  of  Baptism,  deduced  from  the  practice  of}  591,  §  5. 

Armor  of  Light,  341,  §  6. 

Assembling,  Stated  Congregational,  529,  §  3. 

Assistance,  Salvation  only  through  Divine,  74,  §  3. 

Assurance,  237,  §  7. 

“  of  Faith,  267,  §  2. 

Attributes,  Analogy  between  their  treatment  and  that  of  the  Graces  of  the  Spirit, 
118,  §  1. 

“  The  treatment  of  the,  179,  §  2. 

Authority,  Administrative,  409,  §  b. 

“  Judicial,  410,  §  c. 

“  442,  §  3. 


B.. 

Backsliding,  237,  §  7. 

Baptism,  Institution  of  by  the  risen  Saviour,  544,  §  5. 

“  Relation  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  to,  545,  §  6. 

“  Relation  between  it  and  the  Blessings  sealed,  548,  §  1. 

“  Relation  between  the  title  to  the  Blessings  and  the  seal  of,  549,  §  2. 


684 


INDEX. 


Baptism,  The  right  of  Infant  Seed  of  Believers  to,  549,  §  3. 

“  Effect  of  the  neglect,  and  of  the  exercise  of  561,  §  4. 

“  Effect  of  the  Mode  of  on  the  validity  of,  562,  §  1. 

“  Exposition  of  the  Scriptural  Doctrine  of,  566,  §  3. 

“  Various  Scriptural  Senses  of  the  Term,  568,  §  4. 

“  The  Authority  of  Christ  to  fix  the  sense  and  mode  of,  568, 
“  Proof  of  the  Mode  of,  intended  by  Christ,  570,  §  5. 

“  Apostolic  Practice  of,  578,  §  1. 

“  On  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  578,  §  1. 

“  The  Pirst  Gentile,  585,  §  3  ;  586,  §  4. 

“  The  doctrine  of  deduced  from  Apostolic  Practice,  591,  §  5. 
Believers  in  covenant  with  God,  43,  §  5. 

Bonds,  nature  of  those  involved  in  the  church,  377,  §  3. 

Bread,  representing  the  Body  of  Christ,  605,  §  5. 

c. 

Calvin,  the  Institutes  of,  x. 

Censures,  The  infliction  of  by  the  church,  530,  §  5. 

“  wholly  spiritual,  534,  §  3. 

“  Administration  of,  against  the  Enemies  of  God,  535,  §  4. 
Charity,  309,  §  4. 

Chastenings  of  the  Lord,  334,  §  9. 

Children,  What  God  purposes  concerning  his,  293,  §  1. 

“  What  God  requires  of  his,  293,  §  2. 

“  What  God  is  preparing  them  for,  and  how,  294,  §  3. 
Christ,  The  willingness  aud  sufficiency  of,  25,  §  6. 

“  Fellowship  with,  118,  §  1. 

“  Communion  with  in  Grace,  119,  §  3. 

“  Communion  with  in  Glory,  120,  §  4. 

“  Recapitulation  of  the  Work  of,  164,  §  3. 

“  The  Death  and  Resurrection  of,  224,  §  5. 

“  The  Satisfaction  of,  284,  §  2. 

“  The  Love  and  Faithfulness  of  291,  §  3. 

“  The  Mediatorial  work  of  366,  §  9. 

“  His  absolute  relation  to  his  saints,  378,  §  4. 

“  The  Advent  of,  385,  §  6. 

“  The  broken  body  of,  602,  §  2. 

“  The  Body  and  Blood  of,  603,  §  3. 

“  Efficacy  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of,  607,  §  6. 

Christ’s  Crown,  as  exclusively  his  as  his  cross,  422,  §  3. 

Church,  The  Idea  of  the,  376,  §  2. 

“  not  commensurate  with  the  Human  Race,  379,  §  5. 

“  under  its  various  forms,  384,  §  5. 

“  The  new  form  of  the,  385,  §  6. 

“  The  Future  of  the,  387,  §  8. 

“  The  perpetuity  of  the  Ordinances  of  389,  §  1. 

“  A  Kingdom  exclusively  Spiritual,  392,  §  1. 

“  An  everlasting  Kingdom,  393,  §  3. 

“  To  be  a  universal  Kingdom,  394,  §  4. 
u  Its  nature  and  end,  398,  §  8. 


TNDEX. 


685 


Church,  The  Sole  Law  of  the,  412,  §  5. 

“  Judicial  and  Executive  Functions  of,  413,  §  6. 

“  The,  414,  §  1 ;  415,  §  2. 

“  The  Life  and  Unity  of,  433,  §  3. 

“  The  Vital  Test  of,  453,  §  7. 

“  Symbolical  Statements  of  the,  455,  §  2. 

“  The  true  Life  of,  479,  §  1. 

The  Relation  between  Christ  and  the,  494,  §  4. 

“  The  Condition  of,  as  possessing  Christ,  495,  §  5. 

“  The  witnessing  work  oi}  498,  §  8. 

“  Appreciation  of}  as  possessing  God’s  supreme  Gifts,  515,  §  6. 

“  The  actual  origin  of,  632,  §  1. 

“  The  Holy  Catholic,  496,  §  6. 

Church  Government,  Summary  of  the  fundamental  principles  of,  651,  §  1. 

“  Origin,  Development,  and  progress  of,  653,  §  2. 

Church  Power,  The  nature  of,  639,  §  3. 

“  Relation  of,  to  Christ’s  offices,  639,  §  3. 

Church  State,  The  Gospel,  387,  §  7. 

Church  and  State,  Distinct  nature  and  separate  Mission  of}  417,  §  6. 

“  The  impossibility  of  confounding  the,  419,  §  8. 

Church  Visible,  The  organization  of,  379,  §  1. 

“  Position  of  false  professors  and  sects  in,  400,  §  11. 

“  Relation  of  the  Infant  Seed  of  Believers  to,  401,  §  12. 

“  Definition  of,  413,  §  1. 

“  Relation  of  the  Glorified  Redeemer  to.  420,  §  1 

“  Recognition  of,  441,  §  1. 

Churches,  Corrupt  and  apostate,  456,  §  3. 

Circumcision,  Effects  of  the  sacrament  of,  380,  §  2. 

‘‘  Origin  and  nature  of}  539,  §  1. 

“  Relation  of,  to  Christian  Baptism,  541,  §  2. 

Communion,  with  Christ,  fruits  of  are,  119,  §  2. 

“  with  Christ  in  Glory,  230,  §  1. 

“  with  Christ  in  all  states,  241,  §  3  ;  243,  §  5. 

“  of  saints,  375,  §  1. 

“  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  604,  §  4. 

Commonwealth,  Relation  of  Christian  duty  to  the,  416,  §  3. 

Condition  of  Man,  Combined  result  of  the  Covenants  of  works  and  grace  upon, 

24,  §  4. 

Conscience,  Peace  of,  240,  §  2. 

“  Self-condemnation  of  the  natural,  281,  §  5. 

“  Sense  of  Blameworthiness  of  the  renewed,  281,  §  5. 

“  Healthfulness  of,  282,  §  6. 

Consciences,  Tender,  322,  §  b. 

Councils,  Spiritual  authority  of,  323,  §  d. 

Counsel  of  God,  91,  §  3. 

Covenant  of  Grace,  The  essence  of,  83,  §  1. 

Covenant  of  Redemption,  The  disclosure  and  precise  conception  of,  27,  §  1. 

“  The  Mediator  of,  28,  §  2. 

“  The  result  of  the  eternal  purpose  and  counsel  of  God, 

29,  §  3. 


686 


INDEX. 


Covenant  op  Redemption,  known  only  by  Revelation,  31,  §  1. 

“  The  form  ofj  32,  §  2  ;  33,  §  3. 

“  The  Primary  and  Secondary  Conception  of,  45,  §  6. 

“  Importance  of  a  practical  appreciation  of,  46,  §  7. 

“  Illustrated,  54,  §  4. 

Special  conditions  of,  67,  §  1. 

“  Gradual  Disclosure  of,  90,  §  1 ;  90,  §  2. 

“  First  Proclamation  of,  663,  §  5. 

“  Consummation  of|  667,  §  1;  670,  §  3. 

Covenant  of  Works,  Revealed  Will  of  God  anterior  to,  4,  §  2. 

“  The  Penalty  thereof,  4,  §  3. 

Covenant,  The  Abrahamic,  96,  §  6. 

Covenants,  Fundamental  points  of  agreement  in  the  two,  84,  §  2. 

“  Fundamental  points  of  difference  in  the  two,  86,  §  3. 

“  Advantage  of  a  comparison  between,  89,  §  4. 

Creature,  The  dependence  of  the,  55,  §  5. 

Creed,  The  Apostles’,  110,  §  1. 

Cup,  The  Blood  of  Christ,  605,  §  5. 

D. 

Deacons,  Divine  authority,  nature  and  permanence  of  their  office,  647,  §  2. 

Death,  Relation  of,  to  the  saints,  242,  §  4. 

“  Relation  of,  to  the  triumph  of  the  Mediatorial  Kingdom,  242,  §  4 
“  Eternal,  of  the  wicked,  672,  §  4. 

Demonstration,  Order  of  the  General,  xv. 

Devil,  Our  warfare  with  the,  340,  §  5. 

Difference,  Fundamental  points  of,  between  the  Covenants  of  Works  and  of  Grace 
86,  §  3. 

Difficulty  in  the  treatment  of  Effectual  Calling,  123,  §  2. 

Discipline,  Nature  and  Efficacy  of,  531,  §  1. 

“  Manner  and  Object  of  the  administration  of,  533,  §  2. 

Discipleship,  Conditions  of  our,  227,  §  1. 

Dispensation.  The  Adamic,  94,  §  3. 

“  The  Noaliic,  95,  §  4. 

“  The  Abrahamic,  96,  §  6. 

“  Of  Christ  and  the  Gospel  Church,  1.00,  §  9. 

“  The  Future,  101,  §  10. 

Distrust,  236,  §  6. 

Dominion  of  God,  Infinite  certainty,  rectitude  and  completeness  of,  9,  §  4. 

State  of  the  fallen  universe  under,  9,  §  5. 

Dominion  of  Christ,  Freedom  and  Blessedness  of  the  church  in,  421,  §  2. 

Doubt,  236,  §  6. 

Duty,  Summary  of  all,  296,  §  3. 

“  Relation  of  Truth  to,  359,  §  4. 


E 

Earth,  God’s  sentence  upon  the,  20,  §  6. 

“  The  promised  Deliverance  of,  20,  §  6. 

Effectual  Calling,  Significancy  and  relations  of,  122,  §  1. 
“  The  work  of  the  Spirit  in,  129  §  2. 


INDEX. 


687 


Effectual  Calling,  Analysis  of,  131,  §  4;  133,  §  1. 

“  The  Root  and  Substance  of)  Divine  and  gracious,  134,  §  2. 

“  Inefficacies  of  man’s  endeavours  after,  136,  §  5. 

“  Relation  of  the  New  Birth  to,  139,  §  1. 

“  Compared  with  Sanctification,  206,  §  4. 

Elders,  Church  Government  exclusively  in  the  hands  of,  628,  §  6. 

Elect,  Relation  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  respectively  to,  34,  §  4. 

“  They  only  born  again,  147,  §  4. 

“  Defeasance  of  Satan’s  claim  and  power  over,  162,  §  1. 

“  Consummation  of  the  Redemption  of,  163,  §  2. 

“  Infallible  certainty  of  the  Justification  of,  165,  §  4. 

“  God’s  Justice  in  the  justification  of)  165,  §  5. 

Element,  The  Historical,  in  the  question  of  the  church,  427,  §  1. 

“  The  Logical,  in  the  question  of  the  church,  431,  §  1. 

“  The  force  of  the  Logical,  432,  §  2. 

“  The  Supernatural,  434,  §  1. 

“  Supremacy  of  the  Supernatural,  480,  §  2. 

Elements  of  the  Question  of  the  True  Church,  427,  §  2. 

Enemies,  Our  spiritual,  335,  §  1. 

“  Our  spiritual  all  resolved  into  Three,  336,  §  2. 

“  Our  spiritual  vanquished  by  Christ,  336,  §  2. 

Essence  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  83,  g  1 ;  91,  §  3. 

Estates  of  Man,  Relation  of  the  Two  Covenants  to  the  Four,  80,  §  1. 

Eternal  Life,  The  true  God  and,  497,  §  7. 

Eternal  State  of  the  church,  667,  §  2. 

Evangelization,  An  ordinance  of  God,  536,  §  1. 

Obligation  of  the  church  in  respect  to,  536,  §  1 . 

“  Appreciation  of  the  church’s  endeavour  towards,  537,  §  2. 

Evangelists,  Divine  Authority,  and  peculiar  nature  of  their  office,  649,  §  3. 
Evidence,  of  fitness  for  the  enjoyment  of  God,  and  life  everlasting,  234,  §  5. 

“  of  things  not  seen,  259,  §  3. 

Existence,  True  end,  and  mode  of  attaining,  354,  §  1. 


Faith,  One  of  the  conditions  of  salvation,  68,  §  3. 

“  The  double  office  of,  69,  §  1. 

“  Saving,  summarily  explained,  71,  §  3. 

“  Salvation  impossible  without,  72,  §  5. 

“  Means  proposed  by  God  to  lead  men  to,  76,  §  5. 

“  Proportion  of,  160,  §  3;  200,  g  1. 

“  Relation  of  Sanctification  to,  212,  §  4. 

“  A  manifestation  of  the  New  Life  in  man,  256,  §  4. 

“  Divine  Definition  and  Illustration  of,  257,  §  1. 

“  A  Grace  of  the  Spirit,  260,  §  4. 

“  A  scriptural,  261,  §5. 

“  The  threefold  aspect  of,  262,  §  1. 

“  Nature,  use  and  effect  of,  263,  §  2. 

“  The  objects  of,  264,  §  3. 

“  Neither  an  efficient  nor  a  meritorious  cause,  265,  §  4. 

“  Relation  of)  to  the  Word  of  God  and  the  means  of  Grace,  266,  §  1. 


688 


INDEX. 


Faith,  Boundless  c-ompass  of,  271,  §  5. 

“  Competent  only  to  restored  sinners,  272,  §  2. 

“  Implicit,  322,  §  b. 

“  Revelation  the  infallible  Rule  of,  357,  §  3. 

“  Relation  of  Righteousness  to,  359,  §  4. 

“  Relevancy  of  Cod’s  work  and  Institutions  to,  362,  §  6. 

“  Purity  of,  447,  §  4. 

“  The  infallible  Arbiter  of,  447,  §  1. 

“  The  regulative  Power  ofj  454,  §  8. 

“  Our  Judgments  concerning,  454,  §  1. 

Fall  of  Man,  Statement  of  the  case,  11,  §  2. 

“  What  Cod  did  after  the,  23,  §  3. 

Fallen  Man,  His  Condition,  54,  §  4. 

“  Requirement  made  of,  134,  §  3. 

“  Divine  Guidance  and  Support  necessary  to,  352,  §  7. 
Fallen  Universe,  Modified  State  of  the,  9,  §  5. 

Family,  The,  414,  §  1  ;  415,  §  2. 

Fasting,  299,  §  6. 

“  Public,  530,  §  5. 

Fatalism,  40,  §  4. 

Feeling,  Moral  Judgments  and,  278,  §  2  ;  279,  §  3. 

Flesh,  Our  Warfare  with  the,  337,  §  3. 

Free  Church,  Relation  of  all  States  to  Christ’s,  424,  §  8. 

Freedom,  Human,  40,  §  4. 

“  Distinction  between  the  Church’s  inward  and  outward,  419, 
Root  of  our  inward,  422,  §  4. 

“  The  Church’s  true,  423,  §  5  ;  423  §  6. 

“  Condition  of  the  visible  Church  possessed  of)  424,  §  7. 

Free  Will,  nature  and  limitation,  125,  §  4. 

of  Adam,  before  his  Fall,  126,  §  5. 

“  of  all  men,  since  the  Fall,  126,  §  5. 

Gr. 

Gentiles,  Call  of  the,  385,  §  6. 

Gifts  of  God  to  his  church,  491,  §  1. 

Glory,  Communion  with  Christ  in,  228,  §  3  ;  229,  §  4;  231,  §  2. 

“  Origin,  growth  and  reality  of  the  First  Fruits  ofj  231,  §  3. 
God,  Display  of  his  infinite  nature,  61,  §  3. 

“  Grounds  of  separation  between  man  and,  67,  §  2. 

<l  As  Creator,  194,  §  4. 

“  As  Saviour,  197,  §  5  ;  356,  §  2. 

“  The  mutual  love  of,  and  his  children,  203,  §  1. 

“  Inward  enjoyment  of,  233,  §  4. 

“  Rejoicing  in  hope  of  the  glory  of,  240,  §  2. 

“  Duty  towards,  296,  §  2. 

“  Infinite  righteousness  and  grace  of,  366,  §  9. 

“  Concatenation  of  the  Providence  and  Grace  of,  406,  §  3. 

“  The  universal  Lawgiver,  Judge  and  Ruler,  410,  §  3. 

Godhead,  Peculiar  relation  of  Sanctification  to  the,  219,  §  1. 
Godliness,  Unity  of  the  mystery  of,  478,  §  6. 


INDEX. 


689 


Good  Works  Defined  and  classified,  307,  §  1. 

“  Considered  with  reference  to  our  natural  man,  308,  §  2. 

“  Their  influence  upon  the  performer  314,  §  2. 

“  Considered  as  a  means  of  usefulness,  315,  §  3. 

“  Considered  with  reference  to  the  General  Judgment,  316,  §  4. 

“  Necessity  of,  319,  §  7. 

“  The  Sole  rule  of,  320,  §  1. 

“  And  New  Obedience,  324,  §  3  ;  326,  1. 

Gospel,  A  free,  41. 

Gospel  Call,  Results  ofj  with  natural  ability  and  Free  Will  to  help,  128,  §  1. 
Gospel  Church,  The  Special  Mission  of,  395,  §  5. 

“  And  civil  State,  fundamental  distinction,  411,  §  4. 

“  General  Career  of,  429,  §  3;  430,  §  4. 

“  Different  from  every  other  Institution,  435,  §  2. 

“  Positive  Exposition  ofJ  436,  §  3. 

“  665,  §  6. 

“  Future  Progress  of,  667,  §  2. 

Gospel  Offer,  Infinite  freedom  and  fitness  of,  397,  §  7. 

Government,  Divine  origin  and  authority  of,  in  the  church,  620,  §  3. 

“  Progress  and  Development  of,  in  the  church,  636,  §  2. 

Grace,  Everything  depends  on,  25,  §  6. 

“  Relevancy  of,  to  the  Mode  of  the  Divine  Existence,  29,  §  4. 

“  Salvation  for  sinners  through,  50,  §  1. 

“  Effectual  only  through  personal  Redemption,  56,  §  6. 

“  Perpetual  development  of,  82,  §  4. 

“  Perpetual  sufficiency  of,  82.  §  5. 

“  Man’s  perpetual  necessity  for,  108,  §  2. 

“  And  Man’s  alienation  combined  and  applied,  108,  §  3. 

11  Communion  with  Christ  in,  228,  §  3. 

“  A  supernatural  work  in  Man,  255,  §  3. 

Graces,  The  greatest  of  all  Christian,  310,  §  5. 

Graces  of  the  Spirit,  Paul’s  treatment  of,  180,  §  3. 

H. 

Heart,  kept,  hardened,  304,  §  1. 

Heaven,  Saints  have  a  foretaste  of,  238,  §  1. 

Heir,  The  lot  and  crown  of  each,  201,  §  2. 

Heirs  of  all  the  promises,  193,  §  2. 

“  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ,  194,  §  3. 

Heirship,  Our,  193,  §  1. 

Hidings  of  the  Lord’s  face,  334,  §  9. 

History,  Church,  uninspired,  428,  §  2. 

Holy  Ghost,  Joy  in  the,  240,  §  2. 

“  The  Gift  of  the,  499,  §  1. 

“  and  the  Son,  their  bestowment  and  manner  of  operation,  499,  §  2. 
Holiness,  Efforts  of  the  renewed  soul  after,  214,  §  5. 
u  Its  relations,  471,  §  2. 

“  Connexion  of,  with  Blessedness,  475,  §  3. 

41  Inward  aspect  of,  476,  §  4. 

“  Its  unity  as  a  mark  of  the  church,  477,  §  5. 


690 


INDEX. 


Holy  Spirit,  Common  operations  of,  42 

“  Work  of  effectual  calling  by,  130,  §  3  ;  137,  §  6. 

“  Detail  of  his  work  within  us,  136,  §  5. 

Human  Nature,  Religious  element  of,  462,  §  5. 

Human  Race,  The  church  not  commensurate  with,  379,  §  5. 

“  Divisions  of  Spiritually  considered,  405,  §  1. 

I. 

Illustration  of  the  need  of  Divine  Assistance  in  order  to  Salvation,  75,  §  4. 
Immersion,  As  commemorative  of  the  burial  of  Christ,  564,  §  2. 

Impotence  of  fallen  man,  53,  §  3. 

“  Nature  of,  as  produced  by  sin,  73,  §  1. 

Imposture,  Of  an  earthly  fallible  Judge,  451,  §  5. 

Independence,  Necessity  of  the  Church’s,  418,  §  7. 

Indifference,  236,  §  6. 

Infants,  The  salvation  of,  154,  §  3. 

“  Right  of,  to  Christian  Baptism,  549,  §  3. 

Infinite  Ruler,  The  existence  of,  7,  §  2. 

“  Nature  of  his  boundless  Dominion,  8,  §  3. 

Inheritance  of  the  heirs  of  God,  199,  §  6. 

Insight,  Spiritual,  200,  §  1. 

Instituted  Worship  of  God,  527,  §  1. 

Interposition,  God’s  gracious,  402,  §  1. 

“  Practical  result  of  God’s,  403,  §  2 

J. 

Jerusalem,  The  Apostolic  Synod  of)  620,  §  3  ;  621,  §  4. 

“  Office-bearers  in  the  Synod  of)  624,  §  5. 

Jesus,  The  knowledge  of,  682,  §  7. 

“  The  Life  through,  682,  §  7. 

John,  Mission  and  Baptism  of,  542,  §  3. 

Judge  of  controversies,  449,  §  2. 

“  God  the  infallible,  450,  §  4. 

Justification,  Position  in  the  Proportion  of  Faith,  160,  §  3. 

“  The  office  of,  in  Salvation,  161,  §  4. 

“  Has  reference  to  our  Union  with  Christ,  167,  §  7. 

“  The  meritorious  Cause  of,  168,  §  8. 

“  Definition  of)  168,  §  1. 

“  Has  reference  to  our  State,  169,  §  2. 

“  Relation  of,  to  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  170,  §  3. 

“  An  infinitely  gracious  Act  of  God,  170,  §  4. 

“  The  practical  personal  effect  of,  171,  §  5. 

“  The  Ground  of,  171,  §  5  ;  173,  §  6. 

“  Sanctification  compared  with,  206,  §  4. 

K. 

Kingdom  of  Christ,  Historical  means  of  appreciating,  390,  §  2. 

“  Practical  means  of  appreciating,  391,  §  3. 

“  Prophetical  means  of  appreciating,  391,  §  4. 

“  Ethical  means  of  appreciating,  391,  §  5. 


IND EX. 


691 


Kingdom  of  Christ,  The  manifold  aspects  of,  405,  §  2. 

“  Separate  from  the  World  and  Organized,  406,  §  3. 

“  Its  progress  to  the  present  time,  663,  §  5. 

“  Actual  posture  of,  665,  §  6. 

Kingdom  of  God  constituted  of  the  Heirs  of  God,  197,  §  5. 

“  The  Nature  of,  228,  §  2. 

Knowledge  of  God,  Transition  from  the  Objective  to  the  Subjective,  78,  §  1. 

“  Grandeur  and  efficacy  of,  102,  §  11. 

“  Objective,  657,  §  1. 

“  Subjective,  658,  §  2  ;  665,  §  6. 

“  The  three  aspects  of,  xiii. 

L. 

Law,  409,  §  a;  345,  §  2. 

“  of  God,  284,  §  1 ;  347,  §  3  ;  366,  §  9 ;  471,  §  1. 

“  of  Nature,  3,  §  8. 

Lawgiver,  The  infinite,  347,  §  3. 

Liberty  of  conscience,  321,  §  a. 

“  Christian,  321,  §  a. 

Life  in  God,  65,  §  3. 

“  Need  of  divine  assistance  in  order  to,  66,  §  4. 

“  Relation  of  Righteousness  to,  204,  §  2;  275,  §  5. 

“  Of  God  in  the  soul,  205,  §  3. 

“  eternal,  nature  and  extent  of  fitness  for,  233,  §  4. 

“  Relation  of  the  Divine  Word  to  the  Divine,  344,  §  1. 

“  eternal,  of  the  righteous,  672,  §  4. 

Lord’s  Death,  Relation  of  the  continual  showing  of,  to  his  Second  Coming,  611,  §  8. 
Lord’s  Supper,  Relation  ofj  to  the  Passover,  594,  §  1. 

“  Institution  of,  595,  §  2. 

“  General  nature  and  ordinary  use  of,  597,  §  3. 

“  Matter  and  elements  of,  599,  §  4. 

“  Relation  of,  to  the  worship,  word,  and  Spirit  of  God,  609,  §  7. 

‘‘  Relation  of  Christ’s  sacramental  word  and  action  to,  612,  §  1. 

“  Relation  of,  to  the  Question  of  the  Church,  614,  §  2. 

Love,  Redeeming,  62,  §  4. 

“  Consummation  of,  204,  §  2. 

“  Relation  of  Sanctification  to,  212,  §  4. 
li  A  Sense  of  God’s,  240,  §  2. 

“  Relation  of  all  Christian  offices  to,  311,  §  6. 

“  309,  §  4. 

Luther,  His  conception  of  Theology,  x. 

M. 

Magistrate,  Power  of  in  things  Sacred,  322,  §  c. 

M  vn,  Origin,  career,  position  and  destiny  of,  5,  §  4 ;  6,  §  5. 

“  Moral  constitution  of,  7,  §  1 ;  280,  §  4. 

“  God’s  sentence  upon,  14,  §  4. 
a  His  alienation  from  God,  107,  §  1. 

“  Perpetual  shortcoming  of,  107,  §  1. 

“  Natural,  Spiritual  helplessness  of,  269,  §  3. 


692 


INDEX. 


Man,  Natural,  Moral  bondage  of  270,  §  4. 

“  Knowledge  of  G-ood  and  Evil  in,  276,  §  1. 

Universal  Brotherhood  of,  308,  §  3. 

Marks  of  the  Nature  and  End  of  the  church,  399,  §  10. 

“  Of  the  visible  Church  universal,  441,  §  2. 

“  Nature  of  the  church’s  infallible,  445,  §  2. 

“  Divine  Statement  of  the  Three,  458,  §  1. 

Mediator,  Jesus  Christ,  28,  §  2. 

“  Divine  Grace  through  the,  81,  §  3. 

“  Between  G-od  and  Man,  660,  §  3. 

Middle  Term  between  God  and  Man,  660,  §  3. 

Millennial  State  of  the  Church,  667,  §  2. 

Millennial  Glory  of  Christ,  677,  §  6. 

Mode  of  Divine  Existence,  Relation  of,  to  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  30,  §  5. 
Morality,  Regulative  principles  of,  348,  §  4. 

Moral  distinctions,  472,  §  1;  473,  §  2. 

Moral  Sense,  Supremacy  of,  350,  §  5. 

Moral  Law,  Supremacy  of,  350,  §  5. 

“  Relation  of  to  the  matter  and  form  of  Salvation,  351,  §  6. 

“  Divine  Restatement  of,  361,  §  5. 

“  The  Sum  and  Scope  of  365,  §  8. 

Moses,  The  Institutions  of,  98,  §  7  ;  100,  §  8  ;  382,  §  4. 

Mystical,  The  body,  114,  §  2. 

Mysteries,  Certainty  and  Sum  of  the,  547,  §  7. 

“  Relation  of,  to  the  Doctrine  of  God  and  Salvation,  547,  §  8. 

“  Of  Grace,  501,  §  3. 

N. 

Nature,  Law  of,  3,  §  8. 

“  Human,  63,  §  1. 

“  The  Spirit  works  without  violence  to,  137,  §  6. 

Neighbour,  Duty  to  our,  296,  §  2. 

New  Birth,  Jesus’  Explanation  of  141,  §  3. 

“  The  Ground  and  Maimer  of,  143,  §  4. 

“  Relations  of  the  Doctrine  of  143,  §  5. 

New  Creature,  Positive  consideration  of  the,  201,  §  2. 

“  Relation  of  Faith  to  the,  254,  §  2. 

New  Obedience,  Relation  of  Faith  and  Repentance  to,  273,  §  4. 

“  Relation  of  Good  works  to,  294,  §  4;  296,  §  3. 

“  Relation  of  Christian  Warfare  to,  294,  §  4. 

“  Inward  nature  of,  295,  §  1. 

“  Special  Fruits  of  297,  §  4. 

“  Things  pertaining  to,  305,  §  2. 

“  Human  nature  under  the  influence  of  305,  §  3. 

“  Summary  statement  of  324,  §  3. 

“  Conflict  involved  in,  326,  §  1. 

“  The  Word  of  God  the  infallible  Rule  of  359,  §  4. 

New 'Testament,  The  Blood  of  the,  600,  §  1. 

Noah,  The  connecting  link  between  Adam  and  Abraham,  96,  §  5. 


INDEX. 


693 


0. 

Oaths,  Lawful,  302,  §  8. 

Obedience  to  God,  65,  §  3. 

“  Need  of  special  Divine  Assistance  in  order  to,  66,  §  4. 

“  Nature  of  that,  performed  in  sin,  73,  §  1. 

(Economy  of  Grace,  General  appreciation  of,  79,  §  2. 

“  Method  of  the  treatment  of,  80,  §  3. 

“  Dispensations  of,  92,  §  1. 

Offices,  The  two  great,  253,  §  1. 

Office-bearers,  and  the  Government  in  their  hands,  616,  §  1. 

“  Relation  ofj  to  society  and  the  church,  617,  §  1. 

“  As  appertaining  to  the  Church  and  to  Christ,  618,  §  2. 

“  Divine  origin  and  authority  of,  620,  §  3. 

“  constituting  the  Synod  of  Jerusalem,  624,  §  5. 

Ordinances,  as  means  in  our  Sanctification,  218,  §  3. 

Organization  of  the  Church,  None  before  the  Call  of  Abraham,  380,  §  2. 
“  Obligatory  force  of,  398,  §  9. 

“  Fundamental  principles  of,  407,  §  1. 

P. 

Parties  to  the  Fall,  10,  §  1. 

Passover,  Giving  of  the,  381,  §  3. 

“  Relations  of  the,  381,  §  3. 

Paul,  His  treatment  of  the  Graces  of  the  Spirit,  181,  §  4. 

Pentecost,  Day  of,  504,  §  6. 

“  Baptism  administered  on,  578,  §  1 ;  579,  §  2. 

Perfections,  Illustration  of  God’s,  61,  §  3. 

Perpetuation  of  office-bearers  and  government,  642,  §  4. 

Perseverance,  237,  §  7. 

Pollution,  Efforts  of  the  soul  against,  214,  §  5. 

Posture,  Our,  in  the  Dispensations,  93,  §  2. 

Power,  Exercise  of,  in  Sanctification,  221,  §  3. 

“  of  Regimen,  639,  §  3, 

“  of  Order,  639,  §  3. 

Prayer,  298,  §  5. 

Prerogatives  of  the  Believer,  112,  §  2. 

Probation  of  Man,  313,  §  1. 

“  of  the  race,  403,  §  3  ;  404,  §  4. 

Problems  to  be  solved  after  the  Fall,  10,  §  1. 

Promise  of  the  Father,  504,  §  6. 

Prophets,  Inspired  and  temporary,  646,  §  1. 

Public  Will,  409,  §  a. 

Purity  of  Faith,  Relation  of  the  true  Church  to,  450,  §  3. 

“  Relation  of  all  Christian  Graces  to,  452,  §  6. 

“  Vital  test  ofj  453,  §  7. 

B. 

Reason,  442,  §  3. 

Redeemed,  The  Covenanted  Head  of,  37,  §  1. 

Redemption,  Work  of  the  Spirit  in,  58,  §  7. 


694 


INDEX. 


Redemption,  The  Eternal  Covenant  of,  661,  §  4. 

Reformation,  Theology  of  the,  ix. 

Reformed  Theology,  Causes  of  the  failure  of,  x. 

Regenerate,  Prerogatives  of  the,  110,  §  1. 

Regeneration,  Posture  of  the  Doctrine  in  the  time  of  Christ,  140,  §  2. 

“  Definition  of,  144,  §  1. 

“  One  of  the  benefits  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  145, 

“  Wrought  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  145,  §  3. 

“  Confined  to  the  Elect,  147,  §  4. 

“  The  Efficient  Instrument  in,  148,  §  5. 

“  The  meritorious  Cause  of,  150,  §  6. 

“  Our  nature  renewed  in,  151,  §  7. 

“  State  of  the  Soul  in,  152,  §  2. 

“  Restatement  of  the  Knowledge  touching,  155,  §  4. 

“  The  Certainty,  Necessity  and  Efficacy,  of,  156,  §  5. 

“  compared  with  Sanctification,  206,  §  4. 

Religion,  The  possible  forms  of  the  idea  of}  437,  §  2. 

Remedy,  for  the  condition  of  sinners,  52,  §  2. 

Repentance,  Means  of  leading  men  to,  76,  §  5. 

“  A  condition  of  Salvation,  68,  §  3. 

“  The  double  office  of,  69,  §  1. 

“  Summarily  explained,  71,  §  4. 

“  Salvation  impossible  without,  72,  §  5. 

“  Relation  of  Sanctification  to,  212,  §  4. 

“  Connexion  between  Faith  and,  272,  §  1. 

“  Competent  to  Believing  Sinners  only,  273,  §  3. 

“  Its  relations,  275,  §  5. 

“  Definition  of,  288,  §  5. 

“  Perpetual  necessity  of,  289,  §  1. 

“  The  great  peculiarity  of,  290,  §  2. 

“  Wide  connexion  of  the  Doctrine  of}  291,  §  4. 

“  Simplicity  and  certainty  of  the  Doctrine  of,  291,  §  4. 

Responsibility,  Our  personal,  492,  §  2. 

Restoration,  Divine  means,  64,  §  2. 

Revelation,  The  Infallible  Rule,  447,  §  1. 

Reward,  The  idea  of},  belongs  only  to  Grace,  318,  §  6. 

Righteous,  The  Work  and  Institutions  of  God  relative  to,  362,  §  6. 
Righteousness  displayed  in  Justification.  166,  §  6. 

“  of  Christ  imputed,  174,  §  7. 

“  Relations  of,  275,  §  5. 

Royal  Priests,  The  kingdom  of,  462,  §  1. 

Rule,  The  Infallible  in  Faith  and  Practice,  366,  §  8  ;  366,  §  9. 

“  of  Faith,  449,  §  2. 


s. 

Sabbath,  Relation  of  to  the  Moral  System  of  the  Universe,  518,  §  1. 
“  Its  connexion  with  God’s  Work,  519,  §  2. 

“  Unspeakable  importance  of,  to  man,  521,  §  3. 

“  Sanctification  of  the,  529,  §  3. 


INDEX. 


695 


Sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord’s  Supper,  385,  §  6. 

“  The  true  idea  of  the,  522,  §  1. 

“  Nature  and  use  of  the,  522,  §  2. 

‘  Descriptive  Explanation  of  the,  523,  §  3. 

“  Ends  subserved  by  the,  524,  §  4. 

“  The  Efficacy  of  the,  525,  §  5. 

“  The  number  of,  525,  §  6. 

‘‘  Relations  of  the,  525,  §  6. 

“  Administration  of  the,  530,  §  5. 

Salvation,  The  actual  process  of,  54,  §  4. 

“  Our  personal,  58,  §  1. 

“  Not  universal,  59,  §  2. 

“  Relations  of,  176,  §  8;  31,  §  G;  661,  §  4. 

“  Special — Determinate — Effectual,  109,  §  4. 

“  Unity  of  the  Way  and  Method  of,  81,  §  2. 

‘‘  Only  possible  as  proposed  in  the  Scriptures,  74,  §  2. 

“  Dependent  on  the  Headship  of  Christ,  38,  §  2. 
Sanctification,  Description  of;  206,  §  5. 

“  A  benefit  of  the  Covenant  of  Redemption,  207,  §  1. 

“  A  work  of  Divine  Grace,  209,  §  2. 

“  Unequal  in  different  persons,  210,  §  3. 

“  Imperfect  here,  210,  §  3. 

“  Means  of  G  race  in  our,  216,  §  1. 

“  The  Author  of,  219,  §  1 ;  220,  §  2. 

“  The  Work  of  the  Godhead  in,  223,  §  4. 

“  Definition  of,  225,  §  6. 

Saints,  Universal  Fellowship  of,  308,  §  3. 

Satan,  God’s  irrevocable  sentence  on,  11,  §  3. 

Saviour,  The  central  object  of  all  Truth  and  Duty,  364,  §  7. 
Scholasticism,  A  Failure,  ix. 

Scriptures,  The  Word  of  God,  xiv. 

Second  Coming  of  the  Son  of  Man,  677,  §  6. 

Seeds,  The  two,  25,  §  5. 

Self-delusion,  237,  §  7. 

Sentences,  After  the  Fall,  16,  §  5. 

Separation  between  God  and  man,  removal  of,  67,  §  2. 

Sin,  Punishment  and  Pardon  of^  159,  §  2. 

“  Grief  and  hatred  for,  285,  §  3. 

“  Effects  of,  retrieved,  670,  §  3. 

Sins,  Forgiveness  of,  496,  §  6. 

Sinners,  The  condition  of,  51,  §  2. 

41  The  Friend  of,  158,  §  1. 

Society,  the  Functions  of,  408,  §  2 ;  410,  §  3. 

Son  of  God,  A  Gift  to  the  Church,  493,  §  3. 

Soul,  The  natural  and  regenerate  states  of  the,  135,  §  4. 

“  Career  of  each  saved,  202,  §  3. 

“  Acts  of  the  penitent,  285,  §  3. 

“  States  of  the  penitent,  288,  §  4. 

“  Divine  Regeneration  of  the,  361,  §  5. 

“  The  renewed,  446,  §  3. 


696 


INDEX. 


Sovereignty  of  God,  55,  §  5. 

Spirit,  The  Graces  of  the,  It 8,  ^  1 ;  It 9,  §  2. 

“  Earnest  of  the,  238,  §  1. 

“  Relations  of  the,  502,  §  4. 

“  Attestations  by  the,  503,  §  5. 

“  Difference  in  the  manifestations  of  the,  505,  §  t. 

“  Saving  and  extraordinary  manifestations  of  the,  50 1,  §  8. 

“  Vital  nature  of  the  Doctrine  of  the,  50 1,  §  9. 

“  Outpouring  of}  545,  §  6. 

Spirituality,  The  Church’s,  393,  §  2. 

State,  The,  414,  §  1;  415,  §  2. 

“  Tendency  to  engulph  the  Church  in  the,  416,  §  4. 

Statement,  Need  of  a  truer  method  of,  39,  §  3. 

Substance  of  things  hoped  for,  258,  §  2. 

Suffering,  Our,  with  Jesus,  331,  §  6. 

Sum  and  Result,  675,  §  5. 

Susceptibility  of  fallen  man,  53,  §  3. 

Synods,  Spiritual  authority  of,  323,  §  d. 

Synod  of  Jerusalem,  620,  §  3. 

T. 

Thanksgiving,  301,  §7;  530,  §5. 

Theology,  Progress  of,  in  the  East  and  West,  ix. 

“  Modem,  x. 

“  Strictly  a  Science,  xi. 

“  Nature  of  a  proper  treatment  of,  xv. 

Tribunals,  Divine  authority  of,  636,  §  2. 

Trinity,  Doctrine  of  the,  31,  §  6. 

Truth  the  Effectual  Instrument  in  Sanctification,  217,  §  2. 

Truths,  Particular,  200,  §  1. 

True  Church,  Infallible  certainty  concerning,  436,  §  1. 

“  Alleged  difficulty  of  knowing  the,  441,  §  1. 

“  Majesty  and  glory  of,  482,  §  3. 

u. 

Union,  Communion  and,  with  Christ,  113,  §  1. 

«  With  Christ,  115,  §  3;  117,  §  4. 

“  Of  Church  and  State,  417,  §  5. 

Universe,  Posture  of}  with  and  without  the  Word  of  God,  21,  §  1. 

“  Posture  of,  with  and  without  the  Idea  of  Divine  Grace,  22,  §  2. 
“  Participation  of,  in  Covenant  Blessings,  44. 


Y. 

Victory*,  The,  342,  §  7. 

Vows,  302,  §  8. 

W. 

Warfare,  Our  spiritual,  327,  §  2  ; 

328,  §  3. 

“  Sublime  efficacy  of  our, 

332,  §  7 

Cause  and  manner  of,  332,  §  7. 


INDEX. 


697 


Warfare,  Relation  of  the  Means  of  Grace  to,  333,  §  8. 

Watching,  299,  §  6. 

Way  of  Salvation.  49,  §  3. 

Weakness,  Spiritual,  236,  §  6. 

Will  of  God,  The  Rule  of  duty  to  man  the  creature,  48,  §  1. 

“  The  Rule  of  all  Good  Works,  321,  §  2. 

“  Relation  ofj  to  Salvation,  353,  §  8. 

Will  of  the  Saviour,  The  Rule  of  duty  to  those  having  a  Saviour,  49,  £  2. 
Witness-bearing,  Our  perpetual,  328,  §  4. 

“  The  immediate  object  of  the  Church’s,  396,  §  6. 

Woman,  The  sentence  upon  the,  14,  §  4. 

Word  of  God,  the  means  in  Sanctification,  217,  §  2. 

“  A  Gift  to  the  Church,  508,  §  1 ;  514,  §  5. 

“  Relation  of,  to  the  visible  Church,  508,  §  1 ;  509,  §  2. 

“  Relation  of^  to  the  Gospel  Church,  511,  §  3.  ' 

“  Efficacy  of  the,  512,  §  4. 

World,  Our  indefeasible  title  to,  196,  §  4. 

“  Our  warfare  with,  338,  §  4. 

“  Complete  rejection  of,  382,  §  4. 

Working  together  with  God,  329,  §  5. 

Works  the  measure  of  final  Reward  and  Punishment,  317,  §  5. 

Worship,  The  Sole  object  of,  459,  §  2. 

“  True  Conception  ofj  460,  §  3. 

“  Relation  of  the  Word  and  Life  of  God  to,  461,  §  4. 

“  Obligation  and  perpetuity  of,  464,  §  2. 

“  The  Plan  of  Salvation  relative  to,  465,  §  3. 

“  The  idea  and  organism  of  the  Church  relative  to,  465,  §  3. 

“  Relation  of  Christ’s  Sacrifice  and  Priesthood  to,  466,  §  5. 

“  Relation  of  Christ’s  Ascension  Gifts  to,  466,  §  5. 

“  Relation  of,  to  Religion  and  to  God,  467,  §  6. 

“  Congregational,  468,  §  7. 

“  God’s  Revealed  Will  concerning,  528,  §  2. 

“  Particulars  of  revealed,  529,  §  3. 

“  Particulars  of  Stated  Public,  530,  §  4. 

z. 

Zuingle,  His  Conception  of  Theology,  x. 


. 


, 


. 


■ 


* 


. 


. 


w 


